Chase's Theater and Riggs Building | |
Location | 1426 G Street and 615-627 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. |
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Coordinates | 38°53′53.2″N77°1′59.9″W / 38.898111°N 77.033306°W |
Built | 1912 |
Architect | Jules Henri de Sibour |
Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
NRHP reference No. | 78003053 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 7, 1978 |
The Chase's Theater and Riggs Building, also known as the Keith-Albee Theater and the Keith-Albee Building, was a historic building located at 1426 G Street and 615-627 15th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the city's Downtown area.
The Beaux-Arts theater was originally designed by Jules Henri de Sibour, and built in 1912, for Plimpston B. Chase. He sold the theater to B.F. Keith in 1913. [2] It was a part of the B.F. Keith vaudeville circuit, which became a part of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum chain, and then RKO Pictures. William Howard Taft attended the opening in 1912, and Woodrow Wilson regularly attended. Entertainers included: Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallée, Laurel and Hardy, and ZaSu Pitts.
In 1956, RKO sold the building, to Morris Cafritz for $1.55 million. In 1959, he offered to sell the building to the city as a performing arts center, but the city would not assume the $1.5 million mortgage. The movie theater closed in 1978; it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In March 1978, the United States Commission of Fine Arts recommended saving the facade of the Keith-Albee Theater and National Metropolitan Bank. [3] [4] [5]
In 1979, the D.C. Superior Court halted demolition of the Keith Albee building, [6] but then allowed demolition of the interior. [7] The developer said he would preserve the historic facade of the Keith-Albee theater building, if he could demolish Rhodes' Tavern. [8]
It is now the Metropolitan Square office building. [9]
Thomas White Lamb was a Scottish-born, American architect. He was one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas of the 20th century.
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The RKO Boston Theatre was a movie theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, located at 616 Washington Street, near Essex Street in the Boston Theater District. It opened as the Keith-Albee Boston Theatre on October 5, 1925.
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The Financial Historic District, previously known as the Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District, is a historic district in Washington, D.C. The boundaries of the historic district include 38 buildings, 2 of which are non-contributing properties. Before 2016, the historic district included 20 buildings. The construction of the Treasury Building just east of the White House played a significant role in the financial district's development. Major banks and other financial institutions wanted to be close to the Treasury Building; therefore, many of the historic district's buildings were constructed along 15th Street NW, from Pennsylvania Avenue to I Street.
The B. F. Keith Circuit was a chain of vaudeville theaters in the United States and Canada owned by Benjamin Franklin Keith for the acts that he booked. Known for a time as the United Booking Office, and under various other names, the circuit was managed by Edward Franklin Albee, who gained control of it in 1918, following the death of Keith's son A. Paul Keith.
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