Hyart Theater | |
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| Location | 251 E. Main St., Lovell, Wyoming |
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| Built | 1950 |
| Architect | Bischoff, Hy |
| NRHP reference # | 08001304 |
| Added to NRHP | January 08, 2009 [1] |
The Hyart Theater was built in Lovell, Wyoming, by Hyrum "Hy" Bischoff in 1950. It is a rare Wyoming example of a cinema from the early 1950s. The building is notable for the turquoise-colored metal lattice screen that covers a pink metal facade, as well as for its tall neon pylon sign.
Lovell is the largest town in Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 2,360 at the 2010 census.
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the western United States. The state is the 10th largest by area, the least populous, and the second most sparsely populated state in the country. Wyoming is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, on the southwest by Utah, and on the west by Idaho and Montana. The state population was estimated at 577,737 in 2018, which is less than 31 of the most populous U.S. cities including Denver in neighboring Colorado. Cheyenne is the state capital and the most populous city, with an estimated population of 63,624 in 2017.
A movie theater, cinema, or cinema hall, also known as a picture house or the pictures, is a building that contains an auditorium for viewing films for entertainment. Most, but not all, theaters are commercial operations catering to the general public, who attend by purchasing a ticket. Some movie theaters, however, are operated by non-profit organizations or societies that charge members a membership fee to view films.
The Bischoff family was part of a Mormon group sent from Fountain Green, Utah, to settle in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. Dan Bischoff (1870-1936) bought the Armada Theater in Lovell in 1913 and converted it into a cinema. His son Hy took over the business on his father's death and operated two Armada theaters. Determining to build a new cinema, Hy toured the mountain states region looking at other cinemas. The 1949 Villa Theatre in Salt Lake City particularly impressed Bischoff, and he modeled the Hyart's lobby after the Villa's. Bischoff designed his new theater and directed the construction. Owing to shortages of steel during the Korean War, Bischoff obtained salvaged rails from the mines at Bearcreek, Montana and had them fashioned into steel roof trusses. [2]
Fountain Green is a city in Sanpete County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,071 at the 2010 census.
The Villa Theatre is a now-closed movie theater in Salt Lake City, Utah, located at 3092 S. Highland Drive. The theatre was open from December 23, 1949 to February 18, 2003. It now serves as a location for Adib's Rug Gallery.
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous municipality of the U.S. state of Utah. With an estimated population of 190,884 in 2014, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,153,340. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area, a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along a 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,423,912. It is one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin.
The two story building measures approximately 224 feet (68 m) deep by 70 feet (21 m) wide, facing onto Main Street. The walls are structural clay tile faced with brick, while the lower portion of the street facade is faced with small brick-like slabs of rhyolite from Idaho Falls, Idaho. The upper part of the street elevation is covered with pink sheet metal and screened by an elaborate diagonal lattice of turquoise metal. An office and apartment are located on the second floor, with eight windows behind the lattice. Pink neon lights outline the facade behind the lattice. A tall pylon features a neon-lighted artist's palette and the word HYART at a right angle to the street. [2]
Structural clay tile describes a category of burned-clay building materials used to construct roofing, walls, and flooring for structural and non-structural purposes, especially in fireproofing applications. Also called building tile, structural terra cotta, hollow tile, and clay block, the material is an extruded clay shape with substantial depth that allows it to be laid in the same manner as other clay or concrete masonry. In North America it was chiefly used during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reaching peak popularity at the turn of the century and declining around the 1950s. Structural clay tile grew in popularity in the end of the nineteenth-century because it could be constructed faster, was lighter, and required simpler flat falsework than earlier brick vaulting construction. Each unit is generally made of clay or terra-cotta with hollow cavities, or cells, inside it. The material is commonly used in floor arches, fireproofing, partition walls, and furring. It continues to be used in Europe to build fire-resistant walls and partitions. In North America the material has largely been replaced by concrete masonry units.
Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic (silica-rich) composition (typically > 69% SiO2 – see the TAS classification). It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic. The mineral assemblage is usually quartz, sanidine and plagioclase (in a ratio > 2:1 – see the QAPF diagram). Biotite and hornblende are common accessory minerals. It is the extrusive equivalent to granite.
Idaho Falls is the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 133,265.
The interior features the original carpeting and painted scrollwork above paneling. Originally seating 1001, the Hyart now seats 940, including a balcony with more than 200 seats. The theater features a soundproof "crying room" for parents with crying babies. [2]
A cry room or crying room is a space designed for people to take babies or small children for privacy or to reduce the disturbance of others. They are usually found in churches, theatres, and cinemas. In some venues, they are called "infant care rooms". Cry rooms are often designed with soundproofing properties to dampen the sounds made within. Many are equipped with a speaker system to allow the occupants to continue to listen to the main presentation, be it a church service or performance in a theatre.
In 1960 Hy's daughter Loretta took over the management of the theater. Hy died in 1988 and Loretta closed the theater in 1992. The Hyart was re-opened by a community group in 2004.
The Hyart was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. [1]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.
The Hyart Theater is the largest digital screen cinema in Wyoming. It features three showtimes year round, Friday nights at 7, Saturday afternoons and 3, and Saturday nights at 7, and a fourth showtime in the summer Thursday nights at 7.
The Hyart is owned and operated by Wendy Ross, who employs three managers, and four employees. It is proud to be mostly volunteer run, with one manager and one employee working each showing, and seven volunteers helping them.
