Sunday, May 16, 2021

Austrian Architect Designs Palm Beach Landmarks

 By Bob Davidsson

        During a brief but productive sojourn in the Town of Palm Beach, Austrian-born architect Joseph Urban designed three of the town's landmark buildings - the Paramount Theater, Mar-a-lago and the Bath and Tennis Club (B&T).

        In addition to the three historic sites in Palm Beach, Urban's architectural designs were selected for the Demarest Little Castle in 1925-6, and the Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr. residence a year later.

        Carl Maria Georg Joseph Urban, a noted architect, illustrator and theater set designer in the early 20th century, was born May 26, 1872 in Vienna, Austria. His professional education was completed at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Vienna.*

        Urban immigrated to the United States in 1911 to advance his career opportunities. Three years later he relocated from Boston to New York City to design the first of 47 scenic stage sets he would create for the New York Metropolitan Opera.

        While in New York, Urban also began a 17-year collaboration with entertainment entrepreneur Lorenz Ziegfeld Jr. He designed sets for his stage productions, including the "Ziegfeld Follies". In 1927, Urban was contracted as the architect for the Ziegfeld Theatre building in New York.

        It was this close working relationship between Ziegfeld and Urban that opened opportunities for the designer's five architectural projects in the Town of Palm Beach.

        Ziegfeld, a seasonal resident of Palm Beach since 1916, opened a live show called "Palm Beach Nights" Jan. 14, 1926 at his "Club de Montmartre" on Royal Palm Way. Urban arrived in the Palm Beaches to design stage sets for this original "Palm Beach Follies" production. 

        As fate would have it, investment banker Edward F. Hutton was building a mansion in Palm Beach for his wife, heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, called Mar-a-lago (meaning from the sea to the lake). Ziegfeld accepted an invitation from Hutton to visit the building site on South Ocean Blvd. Soon after, architect Marion Sims Wyeth was replaced by Urban, who modified the designs.

        Complying with Marjorie Merriweather's request for a more flamboyant architectural style, Urban added Middle Eastern Moorish elements to the Mediterranean-revival designed mansion. These features included Mar-a-lago's distinctive minaret tower.

        Mar-a-lago was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1980. The estate was acquired by former President Donald Trump, who transformed it into the private Mar-a-lago Club in 1995.

        Concerned that a new development was planned on neighboring property immediately to the south of Mar-a-lago, E.F. Hutton joined Anthony Drexel Biddle in forming the Oceanfront Realty Company. The firm purchased the Causeway Park properties for $600,000. It became the site of the private, exclusive Palm Beach Bath and Tennis Club (T&B).

        Urban, the new architect for Mar-a-lago, was awarded an additional contract in 1926 to design the B&T Club. The architect also was selected by the Biddle family to design their new Palm Beach residence in 1927.

        The limited membership B&T Club is in its 95th year of operation. After sustaining storm damage during the Hurricane of 1949, the reconstruction of Urban's historic seaside building was assigned to Palm Beach architect John L. Volk.

        Today, the B&T Club's Mediterranean revival architecture is maintained by membership fees and the not-for-profit Bath and Tennis Historic Building Preservation Foundation, Inc. 

        Urban's connection with Ziegfeld, combined with his reputation as a designer for the Metropolitan Opera and William Randolph Hearst's film company in the 1920s, led to a contract to design the new "Paramount Theater" in Palm Beach.

        The architect's self-described vision for the Paramount was a "cool and comfortable theme" reflecting a rhythm in Palm Beach that was "leisurely and sunny." By the late 1920s, Urban's work was influenced by the "art deco" architectural movement.

        The Paramount's exterior contains Spanish revival features, but its simple lines emphasize a subdued art deco palette of silver and green colors. Urban's goal was to design a theater that illustrated the Palm Beach lifestyle.

        "The theater is not an escape from the life around," he later wrote, "but part of it, fitting into the rhythms of the community. The architecture of the Paramount Theater is accordingly simple, spacious, Southern."

        The theater was built on a 1.3-acre lot on North County Road. The 35,992-square-foot building was topped by a dome and featured an interior courtyard when it opened to the public in 1927. The 2.5-story building included the main 1,068-seat theater-auditorium, with a stage and balcony.

Opening Night at the Paramount Theater: 1927

        The Paramount Theater opened as a "movie palace" on Jan. 9, 1927 with a premier performance of the silent film "Beau Geste" staring Ronald Coleman.

        At its grand opening, capacity seating was provided for 1,236 patrons, consisting of 1,080 in the orchestra section and main auditorium with an additional 156 seated in balcony boxes. The interior side walls of the fan-shaped theater were covered by 60-foot canvas murals depicting marine life off the coast of Palm Beach. The murals were designed by the architect's daughter, Gretl Urban Thurow.

        The silent movie was accompanied on opening night by a 16-piece orchestra. Musician Emil Velasco was featured on a Wurlitzer organ to provide appropriate background theme music as patrons read the movie's dialogue on the big screen. 

        The theater was refitted with a sound amplification system after the first "Talkie" movies were introduced in 1928.

        Paramount's stage also featured some of the top live entertainers of the 1920s and 1930s. They included appearances by George Gershwin, Al Jolson, Will Rogers and Billie Burke - Ziegfeld's wife and an actress in the "Wizard of Oz".

        A total of 2,000 first-run films were projected at the Paramount Theater during its 53 years as a movie palace. The theater closed on May 21, 1980 after a final showing of "Coal Miner's Daughter" staring Sissy Spacek.  The Paramount could not compete with smaller theaters offering multiple movies and screens.

        During the early 1980s, the Paramount was refitted with 30 office suites. It reopened as a Palm Beach retail center in 1985.

        Paramount Church, Inc., a not-for-profit religious organization, purchased the property in 1996 for $3.7 million. The Rev. Dwight Stevens led nondenominational church services in the auditorium for nearly 27 years. True to its earlier use as a theater, the church occasionally offered classic films and Friday movies with religious themes at the Paramount during this period.

        The Covid-19 viral pandemic forced the Paramount Church to offer remote online services during 2020-21. The church leader decided it was time to place the historic building up for sale.

        The Paramount was purchased in March 2021 by an ownership company titled WEG Paramount LLC for about $14 million. The company represents the family of Lester and Trent Woerner. Future improvements to the historic structure will be in compliance with the Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission.

        Pictures of past performers, famous guests and movie posters line the corridor walls of the historic building. The Paramount Theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1973. The Town of Palm Beach granted the theater landmark status in 1982.

        As for the theater's architect, Joseph Urban died of a heart attack at his St. Regis Hotel apartment on July 10, 1933. At the time of his death, the 61-year-old architect had designed more than 500 stage sets for 168 theatrical and film productions in addition to his architectural projects in Palm Beach.  

(c.) Davidsson. 2021.

*NOTE: The "Joseph Urban Collection," consisting of documents, stage models and architectural designs, is archived at the Columbia University Libraries in New York. Read additional articles below and archived in "Older Posts".  

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