Palace Theatre (Albany, New York)

The Palace Theatre was originally built as an RKO movie palace. Construction took place from June 1930 to October 1931, when it opened it was Albany's largest movie theatre. It featured an "Sp 4m" Wurlitzer theatre organ, opus #1538. In 1940, The Palace was sold to FAST Theatres, part of Fabian Enterprises, when RKO exited the theatre business due to antitrust concerns. The theatre underwent a $250,000 renovation in 1960, seating capacity was reduced to allow for more comfortable seating. The Palace closed in September 1969, as it had become unprofitable. Soon after its closure, the building was purchased by the City of Albany for $90,000 and reopened. During the first few years of the city's ownership, a new boiler and roof were installed, the limit of its renovations for decades. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 4, 1979. In 2002, an extensive restoration project began at a cost of $3 million. Completed in January 2003 the project restored the look and feel of the interior of the theatre closer to its original historic design and included the addition of a new LED marquee, replicating the original 1931 design. Work was carried out by Conrad Schmitt Studios of New Berlin, WI. The local firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott were the architects for the project. ==Building==

The theatre is on a small lot at the northwest corner of the intersection, just north of downtown. It is a brick and stone steel frame building in two sections. The front two stories, facing the corner and including the marquee with a modern scrolling LED display, are faced in tan brick with some stone ornamentation. The windows have carved brackets. There are open pediments with cartouches and brick parapets with molded stone coping. The taller auditorium, to the northwest, features a banded chimney and decorative brickwork facing the south. The east elevation, along Pearl, has circular arcading and banded pilasters. The interior is designed and decorated in the Austrian Baroque style. The foyer, between the lobby and main entrance, has red marble staircases decorated in scrollwork, cartouches, and garlands. The wrought iron railing is foliated. Murals by two Hungarian artists decorate the walls. The balcony level extends over two-thirds of the sloping main floor. The heavily decorated ceilings and walls include pilasters rising to complex entablatures, statuary, and arches framing the wall boxes. A Czech made crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The orchestra pit can be raised and lowered by an elevator. ==See also==