page_title: New York Hippodrome
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: New York Hippodrome / Construction
caption_attribution_description: The interior of the Hippodrome
context_page_description: The Hippodrome Theatre also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of 5,300, with a 100x200ft stage. The theatre had state-of-the-art theatrical technology, including a rising glass water tank.
  The Hippodrome was built by Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, creators of the Luna Park amusement park at Coney Island, with the backing of Harry S. Black's U.S. Realty, a dominant real estate and construction company of the time, and was acquired by The Shubert Organization in 1909. In 1933, it was re-opened as the New York Hippodrome cinema, and became the stage for Billy Rose's Jumbo in 1935. Acts which appeared at the Hippodrome included numerous circuses, musical revues, Harry Houdini's disappearing elephant, vaudeville, silent movies such as Neptune's Daughter and Better Times and 1930s cinema.
  The theatre closed in August 1939 for demolition, and in 1952 a large modern office building known as "The Hippodrome Center", opened on the site.
context_section_description: Construction of the Hippodrome began in June 1904, with Frederick Thompson and Jay H. Morgan as architects, and the Fuller Company as the general contractor.  Finishing touches were still being put in place days before the April 12, 1905 opening. With a seating capacity of 5300, almost twice that of the Metropolitan Opera's 3000 seats, the gargantuan building is still considered as one of the true wonders of theatre architecture. Its stage was 12 times larger than any Broadway "legit" house and was capable of holding as many as 1,000 performers at a time, or a full-sized circus with elephants and horses – who could be housed in built-in stalls under the stage.  It also had an 14-foot (4.3 m) high, 60-foot (18 m) diameter, 8,000-gallon clear glass water tank that could be raised from below the stage by hydraulic pistons for swimming-and-diving shows.
  The exterior of the red-brick and terra-cotta building was Moorish in style, with two corner towers, each of which was topped by a globe covered in electric lights.
caption: The interior of the Hippodrome
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