Fresno (Veterans) Memorial Auditorium – Fresno CA

Description

‘The building is approximately 170 by 236 feet in over-all dimensions. The auditorium is 100 by 140 feet and is provided with a stage, 35 by 100 feet, and a gallery around three sides. A large foyer, committee rooms, and the necessary services are included in the facilities. The construction is reinforced concrete designed to resist seismic disturbances, and the exterior finish is in concrete. The project was completed in December 1936 at a construction cost of $406,292 and a project cost of $517,903.’
– C.W. Short and R. Stanley Brown

This Monumental Moderne building with Art Deco details was built by Allied Architects, a “Great Depression-era consortium between architects W. D. Coates, Charles H. Franklin, H. Rafael Lake, Ernest J. Kump, Sr., Fred Swartz, and Edward W. Peterson in Fresno, California. Among their buildings were the Fresno Memorial Auditorium and the Fresno County Hall of Records.” It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
– https://historicfresno.org/bio/allied.htm

‘The completion in 1966 of a new convention center complex led to several changes in the Memorial Auditorium. The most significant change was the creation, within the main auditorium, of a 500-seat theater with a sloped floor and improved acoustics. The theater occupies about two-thirds of the original auditorium; the rest of the auditorium is used for rehearsal activities. Most of the meeting rooms have been converted to offices, which for many years housed various city administrative functions. The auditorium has had several minor changes to its exterior, which have occurred incrementally over a long period. The entrance doors were originally wood with large glass panels. They have been replaced by anodized aluminum doors with glass panels. The wood door frames remain. The new doors are painted the same color as the originals, so that the change of materials is not noticeable. The central entrance on the west facade was changed by the addition of a canopy to shade the landing and doors from the afternoon sun. The addition was very simple and does not alter the original character of the building. ‘ https://historicfresno.org/nrhp/memorial.htm