The Capri Theatre | Highball Lanes | The Pearl
WBA Architecture
The Capri Theatre | Highball Lanes | The Pearl
WBA Architecture
Awards Category : : Small Project (25,000 sf or less)
After 45 years of varying commercial success, the historic Capri theater closed its doors and remained dormant for three decades. The original theater building and its neighbors have now been renovated and restored to preserve their historical relevance while reimagining the buildings’ interiors to accommodate a modern civic entertainment hub. The design team worked to restore the buildings’ exterior facades to their original appearances, and the interiors were transformed to house a 168-seat dine-in theater, The Pearl tiki bar and Highball Lanes bowling alley and restaurant.
The historic Capri Theater, which stands as the centerpiece of Fondren’s business district, first opened its doors in 1940 as “The Pix.” After 45 years of varying commercial success, the Capri (renamed in the mid-1960s) closed its doors and remained dormant for three decades. The original theater building and its neighbors have now been renovated and restored to preserve their historical relevance while reimagining the buildings’ interiors to accommodate a modern civic entertainment hub.
The design team worked to restore the buildings’ exterior facades to their original appearances, all of which contribute to the historic Fondren Business District, and the interiors were transformed to house a 168-seat dine-in theater, The Pearl tiki bar and Highball Lanes bowling alley and restaurant.
Exterior work included the restoration of the buildings’ plaster facades, reconstruction of their entrances, the addition of updated neon signage, and reconfiguring access throughout the buildings to meet accessibility needs. The project also included an expansion of the rear-facing portion of the buildings to construct the new bowling alley.
The theater was re-built to seat 170 guests in reclining lounge chairs and includes a 40-foot roll-down screen. The original terrazzo floor in the Capri lobby was uncovered and restored, while the remainder of the theater interiors were designed to reflect the original art-deco design of the building. Highball Lanes was designed to provide modern bistro dining in contrast to the 30s-40s retro feeling of the bowling alley and tiki bar.
Date of Completion: December 2021
Client: Pix & Pins Development
General Contractor: Andercorp
Consultants: McQueen Structural Engineering, Edmonds Engineering, Benchmark Engineering, Hotel Restaurant Supply, Brunswick Bowling, Tri-State Digital Services, Taffet & Associates
Photography Credits:
Photography credit: Andrew Welch Photo
Captions
1. New neon marquee and neon Capri logo sign were reproduced to evoke the historic character of the theater.
2. Floor Plan
3. Theatre Section Plan
4. New storefronts and custom entrance doors were installed to match new adjacent exterior finishes and Deteriorated entry elements were reconstructed or reclad.
5. The original terrazzo flooring in the Capri lobby was restored and refinished.
New custom doors and hardware were installed at the theater entrance to match those in the original drawings for the building.
Finishes inside the theater were designed to match the color of the doors and to reflect the original art-deco design of the building.
6. It was important to both the design team and to Mississippi Department of Archives and History to retain several of the existing elements of the theater space, including the vaulted ceiling and linear “cloud,” the stagefront and proscenium, and the approximate floor slope.
The screen is a roll-down type, suspended in front of the reconstructed stage so that the proscenium could be preserved.
7. The entry to Highball Lanes serves as the orientation point to the rest of the venue.
8. Ahead, the neon of the bowling lane markers invites the eye back through the space. To the right is a semi-private dining space, and to the left is The Pearl tiki bar.
9. The layering of lighting, colors, materials, and textures lends a dynamic quality to the bar & bowling alley spaces.
10. Because the interconnection of the individual narrow buildings adjacent to the Capri was a critical part of the design solution, it was important to showcase this new spatial configuration in the completed building.
11. Neon was used inside the bowling alley to give a modern twist to the retro feel of the historic exterior design features.
12. Larger openings with distinctive floor finishes, wall articulation, and furniture & fixtures separate dining spaces while maintaining the more open flow of the new design.
13. While both bar areas employ similar warm color palettes, the Pearl and the Highball maintain a sense of overall cohesion.
14. Variation in surface textures, patterns, and furniture & fixtures give the Pearl a unique identity.
15. With so many entertainment venues and amenities moving out of the urban core, the historic Capri Theater, which stands as the centerpiece of the historic Fondren Business District, brings back that unique value to the community and has been a catalyst for the revitalization of an historic city neighborhood.