Riviera Theatre (Detroit, MI, USA)
Romanian-born American architect John Eberson’s talents are scattered in great abundance throughout the country. During the early 20th century, his name became synonymous with elaborately designed movie palaces, most of which were built in the style known as the ?atmospheric theatre,? in which the ceiling is intended to give the illusion of an open sky.
The first theatre of this kind to pay host to Detroit was the Riviera Theatre (or the ?Grand Riviera? as it was originally called), which opened in 1925. It was the only theatre Eberson designed for the Motor City area, which took its name from the city’s Grand River Avenue. The magnificent lobby enshrined with grand marble staircases and three great arched windows over the front doors saw many a famous name ? including Errol Flynn and comic legend to-be Gilda Radner (then a young child) ? pass through since its immediate success upon its completion.
Exterior (Image Source)
Rotunda (Image Source)
At a cost of over one million dollars, the Grand Riviera seated over three-thousand spectators who would spend an evening surrounded by the palazzo-like ambiance, accented by the precise use of lighting, special effects, and interior design to evoke the feel of an outdoor Italian garden. The building itself, built of brown brick, was Italian Renaissance in style. Boldly highlighting its three stories, an eighty foot tall octagonal pavillion sat on the corner of the structure. It had arched, multi-paned windows and substantial cream terra cotta decoration. To the west was an equally enormous wing boasting commercial and office space, and to the north sat the auditorium section, built with windowless paneled brick walls. A four-story vertical marquee spelled out the theater’s name over Grand River Avenue.
Auditorium (Image Source)
Auditorium From Different Angle (Image Source)
Auditorium, Full View (Image Source)
The silent film Desert Flower starring Colleen Moore (1925) received its early exposure at the Grand Riviera as the theatre’s first film shown. In the next few years, several upgrades were made to the complex’s internal structure. It was wired for sound, and also saw the addition of a 1,800-seat annex. By the 1930′s, the ?Grand? was removed from the theatre’s name (although this was by no means a reflection if its unique and artful character) and from then on it was called the ?Riviera Theatre,? or just simply ?The Riviera.?
In 1957, the Riviera was converted to a stage theatre and live productions took the place of motion pictures, but any further development was placed on the back burner come 1960 when the nearby Fisher Theatre ? a monstrous structure of 30 stories and equally historic ? re-opened in 1960. In the years following, the Riviera was reserved as a site for rock concerts while it awaited its next revival which was never to come. It was closed around 1974, and subsequently abandoned. The structure began to deteriorate ? but not before it saw the National Register of Historic Places list on April 22, 1982. By the 1990′s, however, its dismal condition was rendered unsafe beyond repair, leaving little option but to demolish the building in 1999.
Since August of 2001, the site has been occupied by the Deroit Grand River Social Security Office.
Written by grunewald
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