Historic Zoning Commission

N/A: Level II

11-M-08-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Replacement/repair

Install new marquee and blade sign. Vertical blade sign will replicate sign from the 1930s and will be located within the same bay on the building. Sign exterior - aluminum sheet metal, painted, in a blue color, with a white neon light band at the perimeter, and the decorative cap and the work Bijou outlined in LEDs, all static. The word "theatre" at the base of the blade sign will be cut into the aluminum sheet and internally lit.

The marquee sign is three sided and similar to the 1930s version of the marquee. The materials and finishes are similar to the blade sign, with the backing of the lettering portion made of translucent acrylic internally lit with fluorescent lighting.

Size of blade sign: 16' tall, with 2'5" width for majority of blade and 4'2-3//8" width for capitol. Dominant plane of margee, 16'.

Site Info

The Lamar House/Bijou Theatre was built as a private residence, the Lamar House, sometime before 1816, and was designed as a late Georgian/early Federal style building. In 1837, a major regarding of gay Street converted the present street level entrance from a basement entrance to the building. A photograph from that era shows six over six sash windows, a standing seam metal roof, and a portico and balcony, with a pediment at the attic story and a standing seam metal gable roof. Changes made c. 1900-1909 resulted in the current flat roof and overhanging cornice with modillions, the alternating arched and triangular window hoods and the details of the Gay Street entrance, as well as internal changes to the floor plan.

As the attached photographs illustrate, when the building was converted to a theater, the blade sign and marquee (since removed) were dominant features of the façade, affirming the building's use as a theatre.