LA’s historic, 5,900-seat Greet Theatre in Griffith Park is getting a $1.5M makeover, scheduled for completion in time for the upcoming 2016 summer season. The City’s Parks & Recreation Department is funding the project. Improvements include:
- Stabilizing the structure underneath part of the seating;
- Creating a new front entrance with ground-level lit signage;
- Creating an open plaza for picnicking and public use when the facility is dark;
- Modernizing dressing rooms, offices and other work areas;
- Strengthening some of the seating;
- New paint inside and outside;
- Adding drought resistant landscaping;
- New wayfinding signage; and
- Removal of electronic signage that distracts from the structure’s historic character and architecture.
Life-size photos of the theater’s original Greek columns, which framed the edge of the stage when it was built in 1930, will be projected onto new curtains surrounding the stage to give the impression of the theater as it was built, according to the Los Feliz Ledger. The columns were covered up many years ago when the stage was lengthened.
The condition and management of the facility has drawn public concern. After months of packed public hearings, held by the five-panel Recreation and Parks Commissioners board to solicit input from the community, the city turned management of the facility over to Parks & Recreation. Previously, the theater was managed by Nederlander, a private company. [LFL]
