The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium is a historic performance hall in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Built between 1922 and 1924 by John Parks (John Parks Company, General Contractors) at a cost of $700,000 and designed by noted architectR. H. Hunt, who also designed Chattanooga's lavish Tivoli Theatre, the theater honors area veterans of World War I.
The building, located at 399 McCallie Avenue is about halfway between downtown and the UT Chattanooga campus. It occupies half of the city block bounded by McCallie Avenue, Lindsay Street, Oak Street and Georgia Avenue.
The building contains two theaters; the lower one seats 3,866 and the upper one seats 1,012. There is also a small trade show convention hall in the basement that measures 9,600 square feet (890m2).
By the early 1960s, Memorial Auditorium had fallen into disrepair. The building was closed in 1965, and reopened after renovations the following year. It closed again in 1988 for further restoration and modernization. The repairs cost over $7 million, and Memorial Auditorium reopened in 1991.
In 1975, the auditorium's board of directors found themselves before the United States Supreme Court, as they had been sued by the producers of the musical Hair who were denied permission to stage their show because of its nudity. See the case at . The case was known as Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad 420 U.S. 546. Justice Harry Blackmun, writing for the court, held that the prohibition on staging the musical was an illegal prior restraint. Also in 1975, Kiss made its first headline-act performance here on September 10 for their then-released Alive! album..
For over 85 years, the venue has hosted religious festivals, political rallies, debutante galas, opera, musicals and concerts. It continues to be an important cultural attraction for the city, and a key part of its history. In July 2007, the auditorium's historic concert pipe organ, dating to the building's construction, was rededicated after restoration by the Chattanooga Music Club over a period of 21 years. Efforts are now underway to insure the instrument's continued use and preservation.
Starting in February 2012, renovation began on the smaller community theater located upstairs. It had been closed for over a year primarily due to handicap accessibility issues. All of the seating will be replaced with pews, a concession stand will be added, bathrooms will be overhauled, and finally, accessibility will be improved with adding an elevator to reach the floor where the theater is housed. Completion of the work is expected sometime during 2013. Architect Bob Franklin is leading the design.
Orchestra Hall is an elaborate concert hall in the United States, located at 3711 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. The hall is renowned for its superior acoustic properties and serves as the home of the internationally known Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States. With the creation of an adjoining auditorium for jazz and chamber music in 2003, Orchestra Hall became part of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The Tennessee Theatre is a movie palace in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The theater was built in 1928 in the 1908 Burwell Building, considered Knoxville's first skyscraper. The theater and Burwell Building were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and the theater was extensively restored in the early 2000s. The Tennessee Theatre currently focuses on hosting performing arts events and classic films, and is home to the Knoxville Opera and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. The theater is managed by AC Entertainment.
Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to seat 3,500 patrons, but after extensive renovations in the 1940s, it now seats up to 2,765. It has an extensive history of concerts by artists of many musical genres which continues today.
Powers Auditorium, in Youngstown, Ohio is one of the largest auditoriums in the Youngstown-Warren area. The facility is the main venue of downtown Youngstown's DeYor Performing Arts Center. The complex also includes the Adler Art Academy, Beecher Flad Pavilion, and Ford Family Recital Hall. Originally built in 1931 as the Warner Theatre, the former movie palace was renovated and reopened as Powers Auditorium in 1969.
The Jefferson Theatre is a historic performing arts theatre located on Fannin Street in downtown Beaumont, Texas. Designed by Emile Weil and built in 1927, it is an example of Old Spanish architecture and seats over 1400. The theatre was built by Jefferson Amusement Company, which was owned by Saenger Amusements. The theatre is featured on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The theatre recently underwent a comprehensive multimillion-dollar renovation. It is also one of the few theatres in the country containing its original Morton organ, produced by the Robert Morton Organ Company.
Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium is a performing arts venue at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is named in honor of Cyrus Northrop, the university's second president. Various events are held within the building, including concerts, ballet performances, lectures, and graduations.
Orpheum Theatre is a theater located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is one of four restored theaters on Hennepin Avenue, along with the Pantages Theatre, the State Theatre and the Shubert Theatre.
The Normal Theater, also known as the Normal Theatre, is a cinema located in the downtown area of Normal, Illinois of the United States of America, which is located in McLean County. The theater closed for a time in the early 1990s but reopened in 1993 after being purchased and renovated by the town of Normal. It has since been in continuous operation, showing a mix of first run and classic films. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since July 25, 1997.
Heinz Hall is a performing arts center and concert hall located at 600 Penn Avenue in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, the 2,676 seat hall presents about 200 performances each year. Originally built in 1927 as Loew's Penn Theatre, the former movie palace was renovated and reopened as Heinz Hall in 1971.
An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting.
Reuben Harrison Hunt, also known as R. H. Hunt, was an American architect who spent most of his life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is considered to have been one of the city's most significant early architects. He also designed major public building projects in other states. He was a principal of the R.H. Hunt and Co. firm.
The Renaissance Theatre, previously known as the Ohio Theatre, is a restored movie palace-type theater located at 138 Park Ave. W in Mansfield, Ohio. The 1,402-seat theater opened on January 18, 1928, as the Ohio Theatre and serves today as the largest performing arts center in North-Central Ohio. The Renaissance Performing Arts Association operates the facility and annually produces and presents approximately 40 productions consisting of Broadway-style musical theater shows, classical music concerts, comedy shows, educational performances and outreach programs, popular music concerts, special events, and family shows. The Renaissance is also home to the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra and the Miss Ohio Scholarship Pageant, the state competition for the Miss America Pageant.
The Emery Theatre, or Emery Auditorium, is a historic, acoustically exceptional theater located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The building was constructed in 1911 as the home for a trade school, but its large auditorium was intended for public use. The design of the Emery Theatre is based on the "isacoustic curve" principles that were first proposed by John Scott Russell. The theatre was built with two balconies and a total of 2,211 seats. It was one of the first concert halls in the United States to have no obstructed seats.
The Grand Riviera Theater was a movie palace theater located at 9222 Grand River Avenue in western Detroit, Michigan. It took its name from Grand River Avenue. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1980, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, but was subsequently demolished in June, 1996. The building was removed from the National Register in 2020.
The Lincoln Theatre is a 582-seat performing arts venue located at 769 E. Long Street in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The theater is owned by the City of Columbus under the auspices of the Lincoln Theatre Association. Operation of the facility is managed by CAPA. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum is a multi-purpose auditorium and meeting space in downtown Evansville, Indiana.
The Chattanooga State Office Building is a historic building at 540 McCallie Avenue in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the United States.
The Palace Theatre is a historic theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Dating from 1916, it was renovated in 2016 to become a live music venue.
The Liberty Theatre, formerly known as the Granada Theatre, is a movie theater in downtown Camas, Washington. It is the only movie theater in the city and is located on NE Fourth Avenue, next door to the Farrell Building.
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