Merced Theater

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Merced Theater

The Merced Theater is a theater building located at 301 W. 17th Street, at the intersection of Main Street and Martin Luther King Way in Merced , California . The theater is important for its role as the social and cultural center of Merced from the Great Depression to the post- World War II period and for the architecture of the Spanish Colonial Revival. The structure, constructed in 1931, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 2009 as a memorial .

Merced Theater (near)

The Golden State Theater Company commissioned the Reid brothers from San Francisco to design the Merced Theater. Another notable building that the Reids designed was the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego . The most modern projection and sound technology at the time was used and the theater had air conditioning; it was the second historical building in Merced to be equipped with air conditioning. They used castle-like facades and fans that blow artificially created clouds past the star-studded ceilings to create a dramatic atmosphere.

The building contractor Gian Battista Pasqualetti built steel from the Golden Gate Iron Works, wrought iron from the San Jose Iron Works and tiles from the Hispano Maresque Tile Company in Los Angeles and implemented the Reid Brothers' plan for the multi-storey building, which consists of a steel frame construction and reinforced concrete. The walls are plastered. A 100 foot (around 30 m) high tower rises above the canopy at the entrance and the orange block letters MERCED are visible several kilometers away.

There is a mural in the lobby by Dutch-born artist Antoon Bonaventure Heinsbergen . It shows a scene from the Spanish colonial era. The furniture consists of sofas and chairs in the style of that time. Originally, the theater had 1,645 seats for spectators who could watch films and live performances.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Patti Dossetti: National Register of Historic Places Registration: Merced Theater / New Merced Theater ( English , PDF ; 3.0 MB) National Park Service . April 25, 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  2. ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed May 25, 2016

Web links

Coordinates: 37 ° 18 ′ 2.4 ″  N , 120 ° 28 ′ 50.1 ″  W.