Downtown’s Boulder Theater has been a city treasure for 90 years, but recently, its striking Art Deco facade has been in danger of crumbling from water damage. Now, a new fundraising campaign is underway to restore it.
The “Save the Face” campaign, spearheaded by Historic Boulder, has already raised most of the approximately $500,000 needed, with half of the projected repair costs covered by in-house and corporate donations, as well as a Colorado State Historical Fund grant.
The other half is coming from a partnership among theater owner Doug Greene, theater manager Z2 Entertainment and Historic Boulder’s public fundraising. Historic Boulder, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Boulder’s architectural and cultural heritage, holds a legal easement on the theater’s facade but not on the building’s interior.
Fundraising kicked off with a Jan. 26 performance at the theater by Face Vocal Band, Boulder’s nationally known male a cappella group. The evening raised approximately $50,000 after expenses, said Historic Boulder Executive Director Leonard Segel.
“With the additional funds that have come in from sponsorships and donations, we are close to reaching our target number of $76,000,” he added.
Work is expected to begin in late April and be completed during the summer. The theater will remain open during the remedial work.
‘Once-in-a-generation’ repair after years of water damage
Problems in the classic facade first became evident several years ago when cracks appeared on the theater’s front wall. It was found that almost 50% of the exterior surface had been compromised by water leaks, primarily from deterioration at the top of the front wall.
Although the upper wall was soon repaired and sealed, interior structural damage remained. “Without repairs, the front wall could eventually break off in pieces,” Segel said.
The upcoming renovation will involve removing about half of the wall’s stucco coating and repairing the structural wall behind it, he said. The wall’s bold terracotta tiles will stay in place while work proceeds.
New stucco will then be applied, and any broken mortar joints between the tiles will be repaired. Finally the wall will be repainted to match the original.
Ruth McHeyser, Historic Boulder’s co-lead on the project and a former Boulder city planning director, remarked that this is a “once-in-a-generation repair,” with perhaps “20 to 40 years before we need to touch it again, maybe longer.”
A piece of Boulder’s history: ‘They don’t build them like this anymore’
Opened in 1936, The Boulder Theater was built as a grand movie palace popular in the era, in the then-avant-garde Art Deco style. It closely follows the style of the nearby Boulder County Courthouse, constructed in 1933.
“This building was cutting-edge progressive in the 1930s,” Segel said. “It spoke of the future, tomorrow, the Zeitgeist of Boulder, which has always been known nationally for forward-thinking,” even during the 1930s Depression years when Boulder’s population numbered only 12,000. “It is the poster child for Boulder and who we are.”
Along with three other theaters downtown that entertained locals, the Boulder Theater remained popular until the 1960s, when it couldn’t compete with new multiscreen theaters opening in the suburbs.
Left in the backwater, the theater was threatened with demolition until preservationists set out to save it. They bought it, obtained designation as a historic landmark, then sold it to a local ownership group.
Still, it didn’t find its place despite several ownership changes, as owners tried different uses ranging from old movies to renting it out for corporate events. The theater even went dark several times.
“It struggled to come up with the right business model and someone willing to make the necessary investments in it,” McHeyser noted.
That right business model showed up when Greene bought the theater in 1995 and converted it to a concert venue, with rentals part of — but not central — to the mix.
In 1998, Greene brought in Cheryl Liguori, CEO of Z2 Entertainment, as the theater’s general manager. Business boomed from some 60 events yearly to about 200. Z2 also manages entertainment at the Fox Theatre and the Chautauqua Summer Concert Series.
To Liguori, Boulder Theater represents “a gathering place for everyone in the community to find something they truly enjoy.” In addition to Face, that has included a Beatles tribute concert, Graham Nash, Leftover Salmon and Rachel Maddow within the past year.
More than 100,000 people annually now attend theater events each year — pumping an estimated $33.28 per person into the local economy for parking, shopping and dining downtown while doing so, said Liguori, but excluding admission and spending within the theater.
Segel noted that the Boulder Theater exemplifies the national standards set by the Department of the Interior in the 1950s to preserve older buildings that have historic, architectural or environmental significance to the community.
Boulder Theater is among about 200 area buildings that Boulder has landmarked and one of some 1,100 properties locally with varying levels of preservation protection.
The theater fits neatly, he said, because it serves as a community and social gathering place hosting beneficial community events, is among the few examples of public Art Deco design, and is a highly visible downtown landmark.
Preserving historic buildings like the Boulder Theater is vital to retaining the city’s sense of itself, according to Segel. He deplored the loss, for example, of Baseline School, formerly located at 700 20th St., and the current demolition of the Harvest House, at 1345 28th St.
“The loss of a historic building that would qualify is like losing a little bit of the body of the community,” he continued. “It really is. Little by little, it erodes the identity and the spirit of the community.”
As Liguori noted, the Boulder Theater deserves careful preservation “because of the beauty of the space. They don’t build them like this anymore. It’s important to keep that beauty for the community, to keep it alive.”
Theater fans wanting to help can donate individually, or become a sponsor at one of five support levels. Any excess raised beyond need will be deposited into the Hannah Barker Preservation Fund, which is used to provide “discretionary support” for various projects, said Segel. Barker was a Boulder pioneer whose home HBI restored.
Great venue, I saw a led zep tribute band there years ago. They sounded incredible and looked like the band too! 😎