Strand Theatre (Shreveport, Louisiana)

Strand Theatre

Strand Theatre
Location 630 Crockett, Shreveport, Louisiana
Coordinates 32°30′37″N 93°44′59″W / 32.51028°N 93.74972°W / 32.51028; -93.74972Coordinates: 32°30′37″N 93°44′59″W / 32.51028°N 93.74972°W / 32.51028; -93.74972
Area less than one acre
Built 1923
Architectural style Other, Eclectic
NRHP Reference # 77000668[1]
Added to NRHP May 26, 1977
The Strand from the Crockett Street side showing the full size of the building
The Strand under renovation in 2015

The Strand Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, opened in 1925 as a Vaudeville venue and was nicknamed "The greatest theatre of the South" and the "Million Dollar Theatre" by its builders, Julian and Abraham Saenger of Shreveport, owners of the Saenger Amusements Company, which operated theaters throughout the American South and in Central America. By the 1940s it had evolved into a movie cinema, which it remained until its closure in 1977. Threatened with demolition, it was saved by a coalition of concerned citizens who restored it to its original grandeur over a nearly seven-year period.[2] It is the "Official State Theatre of Louisiana".[3][4] Since its re-opening in 1984 following restoration it has served as a performing arts venue, featuring the Shreveport Broadway Series and other traveling Off-Broadway shows.

Emile Weil and Charles G. Davis of New Orleans were the architects of the theater with interior design work by Paul Heerwagen of Arkansas. Construction foreman was Ernest Raleigh Darrow of Shreveport. The Strand was a flagship theatre for Saenger Amusements Company and its successor, Saenger-Ehrlich Enterprised, a forerunner of Paramount Pictures.

During the 1960s, when the Strand was in use as a cinema, the facility was desegregated through the efforts of the Reverend Herman Farr, who in 1978 became one of the first three African Americans to have served on the Shreveport City Council.[5]

In 1977, the theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Eric J. Brock (1966-2011), "The Strand, Still Grand, Has Deep Roots Here," Shreveport Times, 1995-09-23
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Jim Montgomery (1945-2013), Ladies and Gentlemen, The Strand (Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Moran Publishers, 2000
  5. ↑ http://m.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/OBITUARIES01/806110341/1045/OBITUARIES&template=wapart
  6. ↑ Louisiana historic marker at Strand Theatre, Crockett at Louisiana streets, Shreveport, Louisiana
  7. ↑

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