WORCESTER — Ordering a new part for a complex bit of machinery might seem like the sort of thing a mechanic would do.

Robert M. Kennedy was on the phone recently concerning one of Mechanics Hall's two Steinway Model D concert grand pianos. "We have the best piano technician," Kennedy said. Still, he is executive director of Mechanics Hall so he figures he should be somewhat in tune.

"Concert grand pianos are different from pianos you put in your house. You have to make sure both pianos are concert-ready so that the pianist can choose one or the other," Kennedy said.

Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., was in the process of ordering a new piano from London as Kennedy was taking over as executive director in 2006. "I felt I had better learn something about this," he recalled.

He won't have any new orders to concern him after Tuesday as Kennedy, 70, is retiring as executive director on Sept. 25.

A lot will be going on at Mechanics Hall on Tuesday, with the annual Celebration of Excellence, the 175th annual meeting of the Worcester County Mechanics Hall Association, which owns and operates the hall built in 1857, and a retirement dinner in Kennedy's honor. Kennedy will also receive the association's Master Mechanic Award given "in recognition of organizations and individuals who exemplify standards of high achievement and a commitment to creating a culture of excellence in the community."

He's going out on good terms.

Actually, Kennedy came on board at Mechanics Hall with a background that included mechanics as the executive vice president and treasurer of the family-owned former Kennedy Die Castings Inc. in Worcester. "The first mechanic to run Mechanics Hall," he said with humor.

Kennedy, who has a down-to-earth but sagacious manner, was really someone with a business background, but he said that at Mechanics Hall he wanted people to know there was more to him than someone who could be readily labelled.

"You want people to understand who you are. Like it or not as executive director of Mechanics Hall people associate the building with the person who is running it. And I wanted people to understand I was Bob Kennedy," he said.

That includes the Bob Kennedy who has held leadership positions with several nonprofit organizations, including the YMCA of Greater Worcester. People "didn't know me when I was a school teacher eight years in Leicester," he said of his time teaching mathematics at Leicester Middle School. Or that he was a liberal arts student at the College of the Holy Cross majoring in sociology (he also has a master's degree from Boston College). Or that his great-grandfather had immigrated here from Ireland. Successive Kennedy generations have grown up in Rochdale, Leicester.

Now "people have gotten to know me as opposed to categorizing me as one person," Kennedy said.

For his part, coming to Mechanics Hall, "I had to look beyond the surface. What's the strategic part of the business? How can I improve on what's been done before?"

At that point Mechanics Hall had been around almost 150 years, "so there were some things that sustained it. At its core it's a creation of the Worcester community for the Worcester community."

Mechanics Hall, a nonprofit organization, is a historic downtown building that hosts concerts ranging from international orchestras and soloists to the Worcester Youth Orchestras, as well as graduations, weddings, birthdays, and civic and private meetings. Its excellent acoustics have drawn artists such as Yo Yo Ma to come to record their albums.

This hasn't always been the case. After an initial heyday that saw the likes of Charles Dickens visit, the building became a shadow of its former glory, with roller skating and wrestling the main attractions. A major fundraising campaign and renovation and restoration in the 1970s paved the way for the modern Mechanics Hall. The late Julie Chase Fuller became executive director in 1976, followed by Norma J. Sandison, who was executive director for 17 years before retiring in 2006.

"It wasn't broke so I wasn't going to fix it," Kennedy said of his coming in as executive director.

But there would be "adjustments."

"To me at the time it was being clear that we needed to reach out to the community if we wanted the community to be here and feel it was important to them."

At his first First Night Worcester in 2006 he was struck by local performers saying what a great opportunity it had been for them to perform in Mechanics Hall.

"I thought 'Why is it so unique? Why don't they feel they can afford to be in Mechanics Hall? ' "

Kennedy said he "looked into the the numbers and understood." But he talked to the Worcester County Mechanics Association board of trustees "and they encouraged me to reach out, not just to the music community but also that part of the community that was changing ethnically. Worcester is a multi-ethnic community. You need iconic institutions where people can go and celebrate."

His background at Kennedy Die Castings — which was taken over by the former Thermalcast LLC in 2004, both becoming victims of foreign competition — has helped him at Mechanics Hall in several respects.

"Working in a family business I was used to long hours," Kennedy said. There have been long hours at Mechanics Hall. "From the moment someone comes into the office and says 'I've got a problem,' you've got to deal with that problem. You're a juggler and you've got to keep everything in the air."

When he was asked by his father to join the family business "that intrigued me. It was a great experience. One of the things the business let me do was get involved in the community. That was fun and led me to where I am right now."

In 2006 Mechanics Hall hosted 220 to 230 events. In 2018 that number will be 270 to 280, or 20 percent more, Kennedy said. "I think that's a credit to a great staff we have here."

There have been surpluses in 10 out of Kennedy's 12 years. Rental income covers about 70 to 80 percent of the hall's costs, which usually include capital improvements of about half a million dollars a year. "You just have to do this," Kennedy said of projects such as replacing the heating system last year. In the next couple of months, Mechanics Hall will be re-carpeted.

Donor support and grants are important to top those costs and keep being able to let nonprofit groups use the hall at reduced rates. In particular, Mechanics Hall is focused on increasing its endowment. Kennedy said that at the insistence of the board, he "reluctantly" gave his name to a new initiative, the Bob Kennedy Legacy Fund for Mechanics Hall Endowment. As people may find out on Tuesday, the campaign has been going well.

Over 12 years, Mechanics Hall "has grown in me every day," Kennedy said.

"I was a little bit in awe when I first came in." For one thing the hall has lots of complex back passages. "I've mastered that," he said.

"I'm often asked 'What's the best part of Mechanics Hall?' The worst part is leaving here at two in the morning and have to be back at seven. Have I come to love this place? I absolutely have."

He's enjoyed watching graduations and "what I call a 'Mechanics Hall moment' that you can't forget" at concerts, such as percussionist Evelyn Glennie's stunning conclusion to her performance in 2009. "It was magic."

Taking over from Kennedy Sept. 26 will be Kathleen M. Gagne, who has been at Mechanics Hall 24 years, most recently as vice president and chief development officer.

"I didn't run the machinery at Kennedy Die Castings. I don't run the events at Mechanics Hall. But if you asked the people at Kennedy Die who worked with me they would say, 'He knew what was going on.' I think at Mechanics Hall people would say, 'He knows who we are and where we're going.' Kathy Gagne continues that tradition. Kathy knows Mechanics Hall and where it's going."

Gagne said in earlier interview she didn't know what to expect at first when Kennedy came in, but they soon enjoyed a good working relationship, which includes a shared commitment to Mechanics Hall.

Margaret Wong, president of the board of trustees, said, "The board did not want to lose the momentum achieved under the leadership of Bob Kennedy. The handoff to Kathy, who had already demonstrated skilled, even visionary leadership, was an obvious best choice to the board of trustees."

Kennedy, who is married with two children, said, "What happens as you get older, you get a little more tired at 70 than you did at 58. My wife and I love to travel. We want to do some more traveling."

On the other hand, Kennedy isn't expecting to come to a full stop when it comes to working.

He envisions "Helping out where I can in different businesses. If they need me back here (Mechanics Hall) it's the only unpaid work I'll do. I'll maintain my ties but Kathy's going to run the place. I'm not going to run the place. I don't want to be a shadow lurking in the background."

Especially if the hour is late. "I'm not going away. But at midnight you won't find me."

Contact Richard Duckett at richard.duckett@telegram.com

Follow him on Twitter @TGRDuckett