(Landmark Theatre website)
The ultimate escapism for a 1920’s movie-goer in Syracuse is now receiving a modern makeover.
The Landmark Theatre on Salina Street is undergoing a $16 million renovation to transform the 82-year-old ornate movie palace into one of the city’s premiere performing arts venues.
Of the six theaters along Salina Street, the Landmark Theatre is the only one left. Known as movie palaces, these luxurious theaters were built in the 1920’s around the country as a way to promote the movie industry. The ornate and luxurious movie palaces were a response the emerging medium of radio, which kept potential audiences at home, say some cultural historians.
“When people entered the theater, it was as though they were going back in time to some country or empire long ago,” said theater historian Peter Moller, a professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University. “The hour or two that they were in the theater, they were suspended in a fantasy world.”
In their heyday, the movie palaces themselves were part of the entertainment. The Landmark Theatre, for example, still has most of its original décor from opening night. Inside, it is adorned with marble, tapestries and golden fixtures that resemble Turkish architecture from the Ottoman Empire. Patrons can watch a show from three different balconies and numerous private booths.
The Landmark has shown movies, hosted concerts and rented out its lobby for special events. On its stage has appeared a galaxy of stars: Tony Bennett. Harry Belafonte. Bob Dylan. Jerry Seinfeld. Al Gore.
Al Gore? Yes, Gore—the former Democratic vice president and presidential candidate, came to the Landmark Theatre for a showing of his global-warming movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
But the small size of the stage and the age of back-stage amenities have hindered the Landmark from booking larger Broadway performances, say its owners. SALT, the Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre, is the non-profit organization that owns the building.
In the renovation, the Landmark will get a major upgrade to the rigging system and overhead grids behind the curtains, while increasing the size of the stage. These are all original from its opening in 1928. The width of the stage will be expanded from 50 to 80 feet. The height of the stage ceiling will also be raised from 29 to 119 feet.
The renovation began Oct. 20 and will be completed the same time next year. The Landmark hopes the renovations will attract larger productions like Broadway’s “Lion King,” say its owners Its largest stage performance had been the “Blue Man Group” in 2003.
When it re-opens, the Theatre already has a letter of commitment from a Broadway promoter and the renovations will allow the Theatre to be booked an additional 100 nights annually, according to Denise DiRienzo, executive director of the ownership group.
The $16 million tab for the renovations will be picked up by grants and private loans. The funding includes historical tax credits up to 20 percent from The New York State Office of Historic Preservation and $7 million in state and federal grants. Of that, $6.5 million came from the state Assembly, with the help of Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse. Another $6.7 million in loans from a consortium of local banks rounds out the funding. The banks include the Community Preservation Corporation, Key, Alliance and M & T Bank.
The owners of the Landmark estimate their events contribute $14 million to the economy of Syracuse. That number could double with the expansion and renovation, predicts Common Councilor Bill Ryan. He is a member of the council’s finance, taxation and assessment committee.
“It will generate a great amount of business downtown and preserve a historic fixture in our city,” said Ryan. The city expects the renovations to generate $25 million annually to the local economy.
The Landmark Theatre will also be an important addition to the Connective Corridor, an initiative spearheaded by Syracuse University, added Councilor Ryan. The Connective Corridor is a project to revitalize the area of Syracuse that connects the University Hill area with the downtown.
In 2008, more than 200,000 people attended events at the Theatre, according to statistics from the Landmark Theatre.
(Billy Holbert is a graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism.)
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