Boxoffice-November.24.1951

F\
DESIGN
AND CONSTRUCTION
The Bexlcy Theatre in Columbui, Ohio,
was built before World War II of light
weight coricrcte masonry to which light
colored stucco was applied Concrete mo
ionry walls can be given scores 0/ treatments
Recent trend /$ (0 accentuate horizontal
lines by tooling horizontal joints
and striking vertical joints flush, then
finishing direct with porilond cement
paints in desired colors
CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION SAVES STEEL
Exhibitors Hoping to Build During the Emergency Would Do Well
To Consider Proved Uses of Structural
Concrete
by JOSEPH N.
BELL*
roR THE SECOND time in less than a
decade, prospective theatre owners are
faced with the problem of constructing a
relatively large, firesafe building with a
minimum of steel.
But while the situation today is simUar
to that of the early '40s, there is one noteworthy
difference. There was little precedent
to the shortages of the '40s. The problem
was new to architects, engineers, contractors
and prospective owners alike. Today,
all have the experience of the recent
past to guide them.
As is so often true, the necessities of the
past emergency acted as a stimulus not
only to invention but to the more rapid
development of existing processes and to
the refinement and improvement of basic
procedures. The answers to most building
problems during and Immediately after
World War 11 came not from startling new
inventions but from active application of
already proven but oftentimes little-used
processes. Savings were made not by developing
new buildinfr materials, but
through wiser and more economical use of
existing materials and through development
of faster and far better ways of doing
more or less commonplace things.
American architects, engineers and contractors
put to work a fund of knowledge
'Portland
Cement Ass'n
many years old; they employed "outmoded"
but still effective processes; they more
readily accepted new ideas from this country
and abroad, and they gave more
thought to savings through careful design.
What does this mean to prospective theatre
owners?
Over a period of time, answers to many
building problems were devised and valuable
data accumulated. In view of current
restrictions, these may prove invaluable
to prospective theatre owners in the
months—or years—ahead.
VORE VERSATILE USE OF CONCRETE
One of the first and most obvious solutions
to suggest itself in the steel shortage
of the '40s was an even wider and more
versatile use of concrete and concrete masonry.
Strong, durable and firesafe, reinforced
concrete is not only ideally suited for all
structural purposes but can be formed into
virtually any shape or form desired by the
architect. This fact—the fact that it can
be used for decorative as weU as structural
purposes—means that real savings can be
effected in critical materials often used for
ornamentation. Some of America's most
intricate and beautiful buildings are architectural
concrete, and the variety of effects
obtainable are limited only by the
imagination and skill of the designer and
builder. This is important, for it means
that a theatre constructed during a shortage
of critical materials need not be drab
or makeshift. In the hands of a competent
architect and contractor, architectural concrete
can assure that the building will not
only be durable and low in maintenance
'Continued on following page)
Interior walls of the Michigan Theatre, Saginaw,
Mich., are exposed concrete masonry set in an attractive
pattern. Light-weight concrete masonrf
units like these absorb up to 50 per cent of the
noise in a room. Patterns may be painted directly
on the walls to eliminate ornamentation using scarce
or restricted materials.
BOXOTFICE 35