COMPLETED: Palace Theater Historic Tax Credits

If you haven’t seen it yet, now is the time to check out one of our favorite projects – the Palace Theatre in Columbus – which has been certified as a completed historic tax credit rehabilitation project!

Built in 1926, the Palace Theatre was designed by Thomas Lamb, a Scottish-born prolific American architect who is known for his cinema and theatre design, in the Adamesque style. The theatre served as a showplace for silent films and vaudeville in Columbus during its early years as a “movie palace,” or elaborately decorated movie theatre (the style was prominent between 1910 and 1940, reaching a peak in the mid-1920s). Throughout the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s the Palace hosted live performances in downtown Columbus. The theatre closed in 1975, to be renovated and reopened in the mid-1980s as an opera house and Broadway tour stop. The Palace Theatre remains open today, providing a performing arts and entertainment space for Columbus residents and visitors alike.

The Columbus Association of the Performing Arts (CAPA) contracted EverGreene Architectural Arts to investigate and survey the historic painted finishes of the Palace Theatre, and the findings showed that the majority of historic finishes, including painting and gilding, remained intact beneath layers of overpaint from the mid-1980s renovations. The historic finishes utilized glazing, gilding, and polychrome to accentuate and articulate the decorative low-relief plaster, especially on the ceiling of the auditorium. A team of specialists in historic finish preservation and restoration was brought in during the summer of 2018 and teamed with CAPA and a large group of volunteers to beautifully restore the finishes in the theatre – including repainting the ceiling, installing damask panels, and restoring the seating and handrails.

With so many great performances coming to the Palace Theatre in 2019, you have ample opportunity to go see the spectacular updates to this historic venue!