Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts
| Loew's Penn Theatre | |
 |
|
| Address | 600 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States |
|---|---|
| Owner | Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra |
| Capacity | 2,676 |
| Current use | Performing arts center |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1927 |
| Rebuilt | 1971 1995 ($6.5 million) |
| Architect | Rapp & Rapp |
| Website | |
| www |
|
| Designated | 1971 |
Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center and concert hall located at 600 Penn Avenue in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, the 2,676 seat hall presents about 200 performances each year. Originally built in 1927 as Loew's Penn Theatre, the former movie palace was renovated and reopened as Heinz Hall in 1971.
Built as the Loew's and United Artists' Penn Theatre, construction of the building started on January 6, 1926 and was completed in 1927 on the site of the former "Hotel Anderson". Motion picture business magnate and pioneer Marcus Loew engaged the architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp to design the movie palace. The Grand Lobby was particularly impressive, with its 50-foot (15 m)-high vaulted Venetian ceiling, massive ornamental columns, marble staircase, bronze and crystal chandeliers and silk drapes.
Like many 1920s-era film palaces, Loew's Penn fell on hard times in the 1960s. Competition from television and suburban theaters along with high maintenance costs put a squeeze on profitability. The theater shut its doors in 1964 and was scheduled for demolition. Henry J. Heinz II and Charles Denby, President of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society, together with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Allegheny Conference and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, purchased the site and rescued the theater for the purpose of creating a new home for the Pittsburgh Symphony.
...
Wikipedia