The theatre lost it’s art deco lobby and marquee. The auditorium is housed in a separate building and has not been destroyed- so if the rest of the Matz is taken down carefully, there is still hope for the Colonial.
I wrote an article about the Colonial -describing the theatre when Steve let me peek inside a few years ago. I found out days before the collapse about some of the performers who took to the stage in vaudeville acts – Bob Hope, Fred & Adele Astaire, Mae West, Helen Kane the boop-boop a doop girl (the original Betty Boop), Sally Rand with her feather dance, Gypsy Rose Lee with her famous burlesque act and Steve told me that Roy Rogers and Trigger came to the Colonial too! www.themartinhouseproject.blogspot.com
Something really important was left out of all the newspaper articles – Mr. Tibbs hasn’t given up on the Colonial’s auditorium. We’re all holding our breath, waiting to see if the demolition of the Matz will damage the Colonial further. I hope to help him – I’m part of a team restoring a historic home in Bluefield, it’s the most difficult place you could try such a thing. There are so few people there who know how to fix modern buildings – and nobody there or in the surrounding area who specializes in restoration. So everyone trying to restore anything in or around Bluefield,WV has to get really creative.
The theatre lost it’s art deco lobby and marquee. The auditorium is housed in a separate building and has not been destroyed- so if the rest of the Matz is taken down carefully, there is still hope for the Colonial.
check out my article www.themartinhouseproject.blogspot.com
I wrote an article about the Colonial -describing the theatre when Steve let me peek inside a few years ago. I found out days before the collapse about some of the performers who took to the stage in vaudeville acts – Bob Hope, Fred & Adele Astaire, Mae West, Helen Kane the boop-boop a doop girl (the original Betty Boop), Sally Rand with her feather dance, Gypsy Rose Lee with her famous burlesque act and Steve told me that Roy Rogers and Trigger came to the Colonial too! www.themartinhouseproject.blogspot.com
Something really important was left out of all the newspaper articles – Mr. Tibbs hasn’t given up on the Colonial’s auditorium. We’re all holding our breath, waiting to see if the demolition of the Matz will damage the Colonial further. I hope to help him – I’m part of a team restoring a historic home in Bluefield, it’s the most difficult place you could try such a thing. There are so few people there who know how to fix modern buildings – and nobody there or in the surrounding area who specializes in restoration. So everyone trying to restore anything in or around Bluefield,WV has to get really creative.