The Mercantile Library Building and the Formica Building have rich histories that are deeply intertwined with Cincinnati’s architectural and cultural heritage. The Mercantile Library was originally established in 1835 by a group of young men who pooled their resources to collect books, art, and host prominent speakers and authors. Over the years, the library has welcomed renowned figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. As the collection grew to nearly 2,000 books, the need for a dedicated space led to the construction of the Mercantile Library Building at 414 Walnut Street in 1904. The building was designed by Joseph G. Steinkamp & Brother and was developed by Thomas Emery Sons, who contributed to the development of several skyscrapers in Downtown Cincinnati during the early 20th century. The building featured commercial space on the first floor and office space on the floors above. The 11th and a portion of the 12th floor were custom designed to house the Mercantile Library.

The institution has a perpetually renewable 10,000-year lease issued by Cincinnati College, thanks to the support provided by the men of the Mercantile Library Association after the college’s structure burned in 1845. The Mercantile Library Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

The Formica Building, located at 120 East Fourth Street, along with the connected Crystal Arcade and Contemporary Arts Center at 255 East Fifth Street, were developed by Towne Properties and designed by Harry Weese & Associates of Chicago, a firm renowned for designing the Metro stations in Washington, DC. Completed in 1970, the Formica Building was constructed with travertine, glass, and bronze, showcasing modern, Miesian, and post-modern elements. The design incorporated elements from the neighboring Mercantile Library Building, such as eliminating the band of travertine between the 11th and 12th floors to mimic the double-height library. The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) was housed in the Formica Building from 1970 to 2003, before moving into the newly constructed Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in the spring of 2003.

Today, the Formica Building holds the distinction of being the most recently constructed building in Cincinnati to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As both the Mercantile Library Building and the Formica Building undergo an adaptive reuse transformation, their storied pasts will contribute to the revitalization of Cincinnati’s urban core and serve as a testament to the city’s architectural and cultural legacy.

This project is facilitating the long-awaited reunion of the iconic Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati with its original home, the Emery Theater. Historic Emery Theater was constructed in 1911 in Cincinnati’s “Over-the-Rhine” neighborhood. Commissioned by Mary Emery and built by the famous architecture firm Samuel Hannaford & Sons, the large theater was designed to hold thousands of patrons while astonishing each of them with an unobstructed view and exceptional acoustics. It was built using the principle of the “isacoustic curve,” meaning the room sloped upward from front to back, an ideal configuration for sending sound effortlessly throughout. It also featured two large balconies, both of which seemed to float above the main floor, in a method of theater construction that was new in the early 19th century. Originally part of the Ohio Mechanics Institute trade school, the Emery Theater soon hosted world-renowned artists like George Gershwin and John Philip Sousa, as well as influential dignitaries like Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT), founded in 1919, is the oldest professional children’s theatre in the nation, spending more than a century entertaining youth and inspiring them in the art of theatre. Originally owned and operated by Cincinnati’s Junior League, TCT launched as an independent nonprofit in 1949 with a mission to educate, entertain, and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming. TCT called the historic Emery Theater home from their incorporation as an independent nonprofit until 1969, when they relocated to downtown Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre.

In the years after losing the patronage of The Children’s Theatre and The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Emery fell deeper into disrepair, lying dormant for many years while TCT was forced to limit their performance days to only 40 a year at their new location in the Taft Theatre. The decision was made by TCT to return home to the historic Emery Theater and they launched a campaign to undertake a major renovation in a way that pays homage to the past while reimagining it for the future.

Chattanooga’s Tivoli Theatre, “the Jewel of the South,” opened its doors to the public in 1921 as a state-of-the-art performance space. Built as a smaller-scale replica of Chicago’s Tivoli Theatre, this 1,750-seat entertainment hall was the first public building in the south, and one of the first in the country, to install an air conditioning system. After decades of success, the theatre’s performance steadily declined through the 1950s as more modern movie theatres started to open in the city. The city took control of the building in early 1961 and reopened the space in 1963 as Chattanooga’s new Cultural Center.

The transformation into a Cultural Center was hailed as the beginning of revitalization in Chattanooga’s downtown area and the space was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2015, the city of Chattanooga created the nonprofit Tivoli Theatre Foundation to operate the venue and to lead fundraising efforts to repair the building. The theatre was closed in 2022 to begin the full restoration.

The Trigg-Smartt building adjacent to the Tivoli Theatre was built in 1889 as a commercial space. The building was named after the original tenants, Trigg Dobbs & Company, a wholesale grocer, and Smartt Brothers & Company, a wholesale shoes and boots company. Trigg-Smartt was owned and operated by these two companies until 1911 when James Trigg sold his portion of the building to James Smartt and vacated the building. Smartt Brothers & Company continued to operate in the building until the death of Smartt in 1913. After his death, the business vacated the building and welcomed a variety of commercial tenants through the years. One of those tenants included the Fowler Brothers Furniture Company, the largest furniture company in Tennessee, which occupied the building until 1985. The Trigg-Smartt building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The Apollo Theater opened in 1914 as Hurtig & Seamon’s New Burlesque Theater and was renamed the Apollo in 1934, branding itself as “America’s Finest Colored Theatre.” It became a cultural hub during Harlem’s shift to 125th Street and survived the Great Depression by merging with the Harlem Opera House. Its 1,700-seat capacity and central location made it a key nightlife destination, drawing up to a million attendees annually. The Apollo helped shape the trajectory of American music and popular culture, launching the careers of legendary artists and pioneering new genres.

Amateur Night helped discover stars like Sarah Vaughan, James Brown, and the Jackson 5. The Apollo was also vital to the development of bebop and R&B. Performers often viewed its passionate audience, especially those located in the “buzzard’s roost” in the balcony, as the ultimate test.

The theater thrived during the R&B and soul eras but declined in the 1970s, closing in 1976. After several failed revivals, Percy Sutton’s Inner City Broadcasting renovated and reopened it in the 1980s. The state took over in 1991, creating the Apollo Theater Foundation. The theater stabilized financially in the 2000s, and a major renovation in 2006 modernized the facility. In 2024, the Kennedy Center honored the Apollo for its lasting impact on American culture.

The Plaza Theatre stands as one of Palm Springs’ most iconic cultural landmarks, with a rich Hollywood history spanning nearly nine decades. Built as part of La Plaza, one of the first planned shopping centers in Southern California, the theatre was commissioned by Julia Carnell, a Dayton, Ohio businesswoman, philanthropist, and heiress to the National Cash Register Corporation fortune, who spent the later years of her life as a winter resident in Palm Springs. The theatre’s Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, designed by Palm Springs architect Harry Williams, featured elaborate facades carved into the walls and twinkling, star-like lights on the ceiling. 

 The Plaza Theatre was originally owned by Earl Strebe from its completion in 1936 through 1974. The theatre opened with the world premiere of the Oscar-winning George Cukor film “Camille.” With the rise of the film and entertainment industry, the 1940s and early 1950s marked a particularly prolific period for the theatre, during which time it hosted an array of charity events, benefit shows, live theatre and variety show performances, and several live audience radio show recordings. Local Palm Springs enthusiasts Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope were known to host and perform at the Plaza Theatre. During the 1940s, Bing Crosby used the Plaza Theatre to record several episodes of “The Bing Crosby Show.” 

 Beginning in 1974, the Plaza Theatre was leased to distributor, exhibitor, and producer Fred Stein. Stein made alterations to the original structure including new stucco interior walls and a snack bar. The theatre was then sold in 1977 to Metropolitan Theatres, a Los Angeles-based multiplex theatre corporation, which removed the theatre’s historic ticket booth and subdivided the auditorium into two smaller theatres. Metropolitan Theatres ceased operating the Plaza Theatre in 1987, and the auditorium was restored to its original one-theatre size the following year. 

 In 1989, the City of Palm Springs purchased the theatre and began an interior remodel. This included lighting, electrical, and mechanical upgrades, enclosure of the south exit arcade, alterations to the auditorium, remodeling of the control booth, and construction of a ticket booth and accessible restrooms. The renovation was largely completed between 1989 and 1992. In 1990, the Plaza Theatre began hosting the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and in 1991, the building became a Palm Springs Class 1 Historic Resource and home to a musical revue show titled The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies. The Follies ran seasonally for almost 25 years until closing permanently in 2014. The revue show gained national attention through features on ABC’s 20/20, The Today Show, and other major media outlets. After the Follies closed, the Plaza Theatre was shuttered while the City of Palm Springs, and later the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation, worked to fully restore the theatre to its former historic glory.

After completion of the renovation and restoration, the 702-seat theatre will reopen as a live performance theatre, showcasing musical, comedic, theatrical, and variety performances, along with community events. 

 The renovations will include an expanded, air-conditioned lobby area, as well as a renovated inner lobby featuring a new bar. Upgrades within the theatre itself include the installation of new seating and a leveled floor area to provide wheelchair-accessible seating, along with the repair and preservation of the historically significant atmospheric sidewalls and ceiling. The stage area will be reconfigured with an expanded apron and a new stage floor. New theatrical equipment will be installed, including lighting trusses, grid, and drapery, as well as updated audio/visual systems and a surround sound system. Dressing rooms will be modernized with new restrooms and showers, including a new accessible dressing room at stage level. Additional acoustic treatment and sound control enhancements will also be incorporated throughout the facility. Structural work has been completed and includes a seismic upgrade to the historic building and structural reinforcements to accommodate the planned theatre renovations. 

 A dedicated Plaza Theatre museum will be located in a hallway at the stage-left side of the building. The hallway includes formerly bricked-over archways that have now been reopened with windows installed. The hallway museum will include important memorabilia from the theatre’s early years, showcasing its historic connection to Hollywood.