Boston Valley Terra Cotta Plays a Role in Kings Theatre Restoration
Boston Valley Terra Cotta assisted with the restoration of Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre, that brought this opulent movie house back to the glory of its original opening day on September 7, 1929. The Kings closed in 1977 and had been steadily deteriorating, before it became the focus of a $90 million renewal effort funded by public and private sources. Boston Valley Terra Cotta had a small part in this grand project lending terra cotta expertise to the restoration of the exterior façade. As with all restoration projects, the existing exterior was surveyed extensively to create an accurate digital record of the building’s façade.
Besides the exterior surveys, the restoration process consisted of historic research and materials analysis, creating a color scheme sympathetic to the original design, newly painted plaster surfaces, gilded ornament, new wood work, textiles, and metal fixtures. The Kings Theatre restoration was awarded a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award in 2015. Winning the award, The Kings Theatre – one of five former “Wonder Theaters” of the Loew’s Corporation – was noted as, “the most exuberant restoration of the year.” Boston Valley Terra Cotta was proud to be a part of this project.
Read more about the Lucy G. Moses Award here.
Read about the completed interior restoration here.
Original deteriorating façade of the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York.
Close up, showing the original detail work.
The survey process consists of taking extensive measurements and hundreds of images.
More measurements of the original façade are recorded.
