Pantages Theatre

October 27, 1916: Greek immigrant Alexander Pantages opens the 26th of what would eventually be a total of 500 theatres. The Minneapolis Pantages, on Hennepin Avenue, was designed by Minneapolis architectural firm Kees & Colburn. It was originally conceived as a twelve-story complex in Beaux Arts style, but was scaled back to a two-story Art Moderne facade with a Beaux arts interior that accommodated 1600 people. Building costs were approximately $15,000. The Pantages boasted the first air-conditioning in a Minneapolis theatre, which involved cooling the air with ice. Alexander Pantages also innovated the mezzanine, a carpeted lobby on the balcony level with restrooms and telephones. The first show at the Minneapolis Pantages was a vaudeville lineup that included singers, comedians, and a banjo player.
1922: A new glass dome is added high above the auditorium.
1926: The Pantages Theatre's entryway is renovated with a new facade of St. Cloud red granite.
1945: Edmond R. Ruben purchases the Pantages and renovates again, decreasing the seating capacity to 1400 and adding bird's-eye maple woodwork. The grand re-opening takes place on April 14, 1946, with a screening of Gilda, starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford.
1961: Edmond Ruben sells the Pantages with the surrounding Stimson building to Ted Mann, bringing Mann's total ownership of downtown Minneapolis theatres to six, including the Orpheum, the Academy, the World, the Lyceum, and the Strand. Mann renovates the theatre yet again, decreasing the seating capacity to 1100 with red padded metal rocker seats, and removing Alexander Pantages' mezzanine. The theatre reopens March 15, 1961 with the movie Spartacus.
1984: The Pantages (now the Mann) Theatre closes.
November 7, 2002: The completely renovated Pantages reopens on Hennepin Avenue.

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