Tivoli Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
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Tivoli Theater
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| Location | 3301-3325 14th St. NW Washington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°55′50.88″N 77°1′56.64″W / 38.9308000°N 77.0324000°WCoordinates: 38°55′50.88″N 77°1′56.64″W / 38.9308000°N 77.0324000°W |
| Architect | Thomas W. Lamb |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance revival, Mediterranean Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 85000716 |
| Added to NRHP | April 10, 1985 |
The Tivoli Theatre is a landmark building in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. on 14th Street and Park Road Northwest. Originally built as a movie theater, it currently (as of 2006) exhibits live stage productions as the home of the GALA Hispanic Theatre.
The Tivoli Theatre was designed by prominent New York architect Thomas W. Lamb. It reflects Italian Renaissance revival and Mediterranean Revival architectural styles with its stucco exterior, red tile roof, ornate cornices, and numerous graceful arches. Completed in 1924 at a cost of $1 million, the theater was, until its closing in 1976, one of the most elegant movie houses in Washington, D.C. In addition to the main theater auditorium, the building contained offices on the upper floors and several two-story shops along the 14th Street and Park Road frontages. In the quarter century it has lain vacant, the building has suffered from neglect, extensive vandalism, and severe water damage due to a leaking roof.
The history of the Tivoli is closely associated with that of the Knickerbocker Theater, designed by Reginald Geare, and built during the First World War. The owner of the Knickerbocker, theater magnate Harry M. Crandall, operated a chain of movie theaters in Washington. Geare was his primary Washington architect and, in addition to the Knickerbocker, had designed the Metropolitan in 1917 and the Lincoln in 1921. The Knickerbocker was located on the southwest corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road in Adams-Morgan, the present location of a SunTrust Bank.
In a brief 24-hour period spanning January 27–28, 1922, a massive storm dropped 26 inches of snow on the city, causing the fragile roof of the Knickerbocker to collapse. Few of the patrons who had filled the theater that evening for a screening of the comedy hit "Get Rich Quick Wallingford" escaped unharmed. In the heaped rubble of the auditorium, 98 people were found dead and 136 injured. Following the collapse of the Knickerbocker, Crandall released Geare as his primary architect, even though Geare had already begun work on a new theater in the fashionable neighborhood of Columbia Heights.
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