Name/Title
227 King Street (Riviera Theater a/k/a Academy of Music a/k/a 225 King Street)Entry/Object ID
KING.227.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1937-38; rehabilitated and renovated, 1996-97. Charles C. Benton and Sons, architects. One of Charleston's most beloved buildings, the Riviera Theater, was built at the end of the 1930s as the city's first motion picture theater, and is a significant example of the Art Deco style. The Riviera supplanted the earlier Academy of Music, a structure erected in 1838 and converted to use as a theater in 1869. The Pastime Amusement Company, operators of motion picture theaters in the early-20th century, acquired the Academy in 1920 but did not announce plans to demolish it and replace it with a new structure until 1936. Charles C. Benton, a Fayetteville, North Carolina, architect who designed theaters and churches throughout the South, planned the present structure with its Aztec temple shape, stylized, geometric motifs, and vertical projections from the roofline. A terrazzo entry leads to an interior with a seating capacity for nearly 2,000 people. A sign of the times, balcony seating was divided for whites and blacks. The Riviera Theater opened to Charleston audiences on January 28, 1939, with the feature Secrets of a Nurse, starring Edmund Lowe. Many of the wall murals, polychrome plaster details, and other Art Deco features remain intact. After being acquired by the Charleston Place Hotel, the old theater was converted into a convention hall above and galleria shops along the Market Street facade. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
Folder 1 contains building histories; historical/chain-of-title research notes; newspaper articles (including 1982 DYKYC); graduate student report (Gabriel Cristofari, 2019) on the history of the building/property, which includes historical and chain-of-title research, maps, photos, and other supporting documentation.
Folder 2 contains documents pertaining to efforts by Friends of the Riviera and other community members in 1986 to save the building, including correspondence; meeting announcements and agendas; "Business Proposal for the Riviera"; and an information package (by Friends of the Riviera) that provides historical background, information about the architect, statement on why the Riviera should be retained, descriptions of existing conditions (including site plan, drawings, photographs) and potential use for a theater, and letters in support; floor plan of the Sottile Ballroom (for events).
Image #2 from Guide to Charleston Illustrated, 1875.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
KING.227.Source or Donor
227 King Street (Riviera Theater)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
King Street, Suffragettes/Women's suffrage, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Movie theaters--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
2 File FoldersArchive Notes
Associated Material: Clemson HP grad student thesis: Memory and the evolution of modern performance spaces : preservation approaches at Charleston's Memminger Auditorium and Riviera Theater / by Adrienne Nicole Jacobsen.
Finding Aids: Index to Property Files
Level of Description: FolderLocation
Location
Shelf
Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentDate
February 7, 2023Location
Container
PF Box 53Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2011.022.77a-b, 2011.022.78a-e, 2011.022.79, HUGO.002.020, KING.227.2, KING.227.3, KING.227.4a-b, KING.227.5a-d
Related Units of Description: King Street Survey (KING.GEN.001) and King Street "General" files (KING.GEN.002)
Architectural drawing, MEETING.205.2: "Charleston Place Hotel, Riviera Theater and Conference Center, 205 Meeting Street"; 11/8/1995, revised: 1/3/1996, showing King Street (East) Elevation, Market Street (South) Elevation.
Preservation Consultants files (Part I and/or Part II applications and/or photos and/or miscellaneous documentation), 2011.022.1Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 363Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
August 12, 2009Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023