Author: McDonagh, Donald

Publication Year: 1979

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Current efforts by The City at 42nd Street and the Office of Midtown Planning and Development have focused attention on the two facing blocks on Forty-second street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues as a possible site for a dance center. These two blocks contain a total of ten theatres, all built between 1899 and 1920 for live performance, which have, since the nineteen thirties, been used for film presentation.

Abstract:

Current efforts by The City at 42nd Street and the Office of Midtown Planning and Development have focused attention on the two facing blocks on Forty-second street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues as a possible site for a dance center. These two blocks contain a total of ten theatres, all built between 1899 and 1920 for live performance, which have, since the nineteen thirties, been used for film presentation.

Of these ten theatres The New Amsterdam Theatre along with its rooftop theatre and the Victory Theatre have been evaluated as being prime candidates for institutional restoration. Since the Theatre Development Fund, The City at 42nd Street and the Office of Midtown Planning and Development all agree that a non-profit (institutional) theatre is a desirable component of any effort to upgrade the tax base and social habitability of the area, these three theatres will be examined for their suitability for such use. This examination will include the size of the house and its appropriateness, the numbers of companies which might be considered its natural constituency and estimates of the numbers of performing weeks needed by such companies in the course of a year. [Background]

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Cultural Facilities