Building History and Description

Building History and Description

Robert Coyle built the Coyle Theater about 1895 in a Belgian Renaissance Revival style as a 44' x 100' brick street front building with an auditorium on the second level. Large bracketed wood gabled trusses spanned the width of the auditorium roof. Sometime before 1911 a small central balcony was removed from the facade at the second floor and a canopy supported by chains was added about ^two thirds of the way up the street level fenestration.

In 1927 the theater was reconstructed. This reconstruction probably included extension of the building through the 22' alley to the East of the existing theater. A large steel beam was placed along the length of the removed Eastern wall to carry the ends of the large wooden trusses and to bear the load of steel beams supporting a new ceiling in the auditorium and a new flat roof over the 22' wide addition. The central gable feature was removed from the facade and the large arched windows were closed with masonry on the third floor. The canopy was extended the width of the building. The entire interior must have been constructed new within the stretched exterior shell as part of this reconstruction. A street-level auditorium with an orchestra pit, and a large balcony were constructed to serve a vaudeville and movie audience.

1938-1939 saw redesign of the interior in a subdued Art Deco style with fabric on the walls, acoustic tile on the proscenium, and air conditioning added. At this time, the canopy was also probably given its deco-style marquee cover and a large vertical illuminated "movie house" style sign was added. The theater has probably not been altered much since, except for some renovations to the front lobby and concessions area completed since 1980.