Six months away from opening, the public got an opportunity Saturday to look inside the Lansdowne Theater to see the restoration midconstruction and marvel at the 1927 structure.
As part of its annual fundraising campaign and in anticipation of the upcoming Delco Gives Day encouraging residents to donate to nonprofits, the Lansdowne Theater gave tours of how the construction process was going on at 31 N. Lansdowne Ave.
Visitors got a look at the lobby and the auditorium on the first floor and of the projection room on the second floor.
“The pretty stuff ain’t happening yet,” Matt Schultz, executive director of the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corp., said. “It’s a really interesting time to see the building. The walls are stripped back and you can see how they built the building.”
The facility opened in 1927. The first film with some sound, “The Jazz Singer,” premiered on Oct. 6, 1927, but it was a few years before “talkies” caught on.
Evidence of the transition remains with concrete blocks in front of the stage outlining where the orchestra pit was and padding on the walls that was installed when sound was introduced.
The theater closed in 1987.
HLTC board member Suzanne McShane Hall recalled her mother giving her 50 cents on weekends to go see films like “Batman” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
“You need to hold onto some of these historical buildings,” McShane Hall said. “And it has taken a long time to get this off the ground. We had to collect a lot of money. We wanted to do it right.”
Bob Jara, president of the corporation, agreed.
“It’s been such a long process for us: 18 years,” he said, adding that some people became frustrated with the duration.
“Today’s the answer to that,” Schultz said. “Today’s the answer. A lot of the stuff that’s been done so far is a lot of time-consuming stuff and some of it’s not particularly sexy.”
He gave examples.
“We had to put a seepage bed across the side of the building that nobody cares about, but we had to do it, Schultz said. “We had to catch all the water from that square footage … The way they dealt with leaks in the building for the last 60 years (was) plastic buckets. That was their drainage system. That was it.”
With a heater and multiple fans running, Jara said the facility is finally drying out.
The project includes replacing the entire roof, as well as all electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems. The historic lighting fixtures, including the centerpiece chandelier, are being restored.
Plasterwork and finishes are being matched to the theater’s original design, as is each of the 1,265 seats to be placed in the auditorium.
The stage is being enlarged and restrooms will be accessible.
In fact, there will be two women’s restrooms with double the number of stalls than the men will have. There will also be a bar built in the lobby and an addition built in the back of the theater to house dressing rooms and a loading dock.
“The building was not air conditioned and the roof leaked,” Shultz explained. “We had to take the ceiling out and all the walls on either end. They will obviously be coming back after the building dries out.”
As the lobby is restored, tile designed to match the original carpeting will be installed.
“The building is a giant superstructure at different levels,” Shultz informed his tour group, adding, “The auditorium ceiling is hanging from the roof. It’s not built from up. It’s built from down.”
He explained that one of the previous owners got house paint and used it to paint all over the ceiling.
“They eradicated all of the stuff they had done in the 1920s,” Shultz said. “So, we’re recreating that using the same techniques and the same finishes.”
A trench in the middle of the auditorium floor is key to transforming the theater into a sound venue.
“At the top of that trench is going to be a sound booth that’s constructed that’s going to look like that paneling that’s in the back,” Shultz said. “It’s going to look like it was always here.”
The original stage curtain ran into some timing challenges with its intricate beading.
“Nobody does it anymore in the United States,” Shutlz said. “We were told we could get it done. We’d have to send it to India, maybe we would get it back in five years.”
So, they took a different strategy.
“We’re having the curtains made just blank and then the theater decorator is going paint all in the fabric what the beading represents,” Shultz said. “He assures us that you won’t be able to tell the difference. It’s only on special occasions that you’re going to see it anyway.”
The valances and swags will all be matched to the 1927 theater design.
The tour came in the midst of the theater’s annual campaign and weeks before Delco Gives Day, of which the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corp. is one of 257 nonprofits the community is encouraged to donate to.
Shultz explained that the construction project has received incredible support from local, county, state and federal levels all for the purchase, design, construction and permitting for the project.
“While we raised $18 million for capital to do the construction, the annual fund is the lifeblood of the organization,” he said, as he paused to share the vision for all who come to the theater.
“They get into the building, they fall in love with the building, want to come back,” Shultz said. “Ultimately, we want to make the Lansdowne something that everyone who lives in Delaware County and in Lansdowne is proud that it’s here because this is really the last of its kind in the area.”
For more information about the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corp., visit lansdownetheater.org.
