There seems to be a film showing here almost every weekend for fund raising purposes for different worthy causes.It is great that this venue did not die off completely,as was the plan of some.
Still no Weldon,but that’s okay.I believe you have access to the deepest dungeons of this website.Find my super-secret E-mail address and send me a mailing address for your person.I procured something for you that you’d really appreciate,theater-wise.The part of NC that includes the above theater is not well economy-wise,so theater saving isn’t a huge priority normally.
As the 2nd picrure shows a lot of downtown,compare to a visit now.Where did it all go?You’d really have to look hard to find a downtown so destroyed.Leave it to the amazing Mr.Memory to show the truth so well.
Any place can be “cleaned up"if the will is there.Miami Beach was once a cesspool of vile filth.Everytime I’m forced to venture from VA to the bowels of downtown Paterson(I work for a Co.there)I am blown over by the potential there.The beauty of the bldgs still erect and the natural setting give rise to the imagination.I do have to admit to a degree of occasional real fear,since NJ doesn’t honor VA gun laws.The Fabian’s fate will be a sign of the real fate of this city.If there is no hope for the one,there is none for the other.
I went to this theater today to check out the current condition.It was REALLY locked up TIGHT.Continues to be in very good condition,probably due to being built like the proverbial brick outhouse.The neighborhood is in flux,but continues to be a bastion of middle class blacks who haven’t totally fled to the suburbs.The business district it crowns has some very attractive buildings and begs to become a artsy area of funky shops and eateries,with the theater as the focus.I wish a guy like Tim Reid and his lovely wife could get involved.Anyone remember “FRANK’S PLACE”?
There isn’t any way on God’s Green Earth(yes,Virginia,there is a God,no matter what the aclu says)That all this clever,witty vitriol designed to make the DuPage look like a piece of Pakistan after the earthquake and any one who cares at all about heritage,history and the arts into conmen and public tit suckers who want to rip the oppressed taxpayer off UNLESS something very strange is going on.This thread now has the longest area of blurb and bleeps of any theater on this great internet offering.Most of this,including my meager drivel,needs to be consigned to cyber hell and you people just fight in court.
It is obvious that this town is chuck full of small-minded folk who can’t see what happens when destruction takes away so much potential,or when INTENSE personal animosity rules heart and reason.When the theater is dust and one side has the smug look on their tight faces,what has been lost won’t be appreciated for 4 or 5 years.Let me say that whoever thinks a library will be a good sub for a thing of beauty,draw mobs to shops and eateries,is smoking something highly suspect-as suspect as the lofty motives cited herein.This thing stinks-REPEAT-this thing stinks.I’m not sure any of you civic minded people could pass a polygraph.Such a fine,cultured,upscale,cultured place as this could certainly support the theater and the programs that would follow.But I don’t think any of you deserve it.
As someone who drove by the 3 great theaters in Aberdeen and Hoquiam hundreds of times from 80-87,I’m thrilled that something good is happening.I contrast this to the horror that has unfolded over the beautiful DuPage Theater.Keep us posted,by the way are you a 501 yet,so we can contribute from anywhere in the country?
Alright,I’ve started several comments here,but as dupersuperman pointed out -I don’t,thank heaven, live there.There is an old and so true saying.FOLLOW THE MONEY.I don’t for one second believe that the one side is embued with the purity of the raped taxpayer wanting to avoid further ravishment.The zealotry,verging on the warped,I see on this page means one of two things.I do not have an advanced degrees in the arts of skrinkology,but my undergrad classes gave me enough info to say that there is the stink of the wacked out or the underhanded.Take your pick.No one is this determined to destroy beauty just for the sake of fiscal sanity-NO ONE.
I listened a pc on NPR with regards the Philharmonic and their Memphis performance,mostly with borrowed instruments.(yes,one can be addicted to FOX NEWS CHANNEL and listen to NPR-just not too much)Hundreds of thousands worth of precious peices were lost in the bowels of the theater.One violin alone was worth two fortunes.I’m sure this theater will come back.What other theaters were lost in the storms????
My big memory of this house was “BULLITT” with one of the movie cars in the lobby.It was a grabd place that,like others,should have been saved.Seattle has lost so much,including the Bon Marche.
In the not too distant past,there was a tour given.People can’t imagine the real beauty of this theater.Even pictures don’t do it justice.This house is REAL ART.The volume “Celebrate Richmond Theaters"by Dementi,Dementi and Fuller-Seely,a work of art,itself,has a lot of pictures and history.The inner dome is the biggest design feature that captures the eye,but the detailing is just so right without over doing it.(yes,some grand houses are a bit over-done)In the entire country,I don’t see another beauty like this one,namely,in good shape-and unused. Richmond has quite a few theaters of note that have not made it into this great site yet,but the National is the star.
Again,you awe and amaze,Mr.M.One word from me,who reads too many newspapers,and you are off on a Library of Congress research project.You always nail the essential truth.This place is a treasure.It can not be subjected to a muti-million dollar remake,as the idiotas in Richmond are doing with the Carpenter.First of all,they are very different venues.It’s like a super version of the San Marco in Jax., not Radio City Music Hall.Let them build a parking garage,not destroy the theater for someones ego.
The Herald aricle has a nice picture of the bldg.Additional info of note in article include Style-Mediterranean Revival Architect-Richard Kiehnel,a great local man The 1950 renovation from movie palace to playhouse was by Alfred Browning.
Interesting article in the Herald today about the landmark comm.listing the entire exterior as precious.The board had only wanted to list the entranceway.The board seems to want to destroy the bldg,build a new theater and a commercial parking garage with bond funds.The desire of artsy commisions to go grande at the cost of historical integrity is a national illness that runs rampant through these type of individuals.I’ve been there and love the theater and the Grove.It is changing-and NOT for the better.
Is there something in the water of this burg?What a bunch of insanity!How can sane people throw away this treasure?It’s obvious that bad blood is at the core of this fracas.It’s a crying shame that the small people involved are willing to sacrifice a national treasure to their vanity and ego.Of course some of the people “fighting for preservation"are obviously suffering from some special personality defects.This is so stupid.Get a life.Let some different people,who are probably on the sidelines now because of the rancor,take the helm and save this priceless,irreplacible wonder.
Hi,Warren,You missed the Virginia Theater of Danville,Va,of all places.The remarkable palace had 5,000 seats.Your list of the biggies needs that one.The list I’d pay to see is actual,real,certifiable movie palaces that still show scheduled theatrical releases.
The architect was William Parke.The current status should be under going restoration to be an arts and performance center.It is used now for special programs.Recently(July) a large multi-state law enforcement conference was held there.I know they have sought large grants for their project from various sources.This bldg is considered a real treasure after years of neglect.
There seems to be a film showing here almost every weekend for fund raising purposes for different worthy causes.It is great that this venue did not die off completely,as was the plan of some.
Still no Weldon,but that’s okay.I believe you have access to the deepest dungeons of this website.Find my super-secret E-mail address and send me a mailing address for your person.I procured something for you that you’d really appreciate,theater-wise.The part of NC that includes the above theater is not well economy-wise,so theater saving isn’t a huge priority normally.
As the 2nd picrure shows a lot of downtown,compare to a visit now.Where did it all go?You’d really have to look hard to find a downtown so destroyed.Leave it to the amazing Mr.Memory to show the truth so well.
Any place can be “cleaned up"if the will is there.Miami Beach was once a cesspool of vile filth.Everytime I’m forced to venture from VA to the bowels of downtown Paterson(I work for a Co.there)I am blown over by the potential there.The beauty of the bldgs still erect and the natural setting give rise to the imagination.I do have to admit to a degree of occasional real fear,since NJ doesn’t honor VA gun laws.The Fabian’s fate will be a sign of the real fate of this city.If there is no hope for the one,there is none for the other.
I went to this theater today to check out the current condition.It was REALLY locked up TIGHT.Continues to be in very good condition,probably due to being built like the proverbial brick outhouse.The neighborhood is in flux,but continues to be a bastion of middle class blacks who haven’t totally fled to the suburbs.The business district it crowns has some very attractive buildings and begs to become a artsy area of funky shops and eateries,with the theater as the focus.I wish a guy like Tim Reid and his lovely wife could get involved.Anyone remember “FRANK’S PLACE”?
There isn’t any way on God’s Green Earth(yes,Virginia,there is a God,no matter what the aclu says)That all this clever,witty vitriol designed to make the DuPage look like a piece of Pakistan after the earthquake and any one who cares at all about heritage,history and the arts into conmen and public tit suckers who want to rip the oppressed taxpayer off UNLESS something very strange is going on.This thread now has the longest area of blurb and bleeps of any theater on this great internet offering.Most of this,including my meager drivel,needs to be consigned to cyber hell and you people just fight in court.
It is obvious that this town is chuck full of small-minded folk who can’t see what happens when destruction takes away so much potential,or when INTENSE personal animosity rules heart and reason.When the theater is dust and one side has the smug look on their tight faces,what has been lost won’t be appreciated for 4 or 5 years.Let me say that whoever thinks a library will be a good sub for a thing of beauty,draw mobs to shops and eateries,is smoking something highly suspect-as suspect as the lofty motives cited herein.This thing stinks-REPEAT-this thing stinks.I’m not sure any of you civic minded people could pass a polygraph.Such a fine,cultured,upscale,cultured place as this could certainly support the theater and the programs that would follow.But I don’t think any of you deserve it.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
IS IT STILL THERE?
Are there any pictures of this theater?
As someone who drove by the 3 great theaters in Aberdeen and Hoquiam hundreds of times from 80-87,I’m thrilled that something good is happening.I contrast this to the horror that has unfolded over the beautiful DuPage Theater.Keep us posted,by the way are you a 501 yet,so we can contribute from anywhere in the country?
Alright,I’ve started several comments here,but as dupersuperman pointed out -I don’t,thank heaven, live there.There is an old and so true saying.FOLLOW THE MONEY.I don’t for one second believe that the one side is embued with the purity of the raped taxpayer wanting to avoid further ravishment.The zealotry,verging on the warped,I see on this page means one of two things.I do not have an advanced degrees in the arts of skrinkology,but my undergrad classes gave me enough info to say that there is the stink of the wacked out or the underhanded.Take your pick.No one is this determined to destroy beauty just for the sake of fiscal sanity-NO ONE.
You mean an NPR report wasn’t totally accurate???My faith in the liberal media machine could be hurt.
I listened a pc on NPR with regards the Philharmonic and their Memphis performance,mostly with borrowed instruments.(yes,one can be addicted to FOX NEWS CHANNEL and listen to NPR-just not too much)Hundreds of thousands worth of precious peices were lost in the bowels of the theater.One violin alone was worth two fortunes.I’m sure this theater will come back.What other theaters were lost in the storms????
grand grand
My big memory of this house was “BULLITT” with one of the movie cars in the lobby.It was a grabd place that,like others,should have been saved.Seattle has lost so much,including the Bon Marche.
In the not too distant past,there was a tour given.People can’t imagine the real beauty of this theater.Even pictures don’t do it justice.This house is REAL ART.The volume “Celebrate Richmond Theaters"by Dementi,Dementi and Fuller-Seely,a work of art,itself,has a lot of pictures and history.The inner dome is the biggest design feature that captures the eye,but the detailing is just so right without over doing it.(yes,some grand houses are a bit over-done)In the entire country,I don’t see another beauty like this one,namely,in good shape-and unused. Richmond has quite a few theaters of note that have not made it into this great site yet,but the National is the star.
It has been used a few times for special presentations,I understend,but in no way could be considered"open".sadly.
Again,you awe and amaze,Mr.M.One word from me,who reads too many newspapers,and you are off on a Library of Congress research project.You always nail the essential truth.This place is a treasure.It can not be subjected to a muti-million dollar remake,as the idiotas in Richmond are doing with the Carpenter.First of all,they are very different venues.It’s like a super version of the San Marco in Jax., not Radio City Music Hall.Let them build a parking garage,not destroy the theater for someones ego.
A conflict between the Herald and Mr.Memory on dates.I’d put my money on Mr.Memory.
The Herald aricle has a nice picture of the bldg.Additional info of note in article include Style-Mediterranean Revival Architect-Richard Kiehnel,a great local man The 1950 renovation from movie palace to playhouse was by Alfred Browning.
Interesting article in the Herald today about the landmark comm.listing the entire exterior as precious.The board had only wanted to list the entranceway.The board seems to want to destroy the bldg,build a new theater and a commercial parking garage with bond funds.The desire of artsy commisions to go grande at the cost of historical integrity is a national illness that runs rampant through these type of individuals.I’ve been there and love the theater and the Grove.It is changing-and NOT for the better.
Is there something in the water of this burg?What a bunch of insanity!How can sane people throw away this treasure?It’s obvious that bad blood is at the core of this fracas.It’s a crying shame that the small people involved are willing to sacrifice a national treasure to their vanity and ego.Of course some of the people “fighting for preservation"are obviously suffering from some special personality defects.This is so stupid.Get a life.Let some different people,who are probably on the sidelines now because of the rancor,take the helm and save this priceless,irreplacible wonder.
Hi,Warren,You missed the Virginia Theater of Danville,Va,of all places.The remarkable palace had 5,000 seats.Your list of the biggies needs that one.The list I’d pay to see is actual,real,certifiable movie palaces that still show scheduled theatrical releases.
The architect was William Parke.The current status should be under going restoration to be an arts and performance center.It is used now for special programs.Recently(July) a large multi-state law enforcement conference was held there.I know they have sought large grants for their project from various sources.This bldg is considered a real treasure after years of neglect.