
Friends of The Senator Theatre Two photos of The Senator Theatre rotunda progress, courtesy of CHAP's Eddie Leon.
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Here are the latest photos from the Rotunda restoration. Original doorway detailing re-discovered.

Friends of The Senator Theatre
Information wanted on "missing" mural artist!
Friends of The Senator is looking for information on the man who painted The Senator's outer lobby mural. We know that his name was Paul Roche. We think he may be the same Paul Roche who painted this "Laying the Cornerstone" picture at Washington College. We know that he liv...ed on Orkney Road and that some local people were models for the mural at The Senator.
There is also an M. Paul Roche who was born in Cork, Ireland in 1888, ended up in Baltimore, and has some etchings (dated earlier than The Senator mural) in the Smithsonian, and died in 1959. This may be the same person, or it may be a relative.
Does anyone know anything about the artist who painted the mural at The Senator? Perhaps you or a friend or relative knew him or posed for him? Any information is appreciated.

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Below are copies of the letter sent to Alex Castro (lead architect for Buzz and Kathleen Cusack’s Senator Theatre, LLC project) officially announcing the results of the August 10 CHAP hearing. Each of the attendees to the hearing was to receive this this document by mail.

Friends of The Senator Theatre
I think this article is deeply, deeply pertinent to what has been going on in Baltimore with inaccurate news stories on The Senator and the uphill battle that FOTS has been (so far unsuccessfully) waging to correct the public's misconceptions with information gleaned from our research. -LP
"Recently, a few political sci...entists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger."

Gayle A Grove :-)
Admission: Adult admission $8.00 Children 8-13 $7.00 (under 8 years of age are NOT admitted!) Seniors 65 and over $6.00 We now accept credit cards,cash or gift certificates at the boxoffice. We offer a $1.00 per ticket discount for cash.

Gayle A Grove
LAYING THE CORNERSTONE Artist: Michael Paul Roche. Painted in 1958, Washington College, Chestertown (mural currently under restoration.) Funds were raised by lottery in 1730 for the first Eastern Shore college, to be called Kent County School, which was later renamed Washington College in recognition of George Washingt...on, an early contributor. The figure of the first provost, Dr. William Smith, can be seen in the lower left, supervising the ceremony. At one point, the school’s master was noted artist Charles Peale, whose children became just as well known.
The artist is a direct descendant of Paul de la Roche, one of 19th-century France’s most successful painters of historic subjects, and who followed in his ancestor’s footsteps in the 20th century to produce many of Maryland’s outstanding murals, including a series at Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Library.

Friends of The Senator Theatre
This is the best coverage so far of this morning's BOE meeting, although it fails to fully grasp that Tom Kiefaber's objections were about the undemocratic and secretive nature of the process, and not about who will control the theatre. It also fails to mention that I was also there, objecting to the proceedings along ...with Tom, on the basis that the deal has recently been significantly changed in ways that will surely increase the costs, yet nobody is saying where the extra money is coming from, and the public has had no opportunity whatsoever to scrutinize the latest version of the proposal.
-Laura Perkins, FOTS Managing Director
Maryland Politics: A Cinematic Morning at the Board of Estimates - Politics and Policy from Baltimor
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Friends of The Senator Theatre NEWS ALERT: Senator Theatre lease proposal goes before Balto BOE tomorrow!
SENATOR Theatre RFP: Lease Agreement @ Board of Estimates tomorrow! « Friends of The Senator Theatre
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FOTS has learned that the Board of Estimates meeting tomorrow (August 25, 2010) at 9AM will include a vote on the proposed lease for The Senator Theatre. What follows is an excerpt from the meeting agenda (pages 94 & 95):

Friends of The Senator Theatre News from Eddie Leon (City Planner at CHAP) regarding some work currently being done at The Senator
friendsofthesenatortheatre.wordpress.com
I was there earlier today myself to review the exploratory work that the Cusack’s are undertaking. Simply, the wall paper on the lower band has been removed in a section of the Rotunda as part of the exploratory/evaluation process. The “fish tank”/display case on the men’s room side has been removed...

Friends of The Senator Theatre Scans of the information presented at the CHAP hearing for "Concept Review"

Tom Kiefaber The Friends of The Senator (FOTS) group are relieved that the development team submitted changes that are in accordance with the initial position of the FOTS and the preservation community. They modified the plan, however, in a way that raises an alarming new set of concerns. They have linked the ability to jettison co...ntroversial plans to demo the original ladies lounge suite for a crepe shop with the necessity for an additional theatre to be added to The Senator. From over 25 years of attempts to expand The Senator to more than one screen, it was established that it's an extremely costly, complex, and time consuming process that will require zoning changes, and the acquisition of the residential 446 Rosebank Ave. property. Acquiring that residence in the rear, plus the yet unknown cost of bringing the existing theatre up to code and the cost of the new addition will add millions in public financing and possibly years to this expanding project.

Friends of The Senator Theatre The 'concept' proposals were approved for further plan development with conditions that items like moving the Mens' Lounge wall 4ft (space protected by CHAP), the proposed restaurant facade extending 8ft from the current north building be further studied (and relocation of affected sidewalk blocks or alternatives be co...nsidered) & most importantly to us right now, that experts be hired for a top-to-bottom assessment of the historic structure & its core systems for a baseline report of the building's "health".
The Cusacks move forward, presenting plan to CHAP for Senator renovation.

wjz.com
<span> <p>It's a Baltimore gem with strong historical roots. Now the new operators of the city-owned Senator Theatre unveil a bold new plan to redevelop it.</p> </span>

Friends of The Senator Theatre Friends, the PDF in this link will allow you to see what we received from CHAP as the proposals that will be discussed tomorrow. There are significant changes from what was originally being put forward.
friendsofthesenatortheatre.wordpress.com
Renovation & enhancement concept proposals to be reviewed by Baltimore City’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) on August 10, 2010.

Avenue Antiques  Tom Kiefaber and Friends of The Senator Theatre invite you to a hearing:
Location:Phoebe Stanton Conference Room of the Department of Planning, 8th Floor
Time:2:30PM Tuesday, August 10th
August 9 at 2:38pm






























