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Renovations
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September 9, 2010
Please vote to help the historic Crandell Theatre win $25K. We need a new roof!
CHATHAM, NY — Please help the Crandell Theatre, an independent nonprofit movie theatre, win $25,000 in a community challenge. The Crandell opened in 1926 and is the largest and oldest movie theatre in Columbia County, NY.
Just click on this link and vote for the Crandell in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “This Place Matters” contest. It doesn’t cost anything and you can opt out of receiving any further emails from them. Please do this now. You must vote before September 15th.
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August 27, 2010
“Paramount Anticipation Builds” in Huntington
HUNTINGTON, NY — The former IMAC Theater in Huntington Village may be getting a new lease on life, once again as a performance venue, much to the delight of local merchants…
According to nearby business owners, the potential arrival of Paramount Theatre, a concert venue at the site of the former IMAC theater on New York Avenue, is just the ticket to generate the foot traffic that will revitalize the local economy.
“I’m very much for it,” said Trudy Kaplan, owner of Porters, Ltd. on New York Avenue, just feet away from the theater. “The town desperately needs an influx of pedestrians.”
Read the complete article in this week’s issue of The Long-Islander.
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August 10, 2010
Princess Theatre blog
HARRIMAN, TN — I have a running account of the progress on the Princess restoration.
The old seats were removed last week, and this week the new roof is going on. The work is expected to last 3 weeks. After that the facade work begins then comes the new marquee.
The inside work is expected to last through the rest of 2010. A 2 to 3 day celebration is planned once the Princess is ready for unveiling!
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August 5, 2010
Renovation work begun on former Roxian Theater
MCKEES ROCKS, PA — Andrew Hieber first had a vision for the reuse of the 1928 Roxian Theater in 2004, hoping to turn it into a concert venue, but the project proved far more complex than he first thought. After several delays and rethinkings of the project, work has now begun to turn the former movie theater into what may be the centerpiece of a revitalized entertainment area on Chartiers Avenue.
The plan is to open a side wall to create space for ticket booths and a new entrance, refurbish the main floor with a new bar area and removable seats, raise the stage for safety and better sightlines and replace the 285 balcony seats with 225 seats sized for modern rear ends. The building is also getting an elevator, new wiring, plumbing and ventilation systems, new bathrooms and new light and sound systems.
In all, the cavernous space — five floors on a 27,000-square-foot footprint — will be able to hold 1,500 for a concert, but also will be able to function café-style for banquets, receptions and smaller shows.
There is more in this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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July 26, 2010
Stanley Theater gets a facelift
STANLEY, WI — New work is being done to bring the Stanley Theater back to its look during its heyday.
It is that look, with the Vitrolite glass, that Eslinger is bringing back with the current project. It’s not easy, since production of that kind of glass ceased around 1950, according to Dunn.
His business is to find the glass as old buildings are torn down around the country, retrieve the glass, and install it in restoration or other projects like the one at Stanley Theater. He is the tops in the field, worldwide, if you want Vitrolite glass.
Read more in the Chippewa Herald.
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July 23, 2010
The Lebowsky Center has a roof again
OWOSSO, MI — The rebuilding of the fire-gutted Lebowsky Center is on schedule with the planned completion of Phase I, the exterior rebuilding, set for the state-mandated date of September 1. An event is tentatively planned for October 22 to unveil “the interior of the exterior.” Details can be found in the Argus-Press.
The Owosso Community Players' Facebook page has rebuilding photos here.
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July 22, 2010
Astoria’s Museum of Moving Image getting multi-million dollar makeover
ASTORIA, NY — The Museum of the Moving Image is getting a major renovation. The centerpiece of the $67 million project will be a new 264 seat theater that will give visitors the sensation of being inside a floating spaceship. Closed since 2008, the museum is expected to reopen in January, 2011 with several inaugural events, including the showing of twenty newly restored and rediscovered films, silent films, and several retrospectives of distinguished filmmakers.
The museum’s inaugural screenings will include a slate of 20 newly restored rediscovered films, an avant-garde series, a showing of 1928’s “L'Argent,” a silent cinema festival and retrospectives of French director Alain Resnais, documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, Italian maestro Vittorio De Sica and American maverick Arthur Penn.
“A movie can be an artistic experience of the highest order, a life-changing experience, but only in the right format,” said David Schwartz, the museum’s curator. “The Moving Image is about to become one of the finest venues in the world for viewing films.”
The is more detail inYour Nabe.
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July 14, 2010
Gadsden’s Pitman Theater undergoing renovation
GADSDEN, AL — The 1947 Pitman Theater is being renovated by the city for use as a multi-purpose events center. The last film was shown in 1983 and the city acquired it in 1986, but it was then allowed to deteriorate. The first steps toward reuse were taken in 2008, but fire code violations and lack of working air-conditioning has limited usage. The auditorium has been essentially gutted out, but its distinguished facade and marquee still grace Broad Street.
In January, the Gadsden City Council approved a resolution for Whitaker & Rawson Inc. of Birmingham to provide design plans for the HVAC replacement.
A grant of $169,000 was awarded to the city from the Department of Energy to help with costs for the heating and air conditioning replacements at the Pitman and the Ritz Theatre, which also is undergoing renovations.
A full article about the renovation is in theGadsen Times and citizens share their memories of the Pitman here.
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July 12, 2010
Regal Champlain Center theater closing for upgrades
PLATTSBURGH, NY — The Regal Champlain Center 8 will close on July 12, and is scheduled to reopen in the fall. Stadium seating and digital projection will be installed. The theater originally opened in 1987.
The brief story is at WPTZ.
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June 25, 2010
Britain’s oldest cinema prepares for a glorious sequel
EAST FINCHLEY, LONDON, ENGLAND — The longest operating single screen in Britain is getting a much-needed facelift.
This month, the adorable, historic Phoenix cinema in East Finchley, now in its 100th year, has been forced to close its doors. But not in a bad way. It is finally to receive the careful restoration it has always deserved and should be open again in September.
The 13-week closure will allow for £1m of building work to refurbish its Edwardian features and all the art deco flourishes hidden inside. There will be a gala of films and events to celebrate its reopening at the end of the summer.
Read more in the Guardian.