Getting to the bottom of DIG!

DIG! has been DUG!

After 5 terrific summers, DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery has come to an end. Last week, staff and Colonial Williamsburg volunteers were allowed to excavate the Archibald Blair Storehouse site, and finally uncover the cellar floor. I joined in on the last day to help out and commemorate my times over the years with this particular program and site.

DIG! Excavation and Prentis Store - October 2019

The mood of the day was ambivalent. Happy to dig, but sad that it was the last time at the site.

Ambivalent Brownies, baked by a DIG!
volunteer. Whatever mood you chose, they
were still delicious.

The goal was to unearth the complete rectangle of the chosen site... unfortunately, that did not happen. One side of the site had 2" of dirt to the bottom. The other side was found to have close to 7".  One corner was filled with clay that did not want to budge. Towards the later part of the day, shovels became more prevalent in hopes of dislodging dirt faster. Great progress and strides were made, but at the end of the day, there was still plenty of dirt.

The final results of 5 summers of DIG!

Digging on the cellar floor of the Archibald Blair Storehouse

There were still treasures to be found: Toy marbles, pieces of decorative plates, rusty nails, clay pipe pieces, bricks, buttons, glass, animal bones, oyster shells, and lots and lots of dirt.

A couple of the unique items found on the last day that I photographed:

A circular metal thing? For a buckle maybe?

Tiny, tiny, tiny piece of glass with an R
etched into it

Someone found the bottom half of a 20th century Coca-Cola glass bottle. When I was looking at it, I noticed it had been bottled at the Newport News, Virginia bottling plant!

Bottom of the Coca-Cola glass bottle, which reads
"Newport News"

Coca-Cola Newport News Bottling building
facade I shot a couple years back. The plant 
is no longer operational.

It was sad to see it covered up by the tarp one last time. There is still 1-2 days worth of digging left to complete what has been dug. There are other features of the cellar outside of the chosen rectangle of the excavation, but utility lines are in the way. As there are no current plans to move these lines, the excavation can go no further.

Shot of the latest version of the Visitor
Center's DIG! display case.

When I was talking with guests about the site, a common question was what's going to happen next? Are you going to rebuild the storehouse? Unfortunately, no. Digging in the dirt is one thing. Constructing a building is another. The cellar will be reburied.

With my current amount of research, I do not know why the storehouse wasn't rebuilt during the Restoration with Rockefeller. Back when I worked for Williamsburg full-time, I located a proposal from 1977 to rebuild it and use it as a retail location, but that did not come to fruition.

Wheelbarrow getting ready to take supplies back...
 one last time.

Will DIG! come back at a new site next summer? I sure hope so. It's a wonderful program that shows a different yet necessary side of the Williamsburg story. It's fun, hands-on, and educational. You get to touch the history! It's a lovely time, with a lovely group of people.

CW Archaeologist Meredith and I
after a last day of digging at DIG!

Sometimes, community can be found in a dirt pit, looking for the past's trash. Thank you to all the archaeologists and volunteers I befriended over the years at this site. Till the next one!


Sources:
Colonial Williamsburg Archaeology Facebook Post - Oct 3, 2019
"Renovation and Fixturing of the John Greenhow Store and Taliaferro-Cole Shop" [Segment of document that I copied pages out of from the CWF Rockefeller Library back in 2015. Apologies for the partial source]

See other stories on DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery:
DIG! during the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017
DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery 2016
35/15 Part 5 - Ludwell-Paradise

Terrace Theater Part II: 1971, the Bicentennial, and Onwards

Terrace Theater, 2016

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

In Part I, we explored Edward Durell Stone's original plan for the space he called the Studio Theater, now known as the Terrace Theater. In this part, we will look at what went down in 1971, the Bicentennial, and onwards to bring us to the Terrace Theater we have today.

On September 8, 1971, the Kennedy Center finally opened its doors, but the Studio Theater was closed tight. What happened?

In 1965, the Kennedy Center was estimating to go slightly over budget. To cut costs, it was decided the Studio Theater would be cut from the opening day lineup, to be finished at a later time. This would save the Center around $1.03 million dollars ($8.26 million in today's money). Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Center would later find itself going much farther over budget. The Studio would remain out of the plans.

In the iconic takedown review of the Kennedy Center by New York Times architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable, she noted the theater's omission with a brief compliment: "It is particularly hard to know that the one creative design for a new kind of experimental theater remains an unfinished shell within the building, lacking funds."

Parts of the theater had been constructed before work was halted on the project. The stationary seating section and the back portion of the stage were in place. In the center of the space was a circular, empty hole where the turntable mechanism would one day go. Bare catwalks had been hung. Steel, concrete, and cinder blocks lay exposed. The space sat waiting.

Unfinished Studio Theater/Terrace Theater, late 1970's
Photo by Richard Braaten, Courtesy of the Kennedy Center.

This sealed-off theater became the home of a feral cat named Mosby. Mosby had somehow gotten into the Kennedy Center while it was under construction. He lived in the theater, with various staff members chipping in to feed him. He watched performances in the Eisenhower Theater, stole food from the restaurants, and went on wild adventures. His presence was last felt around January 1977. No one knows what became of him. If you want to learn more about Mosby, you can read his biography, Mosby, the Kennedy Center Cat.

Talks about finishing the Studio Theater began in earnest in 1974. The idea was to get the theater open by the American Bicentennial. The Center was looking for a $2.5 million donation ($13 million in today's money). Harold Burson, the Founding Chairman for the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, was tasked with finding a donor. Burson later recalled:

"At that time, we were just really seeing all of the Japanese brands coming in great perfusion to the United States. And it occurred to me that Japan really would benefit greatly if they made a highly visible gift to the American people for the Bicentennial. My proposal was that the Japanese government contribute this."

On August 6, 1975, the Japanese Government and Kennedy Center jointly announced Japan would be donating the money to finish the Studio Theater. Construction was predicted to take 60 weeks. "We expect to complete the theater in line with the original plans," said Roger L. Stevens, Chairman of the Kennedy Center. On June 30, 1976, at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, the Prime Minister of Japan Takeo Miki presented the funds to Stevens and President Gerald Ford. The total amount of the donation had grown to $3 million: $2 million was contributed by the Japanese government, and $1 million came from private Japanese sources.

The Bicentennial came -- and went. The theater did not open. Nor did any work begin.

There was a debate over what the Studio Theater's design should be, what the space would be used for. In the end, "[Kennedy Center officials] have opted for a more conventional space," summarized Gordon Davidson of the Center Theatre Group. It was decided the space would be used as a combination recital hall and theater. The turntable was written out of the plan. To emphasize its movement away from experimental works, the Studio Theater was renamed to the Terrace Theater. Terrace also signified where the theater was located in the building, on the Terrace level. Construction would not start until February 1978, over 2 1/2 years after Japan's donation announcement.

Edward Durell Stone was not chosen as the architect for the project. He had retired in 1974, and would later pass away in August 1978. Regardless, Stone and the Kennedy Center had not ended on the most amicable of terms. Stone and the General Services Administration severely underestimated the cost and amount of steel needed to build the Center, which led to the project going greatly over budget. The Center withheld Stone's fee until it was decided if he could be held liable for this error. So Stone filed a claim on the Center, and then the Center counterclaimed him. The Justice Department (representing the Center) would later work out a settlement with Stone. Even if he hadn't retired, it would have been unlikely the Kennedy Center would have worked with Stone again.

Philip Johnson & John Burgee of Johnson/Burgee Architects were chosen as the new architects for the theater. Johnson & Burgee designed mainly postmodern buildings together, including the Lipstick Building and 550 Madison Avenue (formerly the AT&T Building) in New York, PPG Place in Pittsburgh, and the Tycon Center in Vienna, Virginia. Cyril M. Harris, whose acoustical design of the Kennedy Center's three original houses were lauded, was rehired for the Terrace Theater project.

Tycon Center at 8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Vienna, VA
Also known as "The Shopping Bag"

Much of what had already been built for Stone's Studio Theater was incorporated into Johnson/Burgee's Terrace Theater. Construction was difficult, as the space was surrounded by an active building and was elevated off the ground. "The whole inside of the area had to be taken down in one elevator, and materials brought up in the same elevator," said Stevens. The pit left for the turntable was covered over with stationary seating and a stage. The theater did have an orchestra lift, which could be raised to house-level for extra seating, or stage-level to create a "modified thrust" stage (It was advertised as such, but in all honesty it was a proscenium stage with a slightly large apron).

"Modified Thrust," 2016

The theater also had a portable wooden acoustical shell that could be used for chamber works.

The Terrace Theater officially opened on January 28, 1979 with an invite-only gala. It was dedicated with members of the Grand Kabuki Troupe of Japan performing a congratulatory dance of "Kokera-Otoshi" and Renjishi (Double Lion Dance). Dedicatory remarks were provided by Roger Stevens, Ambassador of Japan Fumihiko Togo, Nobuhiko Ushiba, and First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

The theater was a feast for the eyes and ears. "The seats are mauve and comfortable. The rose walls are lined with plaster half columns, painted matte silver--somewhat Art Deco, but pleasantly unobstrusive, almost neutral," Washington Post architectural critic Wolf Von Eckardt wrote upon the theater's opening. The acoustics were praised by Peter Hume in the Post:

"There is general agreement that the sound is perfectly clear throughout the hall, that it is natural in its projection of whatever music is in process. There seems to be no difference in sound at any point in the hall."

The only acoustical critique was the sound was a little dry due to the carpeting under the seating. The carpeting had been an intentional compromise of the design so the space could present well acoustically for theatrical works.

View of the Terrace Theater from the stage, 2016

The Terrace Theater settled on being the Center's home for chamber music (such as Fortas Chamber Music Concerts & The Conservatory Project), as well as smaller theatrical/dance works that could use a more intimate setting. Decades would pass...

Terrace Theater Lobby, 2016
Purple carpeted floors and walls.

In 2016, the Terrace Theater was scheduled to undergo a renovation. The Kennedy Center had been methodically going theater to theater to make each one compliant with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The Terrace Theater was last on the list. It closed June 25, 2016. Due to the amount and size of structural changes required to make the space ADA compliant, the house and lobby were completely gutted and redone. The architectural firm chosen for the new design was Quinn Evans Architects, who had previously renovated the Concert Hall, Opera House, and Eisenhower Theater. The renovation cost $21.8 million (Which would have been $4.8 million in 1975).

In honor of the Terrace Theater's grand
re-opening and its Japanese ties, the Center
 exhibited Fantasy in Japan Blue by
Reiko Sudo in the Hall of States

The new Terrace's grand re-opening happened on October 6, 2017, with a collaboration between Kennedy Center Artistic Directors Jason Moran & Q-Tip. Along with the Terrace's opening, the performance also marked the start of the inaugural season of Hip Hop Culture programming at the Kennedy Center.

Terrace Theater, 2017

The major idea behind the renovation was to keep what made the 1979 Terrace great, and improve upon it for greater accessibility and adaptability. Balconies and two cross-aisles were added to the house. An elevator was added in the lobby to reach the lower level of seats. The proscenium arch was engineered so its legs could move side to side, expanding or shrinking the playable space onstage. Great care was taken to maintain the space's acoustics. Instead of carpeting throughout, curtains were hung behind the theater's paneling, and could be drawn to absorb more sound if a performance required it. "The space seems more warm and vivid, with a clarity -- and good sightlines -- from every corner of the room," wrote Washington Post classical music critic Anne Midgette.

Terrace Theater Lobby, 2017
These chandeliers were designed & built by
the Center's in-house Production team!

And that brings us to the present day. From its days on the drawing board, its role as a penthouse apartment for a cat, and to an intimate theater rejuvenated, the Terrace Theater has seen many iterations. While it never had a turntable as originally envisioned, it is still a versatile performance venue at the Kennedy Center.



POSTSCRIPT: LEGACY

I wanted to highlight some of the design features that had/have remained in the Terrace Theater iterations.

The Studio Theater's catwalks continue to hang above the Terrace Theater ceiling, out of sight. They are almost entirely unwalkable, as HVAC is installed over much of them. During the 2016-17 renovation, two of these catwalks were removed, but the rest still hang up there to this day. (Note: the catwalk you can see hanging in the theater today is not a Studio Theater catwalk. It was added for the 2017 Terrace.)

The 1979 Terrace Theater had these odd side hallways. They were always strange to me because they did not structurally match each other and were such a strong pink color. These hallways descended, then leveled out, before descending again. Pairing this with the Studio Theater's plans, these hallways were also present there. The sections where the hallways leveled out were originally supposed to have doorways into the theater. The doors were written out the 1979 Terrace. The hallways themselves were entirely demolished during the 2016-17 renovation.

Looking up the House Left stairs & ramp, 2016

Looking down the House Right stairwell, 2016
My camera made the walls look peach-colored,
but they were much more pink in person.
I called them the Pepto-Bismo Hallways.

Beyond the proscenium, much of the back-of-house remains either intact or received a light refresh during the 2016-17 renovation. The most public-facing of these is the stage itself. Most of the wood onstage was left in place from the 1979 Terrace, only stained a new color to blend in better with the 2017 Terrace. The orchestra pit and lift mechanism are still the same as before the renovation.

My favorite legacy area is the void where the Studio Theater's turntable was supposed to go. Underneath the stationary seats, the space still exists! Space is always of the essence, so the void has been annexed for other uses. One area is used for the orchestra pit. Another part is a musician locker area underneath the stage, which includes permanent trapdoor points. A third area under the seating is file storage! So while you are jamming away to an amazing show in the Terrace, the files are jamming along with you.

Seating above, filing below!

POSTSCRIPT: THOUGHTS

One space, inhabited by three unique theaters. I like each one for very different reasons.

Edward Durell Stone's Studio Theater was a technological marvel. It's a shame it never existed. I wrote exclusively about this theater in Part I, so I feel I covered what I wanted to say about it there.

Johnson/Burgee's 1979 Terrace Theater was such a time warp to the 70's-80's. Nothing felt like it had ever changed in there. You were transported into a hip arcade or music video. It was so funky. The color scheme was abhorrent and the wall decor was bizarre -- but I also loved it because of all of that. I am glad I was able to experience this theater in all its glory. There will never be another quite like it.

Entry Lobby for Terrace Theater, 2016
I dare you to put purple wall carpet in your McMansion.

It's been interesting to see how the 1979 Terrace's architecture fared throughout the decades. Here's a review from around its opening:

"One of the most beautiful theater-concert halls in the country" - Paul Hume, 1979

And now compare that to a contemporary review:

"A boxy, unexceptional space, made distinctive only by an oddball paint job of nursery pink and glam-rock silver." - Joe Banno, 2017

The space did not age well, even with the acclaimed Johnson/Burgee team working on it. I am interested in seeing how the newest Terrace will fare in the coming decades. Speaking of it...

Quinn Evans Architects' 2017 Terrace Theater is definitely the prettiest of the three by modern tastes. In my opinion, it is the Kennedy Center's most successful remodel to date. Many of the previous space transformations have sacrificed dated yet unique visual identity for something that is contemporary yet banal. The 2017 Terrace is able to balance being soothing to the modern eye, yet having an exciting, unique visual personality.

When I first walked into the new Terrace, I was surprised how open it felt. The 1979 Terrace was a box. The new balconies are much to thank for breaking open the space. The undulating waves on the walls and ceiling seem to express the sound waves emanating from the stage. The waves continue out into the lobby, where nearly every wall has a curve.

Terrace Theater in rehearsal, 2017

The color scheme pays homage to the 1979 Terrace's colors, but introduces deep reds & tans into the mix, providing a broader palate.

The Chihuly chandelier is lovely. I am a very big fan of the Kennedy Center's grand tradition of gorgeous, monumental lighting fixtures. Dale Chihuly is one of the greats along with Lobmeyr & Orrefors. It's great to have him here. Unlike the other chandeliers at the Kennedy Center, you can easily look at this one from below or at eye level.

Chihuly Chandelier in the Terrace Theater, 2017
View from eye level

Chihuly Chandelier, 2017
View from below

What I really wish is there was more Chihuly, especially in the theater itself. I'll just focus on winning the lottery so I can make it happen.




SOURCES
"Proposal For Completion of Studio Theatre on Roof Terrace of Kennedy Center" 2/18/1975
Kennedy Center Statement by Roger L. Stevens, 8/6/1975 Re: Japan Gift
"Edward Durell Stone" by Hicks Stone
Architecture: A Look At the Kennedy Center
Mosby, the Kennedy Center Cat
"Miracle on the Potomac" by Ralph E. Becker
Inflation Calculator
The Daily Diary of President Gerald R. Ford - June 30, 1976
Remarks Upon Accepting Japan's Bicentennial Gift to the United States.
"Theater on the Terrace, With a Japanese Touch" by Don Shirley, 1/12/1979, Washington Post
"History of the Terrace Theater" Video, Oct 2007 - Ben Rosenfeld
Terrace Theater Opening Program, January 28, 1979
"The View From The Terrace: An Elegant Penthouse for Performance Built to Sound as Good as It Looks" by Wolf Von Eckardt, 1/28/1979, Washington Post
"Muted Sounds at The Terrace Theater" by Paul Hume, 2/6/1979, Washington Post
"The Nation's Stage: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" by Michael Dolan
June 25, 2016 Terrace Theater House Report
Interview with Vaughan Bowen
Jason Moran and Q-Tip usher in the Kennedy Center’s hip-hop era.
Review: ‘Jason Moran & Q-Tip’ at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Terrace Theater Reopens Following Modernization
QEA Project at Kennedy Center Featured by the Washington Post
Quinn Evans Architects: Terrace Theater
Surround sound made visible: the new Terrace Theater
Interview with Jeff Hill
Up On The Roof, An Old Venue Gets New Look, Sound

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Projects like this require a lot of bits and pieces from multiple sources to create one complete story. I'd like to thank the following individuals for helping me out over this two-part series:
Annelisa Crabtree
Edwin Fontanez
Emily Sexton
Jessica Zaluzec
Vaughan Bowen & Richard Podulka
Kristin Fosdick & Ben Rosenfeld
Guy Heard & Jeff Hill
Lauren Holland, Iain Higgins, Brittany Laeger, & Maria Rodriguez

Terrace Theater Part I: The Original Design

The Terrace Theater, November 2017

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

The Terrace Theater, a venue of supreme acoustics, intimate stagings, and interesting architecture.

Throughout my time scouring through blueprints, I have wondered what the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater was supposed to have originally looked like. The Terrace Theater we knew prior to its 2016-17 renovation was a later build to the Kennedy Center, not designed by the original building's architect, Edward Durell Stone. What did Stone have in mind for this space? I finally found the answer when I acquired his 1967 book, Recent and Future Architecture. His plan for the space blew my mind away, and I wanted to share it with everyone else.



Edward Durell Stone's theater on the Terrace Level was called both the Film Theater and Studio Theater. [Since almost all of my sources called it the Studio Theater, I will also be referring to it as such]. In this venue, you could watch 35mm or 70mm films, or you could view a live performing art form. But I would argue the true star was the theater itself.

In this theater, the back portion of seats were composed of typical auditorium seating, nothing special. However, the front half of the seating section and the front half of the stage were on a turntable. This way, you could rotate the stage and half the audience to face whatever direction you wanted them to. You could leave the audience in a traditional proscenium setup; or revolve the turntable so you could have a traverse stage; or the audience could be on two adjoining sides, moving the stage into a corner of the house. You could have 360 stage positions to choose from!

Now, the seating rake was pretty steep in this theater. How would audience members at the top of the back seating section get a good view of the stage when the turntable was not in a proscenium setup? Well -- the turntable was all on a lift. It could be raised and lowered as needed. Everyone would be able to see the whole stage.

But wait, there's more! The front of the stage would have the capability of lowering down into an orchestra pit. A lift, within a turntable, all on another lift.

That's not all. Just for kicks and extra flexibility, the proscenium arch of the theater was also movable. It could move up and down-stage.

Edward Durell Stone's Studio Theater was absolutely bonkers in the best of ways. A director had many options to choose from to create the ideal setting for their work. It was a space for the experimental, but it could also play nice with the traditional performing art forms. This was the space for everything that could not work in the larger, more-stationary houses downstairs. With around 500 seats, everyone was close to the action, so it could produce more intimate experiences. As Stone stated in his 1967 book, "Thus, under one roof, provision is made for every facet of the performing arts [at the Kennedy Center]."

From concept art, the decor of the theater was pretty barren. The walls were dark wood paneled with no further adornment. Above a zig-zag ceiling were catwalks able to light the stage wherever it was moved to.



This was the first theater I had heard of that had a transformable design, so I began searching for other examples. I found quite a few experimental theaters of note*, but I wanted to highlight two examples that were the most relevant:

There was Walter Gropius' never-built Total Theater design of 1926. Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus School, which shaped the twentieth century architectural Modernism trend. With the Total Theater, Gropius wanted audiences not just to be passive spectators, but feel actively part of the show experience. This theater rejected the idea of a proscenium theater setup, and instead tried everything else. The Total Theater would have a large, wide stage opening. Action could happen in one section, while moving curtains could hide set changes in another. A circular front seating section could be lowered down and replaced with a stage area. This section also had turntable capabilities. If you wanted a theater-in-the-round setup, the next section of seats was also on a turntable, and could rotate the smaller turntable closer to the center of the space. The turntables would be capable of rotating independently of each other. Surrounding the seating was a walkway that could double as a performance space during the show. The walls were composed of 12 screens, which could play films surrounding the audience from every angle.

Stone's Studio Theater most likely took inspiration from Gropius' Total Theater idea. Gropius & Stone were both contemporaries of each other. They also knew each other, both having exchanged correspondences. With Stone being well-read in architecture, it would not be a far stretch to imagine he based the Studio Theater off the Total Theater.


I also discovered the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London. Originally named the New London Theatre, this 1973 venue was designed by Paul Tvrtkovic and Sean Kenny. It is a similar design to the Studio Theater, and was based on Gropius' Total Theater. This theatre features a revolving front audience section and stage. The theatre's rake is not as steep as the Studio's, so no lift is required. However, there are screw jacks underneath the movable audience section to make its rake steeper when the stage is set in a traverse setup. This theatre can do everything Stone's Studio was supposed to do, and more! The walls can rotate and shift to change the shape of the theater. The ceiling panels work similarly to Venetian blinds and can be angled to face a certain direction.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any videos online of the Gillian Lynne Theatre transforming. Most productions that have used the space have only used it in a proscenium setup. The main exception is probably the theatre's most famous production -- the original run of Cats (1981-2002). Cats incorporated the turntable into their show. Before the show, audience members sat in a traverse stage setup. As the overture played, the seating rotated 180 degrees to reveal the set. Ads for the show noted that "Latecomers not admitted while auditorium is in motion."


*Other Experimental Theaters of Note:
Revolving Theatre Český Krumlov
National Theatre's Olivier Theatre (Video)
Walt Disney World's Carousel of Progress attraction (Full show HERE)
Tokyo Disneyland's defunct Meet The World attraction (There are videos online, but not very good quality. Also in Japanese so I don't know what's going on)
Rotating Theater to make a Separate Mini-Auditorium (More information HERE)



So, Edward Durell Stone's Studio Theater was set to open along with the three Kennedy Center venues below on the main level. But this theater would never see an audience. Check out Part II to learn what happened, and how the Studio Theater became the Terrace Theater...



POSTSCRIPT
Like any building, details change throughout the design process. Most of the plans I found had the lobby layout I used above. Yet on one plan, the Studio Theater had a stair entrance similar to the theater entrances found in the Grand Foyer. This was to be the only original theater not attached to the Grand Foyer -- I have a feeling Stone wanted to make the lobby space mimic the Grand Foyer on a smaller level. It even has floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Potomac River. I don't know why it was scrapped, but the design Stone ultimately went with seems to be more space-conscious.

SOURCES
Edward Durell Stone "Recent & Future Architecture"
The theatre projects of Walter Gropius. Wendell Cole
The Edward Durell Stone Papers
Arthur Lloyd Archive: The Gillian Lynne Theatre
Theatrecrafts.com: Cats
Kennedy Center Conceptual Map - Kennedy Center Archives

Architectural Archaeology: Kennedy Center

Digging up the past
May 19, 2016 - Kennedy Center REACH site

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

When you think of archaeology, you usually think of digging and finding centuries-old items. When I look at a building, I like to do what I call architectural archaeology. My eyes dig into the walls and decor, searching for evidence of what the building used to look like, how it has evolved, what has been added, and what has been forgotten about until a future renovation. I'm going to present to you some architectural artifacts I've discovered from my current excavation, the Kennedy Center.



BATHROOM TILE

Here is a picture of a bathroom covered in floor-to-ceiling tile. Would you use these tiles in your bathroom today? Probably not.

Up close, this pattern is not too bad to look at. It's a very Edward Durell Stone style, a circle within a square. They are simple and bold shapes, repeating ceaselessly. I am betting that this bathroom has not changed much since 1971.

This is in a former VIP area, now used for admin space. I originally theorized this was a remnant of a highly-stylized VIP room lost to time. However, a few weeks later I stumbled upon another use of this tile in an event storage area next to the Atrium. Looking at blueprints, the space these other tiles live in was originally part of a large bathroom complex. So my current theory is that this was what all Kennedy Center bathrooms looked like in 1971.

All public bathroom spaces have been renovated since then, but it's nice to get a snapshot of what they probably used to look like. For some reason, not many people take pictures of bathrooms throughout the years.

FANCY, UNNECESSARY STAIRS

In a side hallway, we have one flight of stairs, connecting two levels of admin space. Do they need to be connected here in the space's current configuration? Not really. It's odd in this tall building to have a staircase comprise of only one flight.

Despite its rudimentary tread and riser, the stairs have an unexpected flourish in a golden railing with end curls. Usually, this kind of railing is reserved for front-of-house usage, not for office space.

It has an odd turnaround railing support. It does not look right how it slightly bends.

The top railing is shorter than usual.

This area is by the President's Office, which can explain the more dramatic flair. The President's Office (originally known as the Director's Office) has always been here. There are other public-facing flourishes in the surrounding office area, including light fixtures matching the ones in the theater lobbies. This was and is a show space of sorts for those visiting the President's Office. If you're the President of the Kennedy Center, you don't want your guests to be wowed by the Halls and Foyers, then arrive at your office and say, "Oh, that's it?" Get that same gold treatment. You deserve it.

What still isn't explained is why these stairs were needed in the first place. Original blueprints list the space up the stairs as unfinished space. These stairs also appear there as only rising one flight. More research will need to be done to find why this was needed.



STAGE DOOR LIGHTS

Once you are buzzed into the Opera House Stage Door, most people walk through the inner antechamber onto another destination. The room isn't anything special to look at, so most people don't look up to see some interesting overhead light fixtures.

These hanging sphere lights add some unexpected charm. They're definitely a bright spot in this utilitarian space. The other stage doors have been renovated/moved locations, so they have more modern lighting fixtures. I hope these guys stick around for a few more decades, I really like them.

Also, note that ceiling. Older/original sections of the building use these small, square ceiling tiles. (The ceiling can be replaced, please just keep those lights.)



MISSING CHANDELIERS & WALL SCONCES

When architectural elements are removed at the Kennedy Center, things are usually made to appear like nothing had ever been there. For example, phone booths used to be scattered all around the Center. Now, it's hard to find where they were located. There are, however, some architectural elements that were removed, but evidence remains of their existence.

When Millennium Stage was added to the Kennedy Center, the Grand Foyer was altered in many ways. One was the removal of a chandelier from either side of the hall. Their former locations can easily be spotted from the Millennium Stage house.

A complete chandelier, with the spot of the missing
chandelier behind. Millennium Stage North peeks in.

Another alteration was the removal of four sets of wall sconces. Where they once hung is now in the backstage wings of the Millennium Stages.

Backstage at Millennium Stage, a hole where a wall sconce once hung in
the Grand Foyer.

Remaining wall sconces in the Grand Foyer

Why are these still visible? Probably because, should the Millennium Stage series ever end and the stages be removed, the wall sconces and chandeliers can return to their former homes with ease.



BONUS: A MAP


This is a Kennedy Center map:

It is taped to a wall in a well-traversed backstage path. It's of the Grand Foyer Level of the building, but it hangs a floor below on the A Level. No date is included, but a few features on it can tell you roughly how old the map is. It lists the "American Film Institute" where the Family Theater is now. The name change happened in late 2005. The Washington National Opera is listed on here as the "Washington Opera," a name they used until February 2004. With the noninclusion of Millennium Stage in the Grand Foyer, I can assume this map was created before 1997. Folks, there has been a map taped to the wrong level of the building for probably 20+ years.

Other things to note:
- AFI had its own box office
- Washington Opera's offices were once in the building. They no longer are. (But I'm sure they're fine with that, their administrative offices now have windows)
- Lost & Found is marked where the Concert Hall Stage Door is now
- There's a gift shop and First Aid in the Hall of Nations?



SOURCES
Kennedy Center Blueprints (Thanks always to Vaughan Bowen!)
Garth Ross Interview
Silver Theater Opens to the Public
Family Theater Virtual Tour
Washington Opera Goes 'National' In Name and Vision