Property Record
3625 W CENTER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Venetian Theatre |
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| Other Name: | Venetian Sales Showroom |
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| Reference Number: | 111122 |
| Location (Address): | 3625 W CENTER ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1927 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1980 |
| Historic Use: | theater |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Peacock and Frank |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | Yes |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Interior originally had an Italian garden effect. A fine but fading example of one of the great movie palaces that once graced the city. Designed in the Spanish Neo-Baroque, it still retains a considerable amount of its terra-cotta ornamentation. "Movie palaces were grandiose theatres usually designed the a theme decor and of two major styles: the so-called "hard top" which emulated traditional opera house construction, and the "atmospheric," a novel approach that recalled stars and clouds. The Venetian was the latter type and the Milwaukee Journal of March 6, 1927, reproduced a rendering by Milwaukee architects Urban Peacock and Armin Frank showing a treelined parapet and blue plaster sky high above the seats. The cost exceeded one half million dollars according to an article in the half million dollars according to an article in the Exhibitor's Herald of April 16, 1927, entitled: "Elaborate New Venetian Theatre, Wisconsin's First Atmospheric Theatre is Opened in Milwaukee." Ironically, the "Italian Renaissance" theme decor was not quite as "Venetian" as that created in 1911 in the Juneau Theatre on Mitchell Street, but with 1,430 seats, it was much larger. The Gala opening on March 18, 1927, featured Laura LaPlante in "Butterflies in the Rain," accompanied by the Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. The Milwaukee Circuit of the Universal Theatres Chain opened this air conditioned marvel with antiqued walls of gilt, blue and white velvet hangings, plus tapestries and hand-blocked velvet stage curtains outlines in patters of rhinestones. It was also one of the few theatres to employ the "stadium style" of seating where one could go directly from the auditorium floor up into the balcony without going into the lobby. The Venetian suffered with the coming of television and with the decay of the neighborhood. The theatre closed permanently in 1954, even though it had a fully rigged stage house capable of putting on local talent shows or the like. It subsequently became a furniture store and then the Venetian Sales Co., which used the auditorium for a warehouse and the once ornate lobby for a liquor store." |
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| Bibliographic References: | Milwaukee Journal 3/6/1927, p. 11, sec. 7. Historic Milwaukee Inc., Sherman Park Pride in Craftsmanship 13th Annual Spaces & Traces Tour Saturday, May 14, 1994, Souvenir Booklet. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |