Tivoli Theatre (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
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Tivoli Theatre
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| Location | 709 Broad Street Chattanooga, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 35°2′52″N 85°18′37″W / 35.04778°N 85.31028°WCoordinates: 35°2′52″N 85°18′37″W / 35.04778°N 85.31028°W |
| Built | 1919-1921 |
| Architect | R. H. Hunt; Rapp and Rapp |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| MPS | Reuben H. Hunt Buildings in Hamilton County TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 73001779 |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1973 |
The Tivoli Theatre, also known as the Tivoli and the "Jewel of the South", is a historic theatre in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that opened on March 19, 1921. Built between 1919 and 1921 at a cost of $750,000, designed by famed Chicago-based architectural firm Rapp and Rapp and well-known Chattanooga architect Reuben H. Hunt, and constructed by the John Parks Company (general contractors), the theatre was one of the first air-conditioned public buildings in the United States. The theatre was named Tivoli after Tivoli, Italy, has cream tiles and beige terra-cotta bricks, has a large red, black, and white marquee with 1,000 chaser lights, and has a large black neon sign that displays TIVOLI with still more chaser lights.
The building seats 1,012 in the orchestra, 48 in upper boxes, 78 in the loge, 312 in the upper balcony, 312 in the lower balcony, and 104 in removable orchestra pit seating. Therefore, the Tivoli can hold more than 1,750 people.
The stage's depth is 44 feet (13 m) and 99 feet (30 m) long. The ornately decorated silver and gold proscenium's width is 47 feet and 8 inches (14.3 meters and 20.3 cm) and is 26 feet (7.9 m) high.
The Tivoli has had two music systems in its lifetime. When the theatre opened in 1921, a Bennett Pipe Organ was used and then replaced in 1924 with a $30,000 Wurlitzer organ. The organ, also known as the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ 235 Special, was installed in order to produce live music to accommodate silent films and stage productions. The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ is still playing almost a century later.
Reflecting the Beaux Arts architectural style prevalent in late 19th century and early 20th century America, the theatre contains a high rose-and-gold coffered ceiling, the original box office, a grand lobby with a white terrazzo floor inlaid with forest-green marble and music-motif medallions, crystal chandeliers, an elegant foyer, and red velvet-plush chairs. The primary colors of the dome panels and medallions in the outer lobby were blue and red with a salmon and gold background. The Tivoli opened at 1 p.m. on March 19, 1921 for an entire day dedicated to multiple concerts by the Tivoli Symphony, screenings of Cecil B. DeMille's 1921 film Forbidden Fruit, and a personal appearance by Forbidden Fruit's Mae Murray, all for the price of 15 to 55 cents. Professor Spencer McCallie and Mayor Chambliss, both iconic people of Chattanooga, were presented to the public during this opening and gave speeches on their admiration for the theatre. This presentation marked the opening of the Tivoli Theatre. The theater served Chattanooga well for several decades as the chief location for stage and film entertainment in Chattanooga, but went into a steady decline as modern movie theaters started to appear in Chattanooga in the 1950s. The last film to be shown in the Tivoli was Snow White and the Three Stooges on August 17, 1961. The theater closed in the same year and reopened on March 5, 1963 as Chattanooga's new Cultural Center.
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