BoxOffice® Pro - November 2011

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MARQUEE AWARD > Striking popular consciousness at nearly the same moment exhibitors were building theaters devoted solely to the Talkies, Art Deco became the signature design style of movie houses nationwide—thanks, in part, to the Scottish-born architect. Famous for such beloved movie palaces as the Fox Theatre in San Francisco and New York’s Capitol Theatre, Lamb was commissioned by Oak Park Amusement Company to design an ornate but serviceable 1,520- seat single-screen venue complete with state-of-the-art CO 2 air conditioning and modern sound technology. On April 11, 1936, the Lake Theatre threw open its doors for the first time, revealing a design marvel that would prove the test of time. Under the auspices of Essaness Theatres, and then Classic Cinemas, who leased the Lake in 1981, the cinema remained in continuous use, but its terra cotta carpeting and plaster banding couldn’t resist the ravages of age. Classic Cinema’s President Willis Johnson says his attitude toward the condition of the theater wasn’t cause for concern until he actually purchased it outright in 1984. “Obviously there’s a lot more incentive to do things when you own it,” says Johnson, THE MORE THINGS CHANGE Little has changed about the Lake Theatre’s exterior. Though the 60-foot-tall vertical blade has had new wiring and its six-foot-tall neon letters replaced over the years, it still maintains the aura of a classic movie house and downtown icon. “That’s when we really started in on it with our decorator Joe DuciBella.” Deeply devoted to preserving the historical integrity of the Lake Theatre, Johnson and his wife Shirley knew expansion would be crucial to the cinema’s financial survival, and tasked their design team with converting the single auditorium to three screens, carving two spaces out of the original’s back corners. They then re-carpeted and added a new concession counter. The gradual revitalization of the Lake Theatre was not the only resurrection transpiring within the Oak Park community— the whole of downtown was experiencing a facelift. Following World War II, the downtown storefronts were the primary hub for retail and entertainment. But with the suburban migration of the ’70s, downtown businesses lobbied to close off and cover over Lake Street in order to create the same incentives as their suburban multiplex competition. The gamble didn’t pay off. Traffic was cut off from the main artery, re-routing customers from downtown and turning the new district into a parking nightmare. In 1988, downtown Oak Park business owners set about undoing the mall dead zone by re-opening Lake Street to throughtraffic. Johnson saw to it the Lake Theatre was the showcase of the downtown facelift, but admits it could not (continued on page ##) HISTORICAL ACCURACY Color and clean lines have always been a principal component to Art Deco. Here, the mood of the downstairs foyer is brightened with accent colors of gold and blue, along with earth tones like henna and rust. 26 BOXOFFICE PRO NOVEMBER <strong>2011</strong>
A 3D Picture That Wows Spectral TM 240 3D The Worldʼs Most Trusted 3D Screen See us at ShowEast, Booth 518 For more information visit: www.harkness-screens.com TM
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