November 11, 2021

Some days, taking care of an historic building is frustrating, tiring and a little overwhelming when you look at your to-do list. Other days are just pure joy when you discover details thought lost and now found.

Original terrazzo that's been encased behind a wall for the last fifty-six years. We've been working off black and white photos until now so this is a major find for our planned color palette in the new terrazzo.

My first thought was, damn, that's colorful! Immediately following that, look UP Virginia! Of course it is.

Part of our design was to create new bas reliefs to replace what had been removed. Imagine our jaw-on-the-ground surprise when we realized they hadn't been! Three original bas reliefs in great condition are now on display above the doors and will be incorporated into our final design.

It always makes my heart a little happy to look upon an architectural detail and think about the craftspeople involved in it's creation. Someone's hands carefully created that piece and anchored it snuggly in place and it's lasted ninety-five years. For the Hollywood, I also think of the many who walked under it to share in the community of movie going. The theater wasn't named after the neighborhood after all, the neighborhood was named after the theater.

November 10, 2021

Things are busy at the theater this morning!

November 4, 2021

There's plywood on the front walls and there's a lot more to come! The plywood that you see on the exterior of the theater today is covering areas where we did some investigative demolition. We needed to see and measure some openings in the VERY thick, poured in place, concrete walls. These were the sites of the original display case on the north side and a door into the manager's office or cloak room on the west wide. As part of our lower facade project we will be reinstalling display cases on both sides. This will return an element of symmetry to the overall design.

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