Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Fourth Avenue Theater (Anchorage, AK)

I figured I'd start with one of my favorites.  This is the Fourth Avenue Theater located in downtown Anchorage.  It was designed by B. Marcus Priteca and Augustine A. Poreca between 1941 and 1947.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. 



It truly is an art deco gem here in Alaska.  However, it is currently sitting vacant.  The Alaska Association for Historic Preservation had it listed on the 10 Most Endangered Properties List in 2008.  Let's hope this theater can be brought back into use.  Nothing sadder than an empty building (well, one being demolished is technically more sad, but still...)





And here's a little 1980s retro HABS photo with a more, er, "rustic" color palette:






And the current "Miami Vice" color scheme:



Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 5, 2010 at 5:46 AM

    How long has it been vacant? It still looks like it's in good shape. What's the streetscape like here? Similar period buildings?

    ReplyDelete
  2. ValerieMay 5, 2010 at 8:11 AM

    Really? I don't know, as I've just moved up here. Seems like it was going to be used in the 1990s, but wasn't for one reason or another. Looks can be deceiving. The longer a building stands vacant, the more disrepair it falls in to.

    http://info.aia.org/nwsltr_hrc.cfm?pagename=hrc_a_200903_fourth

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)