Mayfair Theatre, Baltimore facts for kids
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The Mayfair Theatre is a historic building in Baltimore, United States. It was also known as the Auditorium Theatre and Auditorium Music Hall. This site first opened in 1880 as a place for swimming. It was later torn down and rebuilt in 1904 as a theatre. The theatre closed its doors in 1986. In 2016, most of the building was taken down, but its front wall (facade) and lobby were saved. This remaining part is now a special Baltimore City Landmark and there are plans to rebuild the area around it.
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History of the Mayfair Theatre
Early Uses of the Site
The very first building on this spot opened on June 17, 1880. It was called the Natatorium and was a bathing house and swimming school. After some changes, it became the Howard Auditorium in 1891. The name soon changed to just Auditorium. In 1894, it was even used as an ice skating rink!
The building was updated several times. Architect J. B. McElfatrick helped with changes in 1895 and 1896. A special "Palm Court" garden was even built on the roof. The old Auditorium closed on April 4, 1903, and was then torn down.
The Theatre Years
A brand new Auditorium Theatre was built on the same spot. It cost about $250,000 to build. This new theatre opened on September 12, 1904. It showed vaudeville acts and early moving pictures. The Shubert Bros. managed the theatre from 1909 to 1913, and again from 1918. It was mostly a place for plays, but sometimes movies were shown too.
In the summer of 1940, the Auditorium Theatre was updated again. A local architect named E. Bernard Evander designed a new theatre inside the old one. He changed the inside completely, adding new floors and a new screen. The lobby was also made to look brand new. The outside of the building got a modern triangular sign and a new ticket booth.
The theatre, now with 850 seats, reopened as the Mayfair Theatre on January 31, 1941. The first movie shown was A Night at Earl Carroll's starring Ken Murray. By 1960, it had special projectors for 70mm films. The Mayfair Theatre closed on April 22, 1986. There was hope it would reopen, but it did not sell at auction in 1987. Since then, the building has been empty and has fallen apart.
The Mayfair Theatre has been empty for over 30 years. Its roof fell in during February 1998. It was also damaged by a fire in a nearby building in September 2014. Because it was in such bad shape, engineers said the building was unsafe. So, in November 2016, most of the building was torn down, except for the front wall and the lobby. Even so, it is still a special Baltimore City landmark. It is part of the Market Center National Register Historic District.
Future Plans for the Site
In 2016, the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) started looking for ideas to reuse the old Mayfair Theatre site. At first, they did not receive any plans from interested groups. They asked for new ideas again in February 2018.
In December 2018, the BDC chose Zahlco Development to rebuild the site. Zahlco is a local design and construction company. They planned to turn the area into office spaces, shops, and apartments. This new area was planned to be called "Mayfair Place." It included new features like office space, a restaurant, and a gallery. There were also plans for an outdoor seating and performance area. New apartments and retail buildings were also part of the plan.
The plans by Zahlco and Moseley Architects to fix up the historic front of the Mayfair have been approved. They also planned a 6-story apartment building on a nearby site. This building was to include shops, offices, a parking garage, and other features.
