In honor of Powell Symphony Hall’s 40th anniversary on January 24 as the home of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, I offer the following fun figures.

Year built (as St. Louis Theatre): 1925

Original number of seats: 3,500

Number of seats today: 2,689

Year purchased by St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Association: 1964

Amount of gift from Oscar Johnson to buy property: $500,000

Purchase price: $375,000

Estimated cost of renovation: $1.2 million

Actual cost of renovation: $2.5 million

Amount donated by Helen Powell, widow of Walter S. Powell, Brown Shoe executive for whom the hall was named: $1 million

Number of 10-inch-by-10 inch sheets of 20 karat gold leaf used in decoration: 200,000

Year bar was rescued from the wreckage of the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York: 1967

Number of players in the SLSO in 1968 who are still members of the orchestra: 7

Year parking lot sold to Grand Center (to pay for a new roof): 1988

Year listed in National Register of Historic Places: 2001

Year the old heating/ventilation system from 1925 was finally replaced: 2003

Number of wheelchairs that can be accommodated since 2003 renovation: 17 (or 12 wheelchairs and 12 companions)