Bijou Theatre (Knoxville, Tennessee)
 Exterior view of the theatre (c.2010) | |
 | |
| Former names | Wells Auditorium (planning/construction) Wells Bijou Theatre (1909-35) Bijou Art Theatre (1935-75) |
|---|---|
| Address | 803 S Gay St Knoxville, TN 37902-1711 |
| Location | Downtown Knoxville |
| Coordinates | 35°57′44″N 83°55′0″W / 35.96222°N 83.91667°W |
| Owner | Bijou Theatre Foundation |
| Operator | AC Entertainment |
| Capacity | 757 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | May 1908 |
| Opened | March 8, 1909 |
| Closed | 1975-2005 |
| Construction cost | $150,000 ($5.09 million in 2023 dollars[1]) |
| Architect | Oakley of Montgomery |
| General contractor | Thomas and Turner, Inc. |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
Lamar House Hotel-Bijou Theatre | |
| Built | 1817, 1909 |
| Architectural style | Federal; Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001763 |
| Added to NRHP | December 4, 1975 |
The Bijou Theatre is a
The Lamar House Hotel was built by Irish immigrant Thomas Humes (1767–1816) and his descendants, and quickly developed into a gathering place for Knoxville's wealthy. In 1819, Andrew Jackson became the first of five presidents to lodge at the hotel, and in the early 1850s, local businessmen purchased and expanded the building into a lavish 75-room complex.[2] During the Civil War, the Union Army used the hotel as a hospital for its war wounded, among them General William P. Sanders, who died at the hotel in 1863. Following the war, the hotel became the center of Knoxville's Gilded Age extravagance, hosting lavish masquerade balls for the city's elite.[2][3]
In 1909, the rear wing of the building was replaced by the Bijou Theatre structure, entered through a new lobby cut through the hotel building from
Design
The Bijou Theatre building consists of two parts— the original hotel section, completed in 1817, and the rear theater section, built in 1909. The main entrance opens into a
The building's facade was probably designed in the
The theater has a capacity of approximately 700, with two balcony levels. There are two loggia levels and three
History
Early history
The Bijou stands on Lot 38 of the original survey of
The hotel was initially managed by a local tavern owner named Archibald Rhea, and was advertised as the largest in
Lamar House and the Civil War
In 1852, Knoxville banker
In the months leading up to the
When the Union Army took control of Knoxville in September 1863, the Lamar House was converted into a hospital. General
Gilded Age and decline
After Sneed died in 1869, his children inherited the Lamar House, and over the next two decades, the hotel once again developed into the preferred gathering place for Knoxville's elite. The hotel's status was enhanced by the construction of Staub's Theatre— Knoxville's first opera house— across the street in 1872. Masquerade balls were held regularly in the hotel's ballroom, with cigars, imported wines, and oysters served. Frequent attendees included author Frances Hodgson Burnett (whose brother worked as a bartender at the hotel) and artist Lloyd Branson. President Rutherford B. Hayes stayed at the hotel during his visit to Knoxville in September 1877.[2][5] General James Holt Clanton died at the Lamar House on September 27, 1871, after being wounded in a shootout with attorney David Nelson.[6][7]
In the 1890s, Knoxville's business focus shifted to the Southern Railroad area toward the north end of Gay Street, and the Lamar Hotel began to decline. Sneed's heirs sold the hotel in 1895, and over the next decade, the hotel shifted through six different owners and various new names before being purchased by the Auditorium Company for the construction of the Bijou in 1908. The hotel was known as "Hotel Le Conte" from 1930 until the 1950s, and was called "Hotel Lamarr" in the 1960s. By 1969, the hotel had become notorious for prostitution, and the city ordered it closed.[2]
Bijou Theatre
The Auditorium Company, headed by businessman C. B. Atkin and theater manager Jake Wells, purchased the hotel in 1908 with the intention of adding a theater. The hotel's ell wings were torn down, and the brick theater wing was built in their place, with entrances added to the hotel's lobby. The theater, built at a cost of $50,000, originally had a capacity of 1,500, and featured electric lighting. The theater's backstage was equipped with a two-story scene dock and an
On March 8, 1909, the theater's opening night production of
Performers at the Bijou during the 1920s included John Philip Sousa and his band,
Restoration
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By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Knoxville's downtown area had deteriorated, and various companies were using the Bijou to show pornographic movies. In 1974, after its owner was evicted for unpaid property taxes, the building was threatened with demolition, and a group of concerned citizens (the forerunner of Knox Heritage) organized a successful campaign to save the building. The theater was renovated as a center for the performing arts. Another partial renovation followed 20 years later, but funding remained a problem, and maintenance suffered. By 2005, the theater was in danger of defaulting on its mortgage, and was saved once again by two Knoxville businessmen, who held off foreclosure while the loan was renegotiated. After a fundraising campaign spearheaded by Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and the award of a federal grant, another renovation followed, repairing water damage, renovating the theater seats, and upgrading the stage with modern lighting, sound, and fly equipment.
References
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Dean Novelli, "On a Corner of Gay Street: A History of the Lamar House—Bijou Theater, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1817 – 1985." East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, Vol. 56 (1984), pp. 3-45.
- ^ Knoxville: Fifty Landmarks. (Knoxville: The Knoxville Heritage Committee of the Junior League of Knoxville, 1976), p. 15.
- ^ Robert McKenzie, Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 45.
- ^ Jack Neely, Knoxville's Secret History (Scruffy Books, 1995), pp. 13, 70-71.
- ^ Thomas Alexander, Thomas A. R. Nelson of East Tennessee (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Commission, 1956), p. 152.
- ^ Knoxville Press and Herald, 28 September 1871.
- Isenhour, Judith Clayton. Knoxville - A Pictorial History. (Donning, 1978), pages 108-109.
External links
- Bijou Theatre official website — contains FAQ and seating chart