By Brenna Wiegand
Neither water nor fire can defeat the grand old lady.
At 76, the Palace Theatre is merely enjoying a rejuvenating round of “spa treatments” prior to her grand reentrance into society.
The rescue and restoration of Palace Theatre is in full swing, every strike of a hammer repairs a little more of the extensive damage wrought by a fire on April 11.
Building owner Marjorie Eng and theater proprietors Stu Rasmussen and Roger Paulson enlisted Dennis Downey Construction to undertake all facets of restoration.
“We have done fire restoration in the past but by square feet this is the largest project we’ve tackled,” Dennis Downey said, “and it is of a unique nature because it is a theater – and a historical building.”
Downey’s crew began by gutting the building to its ceiling joists and top framework.
“Every inch of what remained was smoke-sealed using special shellac by workers up there with respirators and zoot suits on,” Downey said.
The mutual goal of those involved is that when its doors swing wide once more – hopefully Labor Day Weekend – the theater is as magical and sparkling as it was in the eyes of its first patrons in 1936.
A few less-evident improvements will also leave the Palace safer, more comfortable and perhaps even more meaningful to Rasmussen, who has had a hand in its rebirth.
Eng often hears from her acupuncture clients how much they miss the theater.
“We all miss going to a local theater where there’s real butter and it’s half the price of the larger theaters – and it is so convenient to have it right here,” Eng said. “I’m proud to have the theater here; we get first-run movies and now in the latest format.”
“It’s incredibly fun because we all love the Palace Theatre – it’s the heart of Silverton,” Downey said of the project, estimated at $400,000. “Stu is very talented and totally invested in bringing back the interior to its original luster. He is hands on: I’ve seen him with a drill in his hands and holes in his jeans; his staff took out most of the 300 seats.”
Eng hired Garth King of King Consulting in Silverton to facilitate the permitting and to act as a liaison with the insurance company.
“With Garth’s experience in permits, inspections, etc., he has been very valuable in many aspects of this project,” Downey said.
King said the team behind the endeavor brings decades of experience to the table. Rasmussen and Paulson took ownership of the theater in 1974, Downey set up shop in 1975 and Eng Acupuncture opened in 1987.
While the job required a plastering specialist and an abatement company to remove some lead paint and asbestos, the vast majority of subcontractors involved hail from Silverton or pretty darn close, among them architect Victor Madge, Miller Industries, Eastman Heating, Withers Lumber and Chris Gasper, who restored the lobby’s billboard frames.
“All of the snack bar was destroyed; everything was either melted or burned beyond reuse,” Rasmussen said, “so we’ve got Robert Wagner Woodworking of Silverton rebuilding the concession area with a couple of small modifications to improve traffic flow.”
This is not Downey’s first encounter the grand dame. Eleven years ago, he scaffolded the entire Palace in order to replace a ceiling damaged by water. In June, he returned with the extensive scaffolding necessary to take down a smoke-permeated ceiling and erect a new one.
“The smoke damaged the entire building from the basement door up,” Downey said. “Still, in 2012, the only test for smoke smell is to grab a piece, take it out of the smoky area and have people smell it.
“I did this at the Laundromat with total strangers who were either outside in the parking lot or inside where it smells good. The first three people I asked smelled smoke and I could smell smoke, so tear it out – that’s the way it works. Our No. 1 goal here is that when you walk into the new Palace Theatre, all you smell is their signature buttered popcorn,” Downey said.
Downey’s experts Lee Brenden and job superintendent Pete Schmidt have finished the framing; Silverton Electric has wired the walls and Judson’s Plumbing has its fixtures in place.
But getting past the drywall stage also heralds the more painstaking phase of finish work, right down to the ceiling texture. After viewing several batches, Rasmussen pinpointed that closest to the original.
“I’m the guy who’s been there forever and knows where the nooks and crannies are and what should be in them and how it should look,” Rasmussen said. “We are doing what we can with current materials in trying to match original architecture and detail elements but we are also incorporating 75 years of additional technical knowledge and new technology so that it performs much better.”
The theater originally held 499, but as Rasmussen said, “people were smaller then.” Most of the original 19-inch seats were replaced with 22-inch models during work a dozen years ago, reducing its capacity to 420. The newer seats were salvageable and will soon be joined by more of the same – but with cup holders. When it reopens it will seat about 380.
“We’ve got great people in Silverton and we’re using them as much as we possibly can on the restoration,” Rasmussen said. “That was a commitment Marj Eng and I made because it’s local people who support our businesses. It’s not only a business decision but it’s also a labor of love for all involved.”
Rasmussen has employed his technical, electrical and inventive strengths in many ways, including recreating the look and feel of the old Art Deco exit lights on a base of modern models.
“Most of the sidelights got so hot they cracked in the fire so I’m also reproducing those glass pieces in high temp plastic so they will come back and look brand new.”
“When the moldings came off, I starting looking for something close in the books,” Downey said. “Then Pete (Schmidt) suggested we take the original molding to Monitor Millworks and they are making exact replicas.”
Rasmussen was despairing right after the fire.
“My life has been intertwined with that building and that business, well, since the day I was born,” he said. “It’s devastating; we put a lot of money into the digital upgrade/conversion and made a commitment for the long term and then to have this happen, well, we lost the complete summer but we didn’t lose the theater.” Thankfully, the cloud lifted when he learned his new equipment was covered.
Rasmussen said the theater’s reopening date is still “squishy” and depends upon the delivery of seats and custom-made wall coverings. A nearly identical popcorn machine by the same manufacturer has been secured.
