The Exhibitor (1961)

Design and Construction ( Continued from page PE-5) ity. This sign carries the theater’s name and a Wagner attraction panel, remotely illuminated from a catwalk, on each of the two faces. Again the appearance of this sign also at¬ tempts to carry out the basic visual ap¬ proach of the entire building. Lettering style for the Cinema is a modified P. T. Barnum type face which is often asso¬ ciated with the announcements of that show¬ man’s extravaganzas. It signifies today what it did more than a half-century ago and as a result is an excellent symbol for this new theatre: the unmatched pleasure of entertain¬ ment as shared experience. Architect of record for the building was Lathrop Douglass; structural engineer, Ed¬ ward Klausner; and mechanical engineer was Sidney W. Barbanel. CINEMA, Menlo Pork. Looking back toward the refreshment stand. Self-service dispensers and public phone booth on the left. WARNER, Hollywood, Cal. The Warner Theatre, Hollywood, originally built in 1928, and for the past eight years operated as a Cinerama theatre, has been completely renovated at a cost of $250,000. Among numerous other innovations, the Warner is now equipped with one of the most modern 70/35mm sound and projection sys¬ tems in the United States, according to an Ampex representative. Installation of the Ampex designed and built sound equipment was supervised by A1 Lewis of Ampex Corporation and consists of High Level Switching 120 Watt Theatre Sound Sys¬ tems. Total audio power of the entire system is 840 watts. The two 70mm and two 35mm projectors at Warner’s feature Ampex repro¬ duction of 6-track magnetic sound from 70mm film and 4 -track magnetic and optical sound from 35mm film. In addition, Ampex Syn¬ chronous Reproducers allow dual projector operation with 70mm pictures and sound on 35mm film with one, three, four or six mag¬ netic tracks or single track optical. A highlight of Warner’s Ampex installation are the small, single-unit Station Controls beside each projector. These units permit the projectionist to select sound from any project in any type of sound without muting at the changeover. Each Station Control Unit allows control of the master gain and provides five push-button sound selections: Todd A-O Composite, Todd A-O Synchronous, Cinema¬ scope, Optical and Intermission. Auditorium speaker installation at Warner’s was also handled by Ampex. In addition to five stage systems, twelve surround speakers were installed, each capable of handling an 800 seat theatre. High Fidelity intermission music at Warner’s is furnished by an Ampex 960 stereo recorder /player which plays com¬ mercially recorded 4 or 2-track tapes. Other credits for work on the Warner are as follows — marble work: Musto-Keenan Com¬ pany; display frames, glass work: Downey Glass Company; electrical work: E K P Lim¬ ited; lighting fixtures: California Fluorescent Co.; marquee and neon: Pacific Neon Mainte¬ nance & QRS Neon Co.; carpets: Magee and Angelus Floor Coverings; seats: American Seating Company; furniture: Theatre Uphol¬ stery Company; draperies: Grosh Scenic Stu¬ dios; concession stand: Sinicrope & Sons; terrazzo: Corradini & Sons; painting and dec¬ orating: Jas. Huntley Co.; plumbing: C. M. Stone Co.; air conditioning: Ralph E. Manns Co. A new concrete floor was installed to ac¬ commodate the 22" wide seats with 40" spac¬ ing back to back. Seating in the theatre was reduced from 2786 to 2170. General contractor for this renovation was Richard M. Lane Company, designer was Carl Moeller. ODEON ROUGE, Toronto, Ont. The first Drive-In in Canada to use forcedair electrical heaters for winter operation is under construction for the Odeon circuit. Probably to be named the Odeon Rouge Drive-In Theatre, the 1,050-car, all-weather open-airer is being built with every latest design feature at Pickering, on the fringe of the mushrooming Ontario city of Toronto. Work started October 23rd on the 24-acre ozoner, which is sited between the two major highways 401 and 2; east of the Ontario capital and about midway to. the city of Oshawa. The portable in-car heaters, which will re¬ quire the provision of an electrical power sub-station to deliver a current of 750 KVA, are only one of the features that will make the Odeon Rouge one of the most modern drive-ins in Canada. The principal consideration in every area of the lay-out, has been to provide profitable operation during the often severe Canadian winters. All entrance and exit roadways are to be paved, as are most ramp areas. An ade¬ quate car-holding area at the main entrance opens onto the 50 feet wide entrance drive¬ way leading to dual box offices, and all in¬ terior roadways are the same spacious width. The single ramp system has been adopted for ease of driving throughout the entire ramp area, and appropriate lighting and il¬ luminated directional signs will be installed where necessary. The 120 feet wide screen, designed for Cine¬ mascope presentations, is to be located 950 feet from the main entrance. This is a depar¬ ture from the conventional drive-in design, which places the screen tower at the theatre front with adjoining box offices. It is claimed that picture contrast and viewing pleasure will be improved by this innovation, ensuring that the screen is free from distracting light sources — including the halo of light generated by the theatre front lighting. The concessions building at the Odeon Rouge Drive-In will have a total area of 6,700 square feet, and heating during the winter months will be provided by two independent gas-fired, forced-air units. In addition to the cafeteria-style confections counter, this build¬ ing will also contain the projection suite and a spacious office for the theatre manager. The most up-to-date equipment will provide fast and efficient concessions service to patrons by a specially trained staff. In addition, a wide range of coin-operated units will be in¬ stalled to speed turnover at peak periods. Projection booth equipment is to include British Gaumont Kalee projectors and sound system. The latter will power two Century output amplifiers feeding Ballantyne speakers. The screen light source will be from Strong projection lamps, and silicon type rectifiers rated at 180 amps. The type of playground equipment to be installed for the enjoyment of the small fry is still being considered. However, a large area has been set aside for these amenities, and expense will not be spared in providing the most modern and popular rides for the young¬ er patrons. The Odeon Rouge Drive-In is scheduled for completion early next Spring, and with its immediate r^mp room for 1,050 cars and space for future expansion to 1,250, it heralds a new era of year-around drive-in operation in Canada. The beautiful auditorium of the new Fisher Theatre, Detroit. The Fisher, described by some as the most pretentious theatre to be built in America in 25 years, is equipped for both film and live presentations. The seats, shown here, were installed by the Heywood-Wakefield Com¬ pany. The cost for rebuilding the Fisher was $3,500,000. PE-6 PHYSICAL THEATRE • EXTRA PROFITS DEPARTMENT of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 13, 1961