Laserfiche WebLink
8.A. - Page 227 <br /> N *�fa Sequoia Teter <br /> an Mateo Co. lty . CA <br /> NAB "IONAL REGI ;T R OF HISTORIC PLACES <br /> CONTINUATION SHEET <br /> Section N amber: Pace <br /> The Mock, bounded by Hamilton, y eb ; of `.MMiduiecieic! r d.! and Theater <br /> Streets, and fronting on Broadway. - ,eas in the c rrer Cgf the city s retail -wake <br /> district, d ;.rectly across the strut-: trem the main ertti ance to the San Mateo <br /> County Courthouse. The New Se=. t±o ►a Theme!: f uitding was to be tae <br /> centerpiece of the business complex. it wcuil re the f.Irst moving-picture <br /> palace in San Mateo County to lee integrally equipped for talking pictures. <br /> The two-part commercial block 'as A..1:; ;- nee. n e ea■ as a un 3 ie <br /> composition in a tats t othic R.evtva?. atyle by the important rtant San irra tcisco <br /> architectural firm of Jaynes and Merit. Reid in I.9 ?8. <br /> 8. <br /> IMITECIAIE <br /> The Reid Brothers were a good choice for the design of the new theater <br /> building. The architectural firm had been designing entertainment facilities <br /> since the 1880s, and by the 1920s, moving picture houses for local <br /> neighborhoods represented a considerable percentage of their business. They <br /> also had an excellent reputation for the structural quality of their work. <br /> The design program called for a combination house with facilities for both <br /> live performance and moving pictures. Phis required a large stage and loft <br /> area as well as dressing rooms at one end of the 1500 seat main auditorium, <br /> The l ebhy and mezzanine areas were to be flanked by two floors of retail <br /> and professional office space, creating e large building mass. The adiacent <br /> commercial block was to be co npoeed of one store storefronts abut:.ing the <br /> central theater block. further expandine, the building mass. What was needed <br /> was a design that would unify and balance the composition of the block - <br /> square building complex. <br /> The Reid Brothers were known, "to keep their fingers on the pulse of fas.hion <br /> and science," akili ully preparing pl;-s suit taste as well as fashion. Such <br /> may have been the case in their decision to employ a Late Gothic Revival <br /> tracery screen to cloak the modern, i nixed - use building whose overall <br /> character had been determined bar outer L ctor.a <br /> NATIONAL REC;ISTEE OF HISTORIC PL - CLS <br />