The Warner Theatre is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

and

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

-styled

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

located in

downtown Erie Downtown Erie, is the central business, cultural and government center for the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. Erie’s Central Business District includes Gannon University, UPMC Hamot hospital, Erie Insurance, and city and county government office ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places 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 or "great artistic ...

in 1982. The Warner was designed by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-architects

Rapp and Rapp C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, inclu ...

and was opened in 1931. It was used as a movie theater until 1976, when it was sold to the City of Erie. In the early 1980s, Erie converted the theater to a performing arts center, which has become the focus of a downtown revival. The theater features a 65-foot-by-28-foot

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

stage and is complemented by crushed velour, gold and silver leaf, and gold-backed French mirrors. Today it hosts concerts and

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

performances and is home to the

Erie Philharmonic Founded in 1913, the Erie Philharmonic is a professional orchestra located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Philharmonic has held their performances at the 2,500 seat Warner Theatre on State Street in downtown Erie since 1974. History The musicians u ...

and the Lake Erie Ballet. The Warner's Grand Lobby has capacity for up to 500 persons for a reception.

History

The Warner Theatre was commissioned to be built by Warner Bros. in 1929. It opened on April 10, 1931 with the showing of the film '' The Millionaire''.

Restoration Project

In 1992, the Warner Theatre became the highest priority of the local Metro Cultural Planning Committee, an arm of the Erie Area Fund for the Arts. The committee received a grant from Erie County in 1993 to develop a Master Plan, at which point members began to seek support from state legislators. The

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

appropriated $7 million for the Warner Theatre project in 1994 and released the funds in December 1997. The Warner Theatre Preservation Trust was formed in 1994 with the goal of raising $3.3 million, which it reached in January 1998. Daniel P. Coffey and Associates, LTD of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

br>
and Crowner/King of Erie were selected to head the renovation project in September 1998. Pennsylvania appropriated another $2 million in 1999 while another $1.2 million was raised by the Trust.Erie County Convention Center Authority website
/ref> An additional $11 million was released by Pennsylvania in April 2007, bringing the total funding for the renovation project to $23 million. The project was delayed from 1999 to 2001 while land was acquired at the corner of 9th Street and French Street. Phase I (new roof, interior restoration, repair of outside facade) was completed in 2002. Phase II (new seating) was completed in 2003. Phase III (expansion and integration with building at 8th Street and French Street) was due to be completed in March 2007. Phase IV (new entrance, box office, concessions, restrooms) can begin now that the $11 million has been received from the Commonwealth.

Organ

The Warner theater was originally equipped with a 3 manual 17 rank Wurlitzer pipe organ. This organ was moved to the

Grays Armory Grays Armory is a historic building in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built by the Cleveland Grays, a private military company which was founded in 1837.

in Cleveland, Ohio in 1970.

References

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External links

Warner Theatre
{{Authority control Erie, Pennsylvania Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Theatres completed in 1930 Art Deco architecture in Pennsylvania Concert halls in Pennsylvania Movie palaces Theatres in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Erie, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Erie, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Erie County, Pennsylvania 1930 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

Restoration Project

Organ

See also

References

External links