Heinz Hall
- Architect
- Rapp and Rapp
- City
- Pittsburgh, PA
Heinz Hall, at 600 Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, opened in 1927 as Loew's Penn Theatre, a movie palace designed by Rapp & Rapp for entertainment magnate Marcus Loew on the site of the former Hotel Anderson. The theater closed in 1964 amid competition from television and suburban theaters, but was renovated and reopened in 1971 as Heinz Hall, now the 2,676-seat home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra.
the building
The Grand Lobby. The lobby features a 50-foot vaulted Venetian ceiling, massive ornamental columns, a marble staircase, bronze and crystal chandeliers, and silk drapes -- the full movie-palace treatment Rapp & Rapp brought to the 1927 Loew's Penn Theatre.
From movie palace to concert hall. Loew's Penn Theatre shut its doors in 1964, done in by television and suburban competition, and was slated for demolition before being saved and renovated into Heinz Hall, which reopened in 1971.
the architect
Rapp & Rapp was the architectural firm Marcus Loew engaged to design his movie palaces; here they created Loew's Penn Theatre, complete with its ornate Venetian-inspired Grand Lobby.
significance
Heinz Hall is designated a Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark.