"Colony Awards Bids on Preliminary Construction" published by The Marietta Register July 2, 2008

by R. Hunt Brawley, J.D.
Development Director of the Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association

    Last Wednesday the Colony Theatre awarded bids on two restoration items: preservation of the fire curtain mural and preliminary work on the first-floor restrooms, exterior doors and lobby stairways. Although this amounts to a small percentage of the overall project, we are excited to see this work get underway. It is essentially the first interior restoration to take place at the Colony in over twenty-five years.
    Tiffin Scenic Studios of Tiffin, Ohio, was awarded the fire curtain mural restoration. This is highly specialized work that was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Tiffin will be teaming up with Evergreene Painting Studios of New York City to restore the mural and re-rig it so that it will be an extremely attractive yet fully functional fire protection mechanism at the theatre. Paint restoration specialists from Evergreene will clean the fire curtain mural, repair fabric and repaint damaged areas of the curtain. Most of the dirt on the fire curtain is actually coal dust from the original coal-fired boiler in the theatre. Because the paint is water based, paint solvents cannot be used for cleaning and the dust must be removed with a specialized vacuum cleaner. It is estimated that cleaning the mural will brighten the paint colors by fifty percent.
    Restoring the curtain requires removing it from its track in the proscenium opening and hanging it mid-stage, where it can be restored by the paint specialists. After it is restored it will be re-hung in the proscenium tracks — known as “smoke pockets” in theatre jargon. Tiffin Studios will then install a modern counterweight rigging system which will drop the curtain in the event of a fire on stage.
    The fire curtain mural is the only existing decorative item that was originally in the theatre when it was built in 1919. Because every other surface in the theatre has been repainted or covered over many times, the fire curtain serves as a window into the past and is the decorative foundation for the rest of the interior design. The colors and stenciling proposed for the auditorium are all based on details such as the gilded leaf or crosshatch motif decorating the border areas of the fire curtain mural. The mural is truly a historic treasure and we are pleased to be in a position to restore it close to its original splendor.
    Another bid was awarded to local contractor Silverheels, Inc. to do preliminary restoration work on some exterior doors, the first-floor lobby stairway and first-floor ADA-compliant restrooms. The aim is always to replicate the condition of the theatre when it was built. The original stairway that existed on the right side of the lobby was previously removed to accommodate an extended vending area. Silverheels will reconstruct the structural element of the right side stairway so that the lobby will appear as originally built. Although there is little to go by to  determine the original appearance of the restrooms, we will do our best to match antique tile and other historic finishes to give even a modern ADA-compliant restroom a historic look.
    This may not be quite as exciting as starting construction on the full restoration project, but we are thrilled to move forward on a couple of important features at the theatre. We hope to follow this shortly with the completion of our tax credit package and the start on the entire project.