Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Heathman Hotel

The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon. Part of the Portland Center for Perfoming Arts, it is home to the Oregon Symphony, White Bird Dance Company, and Portland Arts & Lectures. It is also a concert and film venue. Originally (and sometimes still referred to as) the Paramount Theatre, it is also locally nicknamed "The Schnitz". Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (480x640, 81 KB) Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (480x640, 81 KB) Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... A performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is a multi-use performance space that can be adapted for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre. ... Nickname: City of Roses, Stumptown, Bridgetown, PDX Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Mayor Tom Potter Area    - City 376. ... The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. ...

It is the last surviving theater building on Portland's Broadway, which was once lined with large theater houses.

Theater specifics

• Seating for 2,776 (includes lower orchestra level and upper balcony seats)
• Dressing rooms for 90
• Portable acoustic shell
• Entries on Broadway, Main Street and Park Avenue.

Building history

Movie house

The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, famous for its theater buildings, designed the Italian Renaissance-style building. The building was variously described by the newspapers as being of the French Renaisance or Northern Italianate style. The Paramount was considered, at its opening, to be the largest and most lavish theater for a city the size of Portland. Originally opened as the Portland Publix theater, a vaudeville venue in 1928, the name changed to the Paramount Theater in 1930, as the owners had a contract to run Paramount films locally. The building continued to show films until 1971, after which it hosted concerts. The last film shown was on August 15, 1972 (Dr. Phibes Rides Again with Vincent Price) [Oregon Journal Article 16 Aug 1972]. The Paramount Building on Times Square, designed by Rapp & Rapp The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp was active in Chicago during the early 20th century. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ...

The theatre was designed with many foyers and lobbies. The main entrance to the auditorium boasted huge french-paned windows facing east and south, covered with velvet drapes. The walls were covered with mirrors and marble, and the floors were covered with expensive carpets. The furnishings had been purchased from a French museum and private collections. The concessions stand was made of marble and stretched nearly half the length of the main lobby. It was described as the "longest candy counter in the West." [Oregonian article 2 Mar 1928]

The lobby was lit with huge crystal chandeliers. Nearly $35,000 had been spent on them. The largest had a span of nearly 8 feet, weighing over 1700 pounds and containing 181 lights. Currently, the largest chandelier has 137 candle bulbs, and the smaller ones each have 124 bulbs.

The top row of the bancony seats was 6 stories above the stage. Small staircases from the main lobby led to the balcony area which contained men's and ladies' lounges. The men's lounge was equipped with fireplaces, telephones, radios, phonographs and attendants. The women's lounge was furnished with dressing tables, mirrors, maids and hairdressers. There was also a Louis XV Ampico-Knabe grand piano in ivory and gold available to the guests.

The walls of the auditorium were elaborately decorated with murals and near the front of the stage, small balconies were hung with drapes which hid the pipes from the $46,500 Wurlitzer organ. This organ was stored under the stage and was mounted on a platform that could be raised to the level of the stage at the touch of a button. Two organists could play simultaneously.

The seating capacity of the theater was boasted to have been 4000 seats by the newspaper ads of the day [Oregonian 2 Mar 1928]. Their ads promised "An acre of seats". Actually, the seating capacity was in the neighborhood of 3000.

In July of 1928, the theatre appeared on the front page of the newspaper [Oregonian, 30 Jul 1928], figuring in an unusual robbery. A young man, Robert Nolan, had lived in Southern California for a time. While living there, he appeared as an extra in the movie, "Wheel of Chance." He had moved back to Oregon and when he saw that the movie was showing at the Portland theatre, he decided to go see himself on the "silver screen." While he was in the lobby, he saw two people walking by carrying the day's receipts. As he was watching the movie, the idea formed that he should take a chance before he left Portland to acquire a little extra money. He went to the box office and held up the attendants for $1176. He was apprehended several days later, having spent all but $1.50 of the money on bootleggers and drinking parties. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Concert venue

During the late 1960s through the early 1970s, the private owner of the "Paramount", John Haviland, held major rock concerts there. Heart played there as a rising star performer, for the admission price of one dollar. Santana, Blue Öyster Cult, Joe Walsh, Pat Benatar, and many other major bands also played there. In 1976, the Paramount was sold to a Seattle-based company [Oregonian Article: 28 Aug 1976]. The City of Portland offered to buy out the owner, but he refused.^{[citation needed]} After repeated, failed attempts, the city finally condemned the building and gave the owner about $100,000 compensation.^{[citation needed]} The theater cost $500,000 to build in 1928. [Oregon Journal, 8 Mar 1928, Pg 13]As of October 2006, "The Schnitz" is now assessed by Multnomah County at more than $32,000,000.00. [1] Heart is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington. ... Carlos Santana in concert, Barcelona 2003 Carlos Santana (born July 20, 1947) is a Mexican guitarist, originally from Autlan de Navarro, Jalisco. ... Blue Öyster Cult is an American psychedelic/heavy metal band formed in the late 1960s and active as of 2006. ... Joe Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist and rock musician who has had both a solo career and membership of bands such as the James Gang and the Eagles. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Multnomah County (IPA: ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon, the smallest in area but the largest in population due to Portland, the county seat and largest city in Oregon. ...

Restoration

In 1972, the Portland City Council voted to give the building Landmark Status, over the objections of John Haviland, the owner. [Oregonian Article: 30 Mar 1972] The building (as the Paramount Theatre) was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. [2] The landmark status applies only to the exterior of the building. The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...

A major renovation began, which restored the building to much of its original opulence. Harold and Arlene Schnitzer, notable Portland philanthropists, donated US$1 million to the project. When the performing arts center was opened in 1984, it was decided to name the building after Arlene Schnitzer.

Trivia

• The "Portland" marquee is a replica of the original theater sign. The original, replaced during the remodel, still read "Paramount". The removal of the sign turned out badly, as it accidentally fell onto the sidewalk in an impressive crash.

• On 26 Mar 1975, the original theater organ and statuary were sold off in an auction. During the auction, there was a general outcry from the audience to keep a particular marble statue, called "Surprise" (a nude girl with her hands thrown across her face) in the theater. A hat was passed among the 1200 member audience to take up a collection, and $5,233.97 was raised to purchase the statue and keep it in the theater lobby [Portland Journal Article: 25 Mar 1975]. The statue has a finger missing from a bullet from a box-office robbery in the 1950's [Oregonian article: 26 Mar 1975].

• A secret door between the theater and the Heathman Hotel's cigar room next door was uncovered during the renovation.

• In 1963, the owner of the Paramount Theatre sued Elizabeth Taylor because her scandalous behavior with Richard Burton during the filming of the movie "Cleopatra" caused it to perform poorly at the box office.

See also

• List of major concert halls

A Concert hall is a cultural building, which serves as performance venue, chiefly for classical instrumental music. ...

External link

• Portland Center for the Performing Arts-Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall page