New Victory Theater - Times Square

The New Victory Theater
Primary Architect: Hardy Holtzman Pfeiffer Associates, NYC.
Preservationist: Jay Cardinal

Role: Project Designer: Documentation, Preliminary and Schematic Design, re-introduction of the stoop and interior organization, coordination of disciplines including Preservation, Mechanical, Structural and Code to produce 3 volume study.

Background:
For over 105 years, the New Victory Theatre has stood stoically along the ever-changing landscape of New York's famed 42nd Street.

Built as a legitimate theater in 1900, as the Theatre Republic, the architecture and design of the theater heralded a new era in showmanship and exhibition. In 1902, David Belasco took over the theater and renamed it the Belasco Theatre.

By 1914, the theater was renamed again, as the Republic. The theater continued its run as a legitimate theater until 1932, when it became Broadway's first burlesque house.

By the 1940's, the theater was renamed Victory and began to show second-run movies. When 42nd Street's fortunes plummeted in the 1970s, the Victory became the first to show pornographic movies and continued doing so into the late 1980's.

In 1990, the Victory came under public ownership, in an effort to revitalize 42nd Street. Leased to a nonprofit organization, the theater's renovation began in August of 1994 and was completed in December 1995 at a total cost of $11.4 million.

The theater is now re-opened and remains a vision of beauty and a catalyst for all that has evolved on 42nd Street.

Description from: cinematreasures.org/theater/270/