![]() The water would have to be changed-out frequently to ensure it did not go stagnant and create a foul smell. A small area of original paint in the basement indicates the water level for the swamp cooler system. Foul air would have been extracted by exhaust fans in the ceiling. In a dry climate such as in Arizona, this has the effect of cooling the air, which then exited the plenum through mushrooms under the seats. External air was pulled down shafts and blown by huge electric fans across a massive pool of water in the plenum. The plenum space under the auditorium was originally designed as a massive swamp cooler. ![]() It is known as the Kissing Room or the Room of the Young Modernes. Although now decorated in a style similar to the rest of the theatre it was originally decorated and furnished in the “mode of the Moderne”. The completely circular room was originally fitted-out with love seats and lit with hidden soft blue lighting illuminating the domed ceiling, giving an intimacy to the whole affair. Next to the Tower Room is a round room which is original and was dedicated to the “modern young”. It is now used to host heritage displays and historic items relating to the theatre. The mezzanine promenade also features a double-height space called the Tower Room directly above the entrance lobby and below the cupola, which was not originally open the public. The face of the balcony, including ports of the projection booth, mimics the balcony rear wall with its semicircular windows. A cornice along the balcony front originally concealed hidden cove lighting. The front section of the balcony overhangs and is supported on massive concrete cantilever beams projecting out from the main balcony, decorated to give the appearance of carved wooden timbers. The balcony is cantilevered on steel trusses and presents a face about 10-12ft high. Over the width of the proscenium dancing muses in various poses are set within gold medallions. On both the frontispieces, and around the proscenium, are found symbolical characters of Orpheus and the Greek Muses. ![]() The frontispieces are Spanish Renaissance styled in the manner of 17th century artist José Churriguera.Īt the top center of each frontispiece is a full size statue of Venus supporting the vase of enjoyment on her shoulders. On either side of the proscenium are monumental companion frontispieces, hiding the organ chambers, which act as ornamental buttresses to the proscenium. Patrons sat below a vast blue-sky ceiling which featured tiny twinkling lights to suggest stars and projected moving cloud effects, affording a sense of sitting under the twilight sky watching a performance alfresco. Spanish Baroque Revival was the predominant style used for the building, with the auditorium being of an atmospheric design. The theatrical policy of the new theatre was to be motion pictures, vaudeville, and road attractions. The name of the theatre was changed to the Orpheum Theatre by the time it opened, and the final cost swelled to $750,000. In the end additional floors were not built and the theatre did not open until January 1929, by which time Rickards & Nace had changed allegiance to the Orpheum Circuit. The theatre was three stories in height but was built with foundations capable of supporting eight stories, the intention being to add office space above the theatre “as local conditions warrant”. Rickards & Nace were operating as a subsidiary of the Universal chain at the time, and as reported by local newspaper The Arizona Republican in October 1927, the theatre was to be called the Granada Theatre. Plans for the $500,000 theatre building were announced and a groundbreaking ceremony held in July 1927, with opening slated for late December that year, possibly early January 1928. Mahoney of Phoenix-based architect firm Lescher & Mahoney, with Hugh Gilbert acting as an associate architect. Rickards and Harry Nace built the theatre. ![]() Established Arizona theatre operators Jo E. ![]()
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