The Washington herald., 1918-03-23
MOORE STARTS
WORK ON new
MOVIE HOUSE
Arcadia Theater to Open
Within Three Months at
Eleventh and F.

For several days work preliminary
to the construction Of Moore's new
Arcadia Theater has been going on
at Eleventh and F streets, and yes
terday the more important task of
razing the buildings now occupying
the site Of the new amusement pal
ace was begun.
1t il the intention Of Moore's Trea-
ter Corporation, Tom Moore presi-
dent and director general, to make
the Arcadia the symbol In WASH
ington OF elegance in design. equip
ment and furnishing and of the fin
est the motion picture In America
and, Europe can AFFORD In the way
of cinema entertainment. The new
house will not be of the size of
Moore's Rialto, rapidly nearing COM
pletion. but viii provide a seating
capacity Of something less than 1000
and cater particularly to those who
appreciate and desire photopIay d.
version amid surroundings of refine
ment and artistic beauty such as
the Capital has never had.
Frontage ON + Street.
The Arcadia will have an entrance
frontage OF forty-dve feet ON +
street. with q lobby leading directly
into the main auditorium. which will
have q depth sufficient to insure per-
feet picture projection and a dome
ceiling approximately fifty feet high
equipped with the latest type ven
tilating system
The F street front of the house
viii be of a new-process decorative
stucco, surmounted by a handsome
marquee, and the interior furnish
ing will be exclusively Of the Adams
period. with q general color scheme
Of old rose, gold and white. The
orchestra chairs will harmonize with
the color tone of the house and will
be OF tapestry velour.
Special provision has been made
for elaborate lighting effects, a COM
plete indirect system to be installed
with arrangement perfected for Hood
I treatment, to blend with the pre-
dominating tint of the picture being
shown upon the screen.
The stage setting will be one of
the most beautiful ever seen in WASH
ington. 1t combines with the most
exquisite color treatment novel art
lamp illumination. which is so de-
vised that il may continue through
out the showing OF the pictures with
out impairing their clearness upon
the screen. This skillful neutraliza-
ton Of the vivid contrast between
the brightly illuminated screen and
total darkness on all sides overcomes
all tendency to eye-strain. in addi-
ton to furnishing effective dressing
for the picture.
Giant Pipe Organ.
In addition to a large orchestra of
| solo artists the Arcadia will be
equipped with a giant pipe organ
and grand piano, thus insuring an
ensemble strength adequate to the
most exacting score that any feature
photoplay might require.
There will, of course, be spacious
rest rooms for both ladies and gentle
men. handsomely decorated and ex-
quisitely furnished in the same gen.
eral color and period schemes as the
body Of the house
Washington has never had a mo-
ton picture theater in the conduct of
which the primary consideration has
been the creation and maintenance of
an atmosphere OF artistic beauty and
CAc5dhCc suCn dS one InlBnI expect
! in handsome private drawing room. -
said Mr.. Moore in discussing his new
project yesterday. 1T is precisely
that lack that we are going to sup
ply In the Arcadia 1t is to be the
gem Of the Capitals picture play
houses, not so large as our -Rilato,
for example. but equal to that house
in all essentials except capacity and
stage dimensions. The location deem
the best in Washington, and the
builders have signed an fronclad guar
antee to have the house ready for
occupancy within three months. Abb
normal conditions in this city rem
dered IL impossible to house the ten
ants who necessarily were compelled
to vacate the premises to enable US
to proceed. and difficulty in secur-
ing desired materials owing to stress
OF war orders was, at first, encounter
ed. and the breaking of ground at
Eleventh and F streets has there
fore been deferred from time to time
since the first Of the year, but such
hindrances now have all been cleared
away and the Arcadia will be rushed
to completion"