Chase's Theater and Riggs Building | |
Location: | 1426 G Street and 615-627 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. |
Coordinates: | 38.8981°N -77.0333°W |
Built: | 1912 |
Architect: | Jules Henri de Sibour |
Architecture: | Beaux-Arts |
Added: | September 7, 1978 |
Refnum: | 78003053 |
The Chase's Theater and Riggs Building, also known as the Keith-Albee Theater and the Keith-Albee Building, was a historic building located at 1426 G Street and 615-627 15th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the city's Downtown area.
The Beaux-Arts theater was originally designed by Jules Henri de Sibour, and built in 1912, for Plimpston B. Chase. He sold the theater to B.F. Keith in 1913.It was a part of the B.F. Keith vaudeville circuit, which became a part of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum chain, and then RKO Pictures. William Howard Taft attended the opening in 1912, and Woodrow Wilson regularly attended.Entertainers included: Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallée, Laurel and Hardy, and ZaSu Pitts.
In 1956, RKO sold the building, to Morris Cafritz for $1.55 million. In 1959, he offered to sell the building to the city as a performing arts center, but the city would not assume the $1.5 million mortgage.The movie theater closed in 1978; it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In March 1978, the United States Commission of Fine Arts recommended saving the facade of the Keith-Albee Theater and National Metropolitan Bank.[1] [2] [3]
In 1979, the D.C. Superior Court halted demolition of the Keith Albee building,[4] but then allowed demolition of the interior.[5] The developer said he would preserve the historic facade of the Keith-Albee theater building, if he could demolish Rhodes' Tavern.[6]
It is now the Metropolitan Square office building.[7]