Property Record
217-221 E WALNUT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Green Bay Theater |
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| Other Name: | City Centre Theatre; Vic Theater, Green Bay Theatre |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 2226 |
| Location (Address): | 217-221 E WALNUT ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Green Bay |
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| Year Built: | 1900 |
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| Additions: | 1930 |
| Survey Date: | 19862017 |
| Historic Use: | theater |
| Architectural Style: | Art Deco |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | George Johnston |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Green Bay Downtown Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 5/13/2019 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/16/2018 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Photo code #2: 75BR-13/13 Earlier theater building to which a fine later Art Deco facade has been added. The first floor of the main facade has been totally altered with new, smaller windows and with small tile siding laid in sheets. The original marquee has also been removed. The intact Art Deco facade above is divided into three main bays with the center bay projecting slightly from the main facade. This bay is further divided into three sections with the smaller side sections having stylized fluted cast stone panels imitating large fluted pilasters. These imitation pilasters are purely decorative and are terminated by a square cast stone panel having incised ornemant. The central section of the middle bay has an inset cast stone panel having incised chevron and lozenge ornament for its entire length. This is topped by decoration made out of cast stone whose rays have been alternately colored with a blue and gold tone. The two side bays have variations on the cast stone pilasters with more elaborate incised cast stone capitals. Simple geometric facade with filled windows. Vic Theater (A); Green Bay Theatre (1900-1930) (B); Orpheum (1930-1955) (C); Vic Theatre (E). Built by John Fischer and George Johnston. Designed by George Johnston. 2017-NRHP District Nomination This was Green Bay’s first modern-era theatre; it opened in 1900 as the Green Bay Theatre. George Johnson, a Chicago theatre developer, and John Fischer, a Kewaunee businessman, were responsible for the design and construction of this building. This building was renamed the Orpheum Theatre in 1912 and the Vic Theatre in 1958, and the City Centre Theatre in 1986. In 1995 the building was converted to a dance club which included significant changes to the building’s interior. The building received a new Art Deco façade in 1929, spurred in part by the construction of the new Fox Theatre (117 S. Washington). This predominantly brick façade is divided into three main bays with the center bay projecting slightly. The center bay is also divided into three sections. The smaller side sections of the center bay have fluted cast stone panels with Art Deco motif top panels that rise from above the first floor to a section of brick relief work just below the coping. The center portion of the center bay has an inset cast stone panel with incised chevron and lozenge ornamentation along its entire length. Above this, fluted cast stone of blue and gold act as rays emanating from the top of the center panel. The two side bays have fluted cast stone panels like those at the sides of the center bay, but slightly narrower. Elaborate incised cast stone capitals top these panels. The base of the side bays is marked with a stone cornice and incised cast stone panels below. This façade remains highly intact above the first floor. The first-floor façade was significantly altered in 1958 and again in the 1980s. The 1958 remodel also removed a portion of the Art Deco parapet above the central bay, bringing the top of the façade back down to the roofline. Despite these changes, the exterior of the building remains readily identifiable as a historic theatre and, in conjunction with the competing Fox (now Meyer) Theater, represents the grandest theatres constructed in Green Bay that served as the center of the city’s entertainment life during the first several decades of the twentieth century. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Reconnaissance Survey of Brown County, Wisconsin, 1975. On file, Historic Preservation Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. (B) Green Bay Press Gazette, February 24, 1900. (C) Green Bay Press Gazette, September 18, 1930. (D) John T. Sewall, "The Changing of the Facade", Newmonth, January 1982, p. 19-21. (E) Green Bay News-Chronicle, September 11, 1985. (F) Timothy Heggland et al., Green Bay Intensive Survey Final Report (Green Bay: Redevelopment Authority, 1988), 109. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |