2007 Terry Winner - Jefferson Theatre, Beaumont, Texas

Jefferson Theatre, 345 Fannin Street, Beaumont , TX 77701 .
Jefferson Theatre Preservation Society
P. O. Box 1229 , Beaumont , TX 77704-1229
(409) 835-5483
Beaumont Main Street
595 Orleans, Suite 1012, Beaumont, TX 77701
(409) 838-2202.
http://www.jeffersontheatre.org.
Public viewing on request, but more easily seen during performances and movie screenings.
Donations accepted.

OTHER AWARDS
National Register of Historic Places; Recorded Texas Landmark; Texas Downtown Association's Texas Best Restoration, 2004; Preservation Texas, Restoration Award.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Jefferson Theatre is one of the most glamorous architectural relics of the Roaring Twenties in Texas . A major example of Renaissance Revival/Spanish Baroque eclecticism, it is the last historic movie theater in Beaumont and an integral part of the downtown landscape. In all of Texas, it is one of handful of restored movie palaces that continue to host movie screenings and live performances. The elegant surroundings provide a sense of historical continuity for the audience and are valuable cultural assets for the community. Moreover, the Jefferson Theater is one of the best surviving buildings designed by the talented Jewish architect Emile Weil (1878-1945) of New Orleans, whose lavish structures are notable landmarks throughout the Gulf South.

HISTORY OF THE STRUCTURE
The architectural career of Emile Weil began at least as early as 1909, when the 31-year-old won the design contest for the Touro Synagogue on St. Charles Avenue. The New Orleans Jewish community commissioned Beth Israel synagogue from him in 1924, and Anshe Sfard synagogue in 1925, as well as the entrance to Temple Sinai . For the Shriners, in 1923, he designed the Hamasa Shrine Temple in Meridian , Miss. , which doubled as a movie theater that seated 1,800 people. His Canal-Commercial Trust & Savings Bank in New Orleans was completed in 1925.

Weil's most notable clients were the Saenger brothers of Shreveport. These pharmacist brothers built a chain of 320 movie houses in the South, after pondering the money-making potential of the 1-cent peep show ("kinetograph") that stood in their drug store. During the Roaring Twenties, Weil designed seven flamboyant movie palaces for Saenger Amusement Company, including Saenger Theaters in: Texarkana (1924; seating 1,606; now called the Perot); Shreveport (1925; seating 1,614; now called the Strand); Pensacola (1925; seating 1,794); Mobile (1926; seating 1,993); New Orleans (1927; seating 4,000, but 2,736 after renovations); and Hattiesburg (1929; 1,000 seats). All of these still exist and are cherished fixtures in their communities. The New Orleans Saenger was the flagship of the line, costing $2.5 million to construct, and featuring a splendid Robert Morton Wonder Organ.

Weil apparently did not have an exclusive contract with the Saengers, because in 1927 he designed or built the Tivoli Theater in New Orleans for the United Theater Company, and the Jefferson Theatre in Beaumont , for the Jefferson Amusement Company. The latter was a partnership between Sol E. Gordon, a Jewish attorney, and James Calvin Clemmons, a Beaumont businessman. The company spent $1,000,000 on the theatre. Beaumont was flush with oil money, and prosperity fueled by credit lured many investors into overblown construction projects at the time. Spanish Baroque revival styles were popular due to the influence of California and Florida , but Texas also seemed an appropriate place to put a Spanish Baroque movie palace. Like the Saengers in New Orleans , the Jefferson Amusement Company also invested in a Robert Morton Wonder Organ. Its 778 pipes and percussive equipment could virtually replicate the sound of a whole orchestra, and its moving platform that rose from the pit in full view of the audience, inspired much awe. For silent movies, this was a wonderful supplement to the entertainment. The Jefferson 's grand opening on November 14, 1927, premiered with Rose of the Golden West , starring Gilbert Roland and Mary Astor. Only two years later, the stock market crash impacted the theater's customer base, but the oil business and, later, manufacturing for World War II, continued to provide a strong economy. For several decades, the Jefferson Theatre continued to flourish, or at least survive, under the management of Julius Gordon, Sol's son. Traveling stage shows, vaudeville, and top-of-the-line movies played to substantial audiences. Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra both attended the Jefferson 's premiere of It's a Wonderful Life . By the 1960s, however, integration, white flight, insufficient parking, and suburbanization were devastating the profitability of downtown Beaumont. Moreover, ornate single-screen, mega-movie houses had become obsolete. Not only did they compete with television, but also with newer theaters that showed niche-audience movies in smaller rooms with smaller screens. A palace theatre seating 1,500 people simply had no purpose any more, except for live shows and the occasional movie blockbuster. That wasn't enough to pay the bills after people stopped going downtown. So, by 1972, the Jefferson closed as a movie house.

By some circuitous route, the Jefferson Theatre became the property of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation. It rented the facility to various entities, including a church group that destroyed the building's classical statuary because it detested the artwork's nudity. In successive paint jobs, the building's original color scheme was completely obliterated and many decorative features were lost, while the structural integrity also deteriorated.

RESTORATION
The Beaumont Junior League and Junior Forum founded the Jefferson Theatre Preservation Society (JTPS) in 1975 to save the building. They envisioned it as a performing arts center, and for twenty years after 1976, the JTPS kept it open using volunteers. The facility crumbled, but still had an active part in the cultural spheres of Beaumont . By 1995, however, the structural issues were at crisis-level. Beaumont Main Street and the JTPS partnered to raise money for a complete and overdue restoration. A top theater-finance professional, John Lind of VenueTech Management Group, designed a business plan with input from the community and various government agencies. Restoration architects David Hoffman and Milton Bell advised on needed repairs, and the promoters embarked on a $6.5 million fundraising effort.

To quote from the Theatre's Terry application: "The restoration process was VERY difficult because of the many organizations involved." To get money, the two local non-profits, Main Street and JTPS, had to learn to comply with regulations put forth by foundations, agencies, the city, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the ADA . For a cool million, the groups' historic tax credits were sold to BankOne of New Orleans for 90 cents on the dollar, on advice from the National Development Council. By the fall of 2001, the groups had $5 million in their war chest. Federal and state permits, completion of abatement, and submission of bids, led to an actual beginning of work in April of 2002. The restoration contractors were H. B. Neild & Sons, under the oversight of David Hoffman & Co. and Milton Bell Associates. One of the nation's top paint restorers, Conrad Schmitt Studios of Wisconsin, replicated paint schemes and faux finishes. Light fixtures and stage machinery were redone. New film projection equipment was installed. More than $100,000 went into the repair of the Wonder Organ. The building got new or repaired plumbing, wiring, roofing, sprinklers, seats, sound equipment, bathrooms, fire escapes, signage, offices, dressing rooms, and . . . statues (but not as nude as before). Avid supporters paid large sums to "adopt" various features of the building, in exchange for plaques honoring their generosity. The city of Beaumont contributed $2 million through borrowed Section 108 funds (Community Development Block Grants) that have to be repaid over a period of 20 years. Foundations gave $1.5 million. Tax credits yielded $1 million, and individuals gave about $2 million. "Two things were important. We never gave up, and we followed our Business and Restoration Plans."

The grand re-opening took place on Nov. 7, 2003 , with entertainment throughout the week furnished by Lou Rawls, the Vienna Boys Choir, local performers, and a movie from DreamWorks (whose director, Kelly Asbury, was a Beaumont native). To furnish an on-going purpose for the building, a mix of live and filmed entertainment was scheduled. For example, a yearly program called "Brilliance" brought young classical musicians onstage. The building was rented to area schools for pageants, graduations, and performances by school groups. "Add-on" professional shows could sometimes be booked at inexpensive rates because touring companies were already nearby performing in Houston or New Orleans . Older people with money attended art house film screenings and headline acts by vintage performers like Glen Campbell, the Smothers Brothers, Kathy Mattea, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Joan Rivers, Lyle Lovett, and the Temptations. The JTPS and its 17-member Board of Directors contracted day-to-day management to VenueTech, but apparently the financial dimension continued to bewilder and overwhelm. Hurricane Rita's visit in 2005 caused damage that had to be addressed, and in May of 2006, the Beaumont City Council agreed to lease and manage the Theatre for the JTPS. The city said it would cost $100,000 a year to operate the theatre, so it must not be self-supporting, but as part of the civic recreation budget, that is a small price to pay for so special a place.

Truly the Jefferson Theatre was a monstrous and overwhelming project. The Terry Committee applauds the persistence, hard work, and dedication of all those involved in this wonderful restoration!