Neighborhood theaters and Drive-in Movies

[LizzieMaine]

Our theatre was actually *in* Architectural Digest eleven years ago -- February 2006 issue, for those keeping score at home -- and in terms of sheer looks, the designers of the renovation did a fine job. But they designed the place specifically to get it into AD, and having accomplished that purpose, we who were left with the responsibility of actually running the building were left hanging.

I've lost track of the problems -- an HVAC system that was designed for a factory environment, not a small theatre, and which has been nothing but trouble since the day it was turned on, poor airflow that results in negative pressure at the door that's so strong patrons can't pull the doors open at certain times of year, a complete lack of grease vents at the concession stand so that the popcorn oil condenses on the ceiling and has to be manually scoured away, plumbing that runs upward thru an outside wall and is prone to freezing and rupturing when there's an extended cold spell, and a projection booth with no means for venting the heat from auxiliary equipment outside without removing the porthole glass. And absolutely inexplicably, no access to the roof from inside the building. Every day that goes by some new thing appears that causes me to shake my fist and curse the people who designed the renovation. Bah.

They didn't interview me for the AD article.

 

[BlueTrain]

Most buildings and homes don't make it into architechtual or decorating magazines. That narrows it down a bit. The neighbors quickly cease to be important. Ultimately the one paying the bills has to be pleased, mostly.

I mentioned Philip Johnson's Glass House, which I have not visited. The house is hard describe but it clearly isn't a blank canvas. I does come close to being a stage, however. One review did report the cabinets in the kitchen and elsewhere showed heavy use. So do most stage floors.

One family back in West Virginia that were not related to me but I had known since childhood had a sort of vacation place in the country near where I lived. It was basically an oversized garage. It even had garage doors. When they retired, they built a very nice ranch-style house attached to the old building, which they retained. The house had an all-white, sunken living room and this was in the country. I don't think it was ever used but at least nothing was covered in plastic.

 

[BlueTrain]

I just glanced at the theater issue. "The last picture show" is not a happy description.

As I see it, the problem of all of those small towns, and I'm from one of them, is simply that the main employer has gone away. It doesn't have to go to China, but merely 75 miles away. That's all it takes. It's more than that, of course, and there's no way the clock is going to be turned back. Once upon a time the train station was an important place in almost every town, even tiny ones. Then one day the train didn't stop there anymore. Nobody noticed because they were all out for a Sunday drive. But Main Street was still busy. So busy, in fact, that you had trouble finding a parking spot, and it took for ever just to drive from one side of town to the other, where you knew of a store that was open on Sunday. Then someone built a big store outside of town--or outside of the next town over, the big town where the television station was. It was great! They had everything and the prices were lower than the stores back home.

But when you got back home, you noticed the old stores were starting to close. But you never like them anyway. And before you knew it, things were really different in your hometown. You couldn't quite put your finger on when it happened, either. It might have been when the 4th of July came and went and there was no fireworks display at the local swimming pool. Or when you realized there had been no Christmas parade. What happened?

 

[tonyb]

I just glanced at the theater issue. "The last picture show" is not a happy description.

As I see it, the problem of all of those small towns, and I'm from one of them, is simply that the main employer has gone away. It doesn't have to go to China, but merely 75 miles away. That's all it takes. It's more than that, of course, and there's no way the clock is going to be turned back. Once upon a time the train station was an important place in almost every town, even tiny ones. Then one day the train didn't stop there anymore. Nobody noticed because they were all out for a Sunday drive. But Main Street was still busy. So busy, in fact, that you had trouble finding a parking spot, and it took for ever just to drive from one side of town to the other, where you knew of a store that was open on Sunday. Then someone built a big store outside of town--or outside of the next town over, the big town where the television station was. It was great! They had everything and the prices were lower than the stores back home.

But when you got back home, you noticed the old stores were starting to close. But you never like them anyway. And before you knew it, things were really different in your hometown. You couldn't quite put your finger on when it happened, either. It might have been when the 4th of July came and went and there was no fireworks display at the local swimming pool. Or when you realized there had been no Christmas parade. What happened?

I wonder if this demographic bubble -- baby boomers entering retirement in large numbers -- might go some way toward reversing that trend. The cities have been revived in large part by young people wishing to live there. Perhaps smaller, more remote settlements, with their lower cost of living and generally slower pace, might appeal to older folks.

 

[tonyb]

Most buildings and homes don't make it into architechtual or decorating magazines. That narrows it down a bit. The neighbors quickly cease to be important. Ultimately the one paying the bills has to be pleased, mostly.

I mentioned Philip Johnson's Glass House, which I have not visited. The house is hard describe but it clearly isn't a blank canvas. I does come close to being a stage, however. One review did report the cabinets in the kitchen and elsewhere showed heavy use. So do most stage floors.

One family back in West Virginia that were not related to me but I had known since childhood had a sort of vacation place in the country near where I lived. It was basically an oversized garage. It even had garage doors. When they retired, they built a very nice ranch-style house attached to the old building, which they retained. The house had an all-white, sunken living room and this was in the country. I don't think it was ever used but at least nothing was covered in plastic.

New construction technologies came on after the War, making possible structures such as Johnson's glass house and Mies's Farnsworth house and many of the Case Study houses in Southern California. They aren't everybody's cup of tea, but I dig 'em. (I could never afford one, of course.)

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/mies-van-der-rohe-farnsworth-philip-johnson-glass-house

An old girlfriend's dad was an architect who went bankrupt promoting a construction system of his own invention. The house said girlfriend grew up in was what I believe to be the only example of that system that was actually built. I suspect he went to his grave believing in his "system," and I'm in no position to say he was wrong about that. I liked the house he built just fine. Lots of clear span. Lots of glass.

 

[Haversack]

The post-war demand for housing led to a lot of innovation and experimentation in construction. One of the more interesting technologies was the Tournalayer. This was a giant concrete form on wheels that could cast a reinforced concrete house in 24 hours. See here for one in action.

 

[tonyb]

Our theatre was actually *in* Architectural Digest eleven years ago -- February 2006 issue, for those keeping score at home -- and in terms of sheer looks, the designers of the renovation did a fine job. But they designed the place specifically to get it into AD, and having accomplished that purpose, we who were left with the responsibility of actually running the building were left hanging.

I've lost track of the problems -- an HVAC system that was designed for a factory environment, not a small theatre, and which has been nothing but trouble since the day it was turned on, poor airflow that results in negative pressure at the door that's so strong patrons can't pull the doors open at certain times of year, a complete lack of grease vents at the concession stand so that the popcorn oil condenses on the ceiling and has to be manually scoured away, plumbing that runs upward thru an outside wall and is prone to freezing and rupturing when there's an extended cold spell, and a projection booth with no means for venting the heat from auxiliary equipment outside without removing the porthole glass. And absolutely inexplicably, no access to the roof from inside the building. Every day that goes by some new thing appears that causes me to shake my fist and curse the people who designed the renovation. Bah.

They didn't interview me for the AD article.

They got a "name" author to write the piece. Not his finest work, though.

 

[tonyb]

The post-war demand for housing led to a lot of innovation and experimentation in construction. One of the more interesting technologies was the Tournalayer. This was a giant concrete form on wheels that could cast a reinforced concrete house in 24 hours. See here for one in action.

Innerestin'. Why didn't it catch on?

The old GF's dad's patented innovation was some sort of lightweight modular concrete system. That's about all I know of it, though. And I don't know why it never caught on, either.

Are you still practicing in the field?

 

[tonyb]

Our theatre was actually *in* Architectural Digest eleven years ago -- February 2006 issue, for those keeping score at home -- and in terms of sheer looks, the designers of the renovation did a fine job. But they designed the place specifically to get it into AD, and having accomplished that purpose, we who were left with the responsibility of actually running the building were left hanging.

I've lost track of the problems -- an HVAC system that was designed for a factory environment, not a small theatre, and which has been nothing but trouble since the day it was turned on, poor airflow that results in negative pressure at the door that's so strong patrons can't pull the doors open at certain times of year, a complete lack of grease vents at the concession stand so that the popcorn oil condenses on the ceiling and has to be manually scoured away, plumbing that runs upward thru an outside wall and is prone to freezing and rupturing when there's an extended cold spell, and a projection booth with no means for venting the heat from auxiliary equipment outside without removing the porthole glass. And absolutely inexplicably, no access to the roof from inside the building. Every day that goes by some new thing appears that causes me to shake my fist and curse the people who designed the renovation. Bah.

They didn't interview me for the AD article.

You've mentioned before something to the effect that there's more of that 1923 structure that dates from the 20-aughts than the 1920s.

I'm okay with that, if that what it takes to "preserve" the place. Many an old landmark structure is really a new structure built inside the veneer of an old structure. That's done frequently with old schools, especially in earthquake country, where an unreinforced masonry schoolhouse is not where you wish your kids to be when the big one hits. There's a technique called "shotcreting," which, among other things, can turn old brick exterior walls into new reinforced concrete walls with old brick faces. I won't bore you with the details, but it's pretty cool.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Up north of me in Santa Fe an old friend, George R.R. Martin, bought an old, abandoned theater and spiffed it up as the "Jean Cocteau." Like Lizzie's it runs classic and art films, usually with guests like directors and actors or film scholars to run a whole program for a single film. It's been a huge success. Of course, it's nice to have George's sort of wealth to be able to support such a hobby.

 

[tonyb]

Up north of me in Santa Fe an old friend, George R.R. Martin, bought an old, abandoned theater and spiffed it up as the "Jean Cocteau." Like Lizzie's it runs classic and art films, usually with guests like directors and actors or film scholars to run a whole program for a single film. It's been a huge success. Of course, it's nice to have George's sort of wealth to be able to support such a hobby.

Santa Fe would be the place for such an undertaking, unlike Archer City, Texas, where Larry McMurtry's bookstores are a monument to one well-to-do man's romance with books (the kind made of paper) and middle-of-nowhere small-town Texas.

 

[Blowtorch]

As you might tell by my avatar, I'm a fan of drive-in theaters.
The season will be here soon! Gotta love movies underneath the stars

 

[totallyfrozen]

I've seen that as time have changed, larger cities seem to be able to weather it better than small towns. Seems the larger population contains enough people still interested in things to keep them lucrative. You can't really expect small towns to be able to keep things frozen in time and continue to afford it.
There are many movie theaters and playhouses where I live and even a popular drive-in.

We went to the drive-in here ONCE. Unfortunately, a cockroach climbed into the car and touched my wife's leg during the film. My wife hates and fears roaches more than nuclear war, ISIS, and Satan combined. So...we never been back to the drive-in. Bummer! My mom and sister took me to the drive-in a few times when I was a little kid and I always loved it. I'd like to go back, but they'd have to nuke the place and rebuild it before my wife will ever go back.


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[Fanny]

I grew up with one of the last operating Sky View drive-ins in my town, and its still operating with no threats of closing any time soon. We would always go to the first showing of the season even if we didn't want to see the movie because the opening of the drive-in meant that Summer was here. The majority of my time at the drive-in was never actually spent watching movies. My friends and I would go and park in the back and chat and snack the whole time.