The marquee of the historic Bethesda Theatre at 7719 Wisconsin Avenue has been replaced with an LED electronic screen. Earl Ciccel, owner-manager of current tenant Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, wrote to Montgomery County that the existing marquee was dangerous for staff to change the letters in a travel lane of Wisconsin, and that letters were falling off onto pedestrians below. There is also an ongoing issue of water damage to the marquee and neon signage, and the supper club is proposing to replace the neon light tubes from the BETHESDA sign with LED rope lighting that is supposed to replicate the appearance of the old bulbs.
Montgomery County's Historic Preservation Commission approved the replacement marquee, under the condition that a row of bulbs remain above and below the LED screen. This is what was allowed at the historic AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring. The HPC said it was not as sold on the LED rope lighting, and would have to see an existing example of it "in the field" to evaluate how accurately it can duplicate the look of the original lighting.
My personal take is that LED marquees degrade the historic character of old movie theaters. They are cheaper to maintain, and will be more attention-getting for the supper club, and I realize they need all the help they can get in the current business environment.
But I'm not in favor of this. Wisconsin Avenue has been six lanes for decades, and somehow the letters got changed and stayed on without anyone being injured. If the original wiring and lighting of the rest of the marquee signage need help, why wasn't at least a tiny fraction of the $11 million(!!) the Maryland General Assembly is giving to the Olney Theatre Center directed to that purpose?
Whatever the thinking, I believe the HPC is misreading the County code and Secretary of the Interior standards in determining that LED screens are "compatible in character" with a 1938 movie theater facade, and that "the removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property" is somehow being "avoided" in this case.
I agree that historic theatre marquees are nice to see, but the “currently playing” portion of the marquee’s were often quite cheesy, with mis-matched, mis-aligned plastic letters on a bright white background. With a high-resolution electronic display, it should be possible to replicate that look neatly in digital form. But I suspect most theatre owners would opt for something more flashy.
ReplyDeleteThe Jazz and Supper Club tries tried display so much info on upcoming shows, its was impossible to read the small text. With the digital display, perhaps a larger and more readable text can rotate with different upcoming shows, not unlike the large digital marquee signage at the Anthem Stage at the Wharf. That would be very classy.
I agree that the BETHESDA letters above should remain as neon, as LED tube lights can never match that classic look.