By Mary Alice Murphy
The New Mexico Historic Theater Institute, presented by New Mexico MainStreet, a program of the NM Economic Development Department, held its second annual meeting in Silver City over an evening and a full day last week. The event kicked off Thursday night, with the grand opening of the newly renovated Silco Theater and a showing of "Batman vs. Superman."
After greetings and introductions, Friday morning featured an overview of the New Mexico Historic Theater Initiative and industry trends, a tour of the Silco and tours of the El Sol and Gila theaters.
The El Sol has been purchased by Teresa Dahl-Bredine and her husband David Crosley. They plan to turn it into a performing arts venue, with construction beginning within a month, Dahl-Bredine told the Beat.
In the afternoon, because movies were being shown at the Silco, attendees convened in the Old Elks Lodge ballroom, to hear the case study of the Silco Theater, presented by Lucy Whitmarsh, Silver City MainStreet Project director and Silco Theater project manager since 2013, and David Vesica, the architect throughout the renovation of the Silco.
"It has been a process," Whitmarsh said, "especially for seeking funding."
Silver City MainStreet had to coordinate with the Historic Preservation Division. "We did a conservation easement on the building. David (Vesica) identified the historical contribution aspects, as one of the criteria for funding. These aspects could not be modified. We contracted with Vesica on the historic aspects to make sure they were maintained."
"I can't imagine doing a renovation without an architect," Whitmarsh said.
On July 4, 1923, the Silco opened as a neo-classical theater building.
"The Masonic Lodge was next door," Vesica said. "The original upper story of the building is pretty much intact as it was then. We found a photo from 1940 that showed the renovation of the Silco to Art Deco on the exterior."
The building also had a confectionary/concession and newsstand next door to the right as you look at the building. On the left was a florist shop. Upstairs were the offices, with an urban multi-use corridor to the lodge next door. The Silco has now the same tile from the vestibule of 1940.
"In 1960, there was a big change, with the closing up of the vestibule," Vesica continued. "The marquee was covered in plaster and the windows also were covered. As an architect I try to be timeless.
"In 2013, when we started the project, we thought it should look like a theater," he said. "The murals at that time were wall sconces. We wanted the same flow as from the 1940s."
Columns supported the balcony. The seats then were 17-inches wide. The new ones are 22-inches wide and the renovated theater has a wider corridor.
"The next phase after this completed phase 1 is to renovate the backstage for live theater," Vesica said. "One of our goals was to open up the auditorium to maximize seating. The backstage had had two more floors for the furniture store that it was in its prior configuration."
He said one of the priorities was to make the building safe and "get rid of the fire traps."
"We decided to use the 1940 photos as our benchmark," Vesica said. "We had to identify what items to demolish. We had decided it would be a movie theater to begin with and later a performing arts venue.
"We also had to address human comfort, as there was no air-conditioning and only some heating," he said. "We brought in a brand-new HVAC system."
Phasing was chosen in order to meet available funding, while seeking additional funding.
"The first phase was demolition of everything that was not historically relevant," Vesica said. "Then we renovated the outside and then the inside. MainStreet was raising money the whole time. The marque was installed first, because it was paid for by a grant that had an expiration date on it."
The exterior was returned to the 1940 exterior, with the marquee, the transoms and the vestibule. "We had to pour new concrete and a new stem wall."
To return the murals inside and to embellish the proscenium wall, instead of sconces and raised work, to meet budget, paint was used. The orchestra pit was also exposed.
"We went through a review with the owner and MainStreet and then presented it to Historic Preservation," Vesica said. "Then we had to get prices from contractors.
"I recommend one contractor for the whole project," he said. "It saves money, but it wasn't an option here, so we have a list of separate contractors that worked on the project."
Because it was a public project, each aspect had to go out to bid three times, and typically the low bidder received the work.
"In an attempt to make the project more affordable," Whitmarsh said, "the contractor allowed us to provide the lighting, theater seating and signage by owner to avoid the contractor's and sub-contractors' markups."
Vesica said the owner providing the lighting "saves a lot of money."
He noted that every project runs into unknowns, so the contractor provided a contingency. "Things get covered up that you have no idea are there."
"It was a challenging project, but worth it," Vesica said. "Anything non-conforming to what we wanted as historic, we got rid of. We tried to replicate the historic aspects as best we could. We replaced the glass in the transom windows and used paint to create the strong geometric designs. We used the dramatic effect of neon."
LEDs, neon and fluorescent fixtures light the marquee.
He said people have told him that cars are now seen downtown at night.
To a question about why the 1940 photo was chosen, Vesica said it was because more aspects of that time remained, and Art Deco is easy to replicate.
Another questioner asked if the group went to Historic Preservation before starting the demolition.
"No, I measured everything," Vesica said. "I took lots of photos to show what shape it was in structurally. They wanted to know what we wanted to do, so I put it together and presented it to the board and made my recommendations.
"Not until you assess the building and get the design elements in place, should you go to Historic Preservation," he said.
Roof work had to be done first, Whitmarsh said.
"We had to stabilize the building," Vesica said. "Come up with your design and construction approach, then go to Historic Preservation."
A questioner asked about the dialogue with Historic Preservation.
"The first thing is to define the scope, so you know what the topic of discussion is," Vesica said. "At first, give the design review and why you're doing it and what you are designing back to."
Whitmarsh said the Historic Preservation Division was also a resource. "We were getting ridiculous quotes on doors, for example. Several quotes wanted $60,000 for each of the doors. Through HPD, we got four doors for about $5,000. The architect can find resources and HPD interaction was helpful. The priorities were to define what is important."
Another questioner asked if HPD gave input on the speaker system.
"I went to great lengths to provide a location for the speakers, so they coordinate with the design," Vesica said.
Whitmarsh said the projects used in-kind and private donations for matching funds, but not federal funds.
A woman asked why MainStreet went after the Silco first.
"All three theaters were available," Whitmarsh said. "Because we eventually want to be multi-use, the Silco was the only one built to be multi-use. The Gila Theater would have been a larger project. We knew the basic structure was still here, and we had photos with something to go by."