I, too, was on that theatre architecture trip a few days ago. It’s certainly a strange and beautiful place to be-an unrestored theatre devoured by retail.
What remains are two balconies: the uppermost filled with the red chairs seen in the above pictures, the lower about ¾ filled. The balconies have an interesting, curving design to the rails that I have not seen elsewhere.
The main floor is completely bare. It appears there are layers upon layers of paint on the walls, but most of the key architectural details to the house seem to be intact. The lower boxes were removed for when the Liberty became a movie house, though the two upper boxes on each side remain.
The height of the fly tower was originally around 70'. With Hilton hotel construction, new steel beams cut that height down to around 45'. The space under stage has been, apparently, taken over for use as a utility tunnel. In the left and right wings, there is old dressing room(?) space, accessed by their own single, steel ladders a good 15-20' off the stage.
The projection booth is still there, with all the holes cut for various film-screening devices.
Perhaps my favorite detail was the hand painted glass exit signs (backlit) and fire hose cabinet.
Basically, everything remaining inside seems like what would have been there originally, minus the tacky “wavy” glass or plexiglass partitions between the main floor and
I regret that I didn’t have my camera, as I was unaware we’d be visiting such a location. As a hopeful stage designer, I’d love to be able to work in such a space once in my life…
I, too, was on that theatre architecture trip a few days ago. It’s certainly a strange and beautiful place to be-an unrestored theatre devoured by retail.
What remains are two balconies: the uppermost filled with the red chairs seen in the above pictures, the lower about ¾ filled. The balconies have an interesting, curving design to the rails that I have not seen elsewhere.
The main floor is completely bare. It appears there are layers upon layers of paint on the walls, but most of the key architectural details to the house seem to be intact. The lower boxes were removed for when the Liberty became a movie house, though the two upper boxes on each side remain.
The height of the fly tower was originally around 70'. With Hilton hotel construction, new steel beams cut that height down to around 45'. The space under stage has been, apparently, taken over for use as a utility tunnel. In the left and right wings, there is old dressing room(?) space, accessed by their own single, steel ladders a good 15-20' off the stage.
The projection booth is still there, with all the holes cut for various film-screening devices.
Perhaps my favorite detail was the hand painted glass exit signs (backlit) and fire hose cabinet.
Basically, everything remaining inside seems like what would have been there originally, minus the tacky “wavy” glass or plexiglass partitions between the main floor and
I regret that I didn’t have my camera, as I was unaware we’d be visiting such a location. As a hopeful stage designer, I’d love to be able to work in such a space once in my life…