HomeMy WebLinkAboutmassachusetts-avenue_1792-1804 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
49/38 Boston
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION North
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Town: Lexington
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Photograph Central Business District
Address: 1792-1804 Massachusetts Avenue
Historic Name: Viano (Theater) Block
Uses: Present: commercial/theater
f Original: commercial/theater
NEWT—
a r Date of Construction: 1916
Source: Minute-man, October 21, 1916
pgti
Style/Form: Classical Revival
Architect/Builder: Walter Trowbridge Littlefield
_ Exterior Material:
Foundation:
Wall/Trim: brick
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Roof: tar and gravel
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
71.6 feel
�4� 4
lni 101808 ! Major Alterations(with dates):
r" „a„fi , date?–storefront alterations, new windows
1Rn3
` y 18co
' f. lfyR
fi `r�`f 179fi
o} 1741
Condition: good
Moved: no x yes Date
„ Acreage: 0.43 acre
' ash aye k
° Setting: mixed downtown area
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): January 2010
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 1792 Mass. Ave.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
The Viano or Theater Block is a two-story commercial block with a yellow brick veneer facing Massachusetts Avenue.
Originally there were spaces for four stores on the first floor—today there are three storefronts of varying sizes, set between the
original recessed panel(painted)brick piers set on granite bases. The c.1960 storefronts have plate glass display windows
resting on low,red brick walls. The entries are recessed behind the angled windows. Centered on the fagade,the entrance to the
upper story has a Colonial enframement with transom lights over the door. Above the movie marquee is an entablature lintel
with dentil course.
The yellow brickwork on the second floor includes bands of header brick including above the signboard entablature with soldier
brick courses below the second story windows and between the tops of the windows and the cornice. The twelve second story
windows are unevenly spaced and contain double-hung 1/1 replacement sash with stone sills.
Behind the block is the nearly windowless brick block containing the theater with the stage originally located at the south end.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s)the
owners/occupants played within the community.
The Viano or Theater Block was constructed in 1916 on the former site of the Captain Phelps' house which was moved back(no
longer extant). The building was designed by Walter Trowbridge Littlefield,who also designed the Teele Square Theater in
Somerville (SMV.683) in 1922 and was architect for the Masonic Temple(1 Hancock Street)renovations in Lexington in 1917.
A brief mention appearing in the Minute-man on October 21, 1916 noted:
Work on the new Viano block is progressing rapidly, and on Tuesday the staging over the sidewalk was removed. There
will be four stores on the ground floor,besides a large entrance to the moving picture theatre in the rear. The theatre
will be a fine one,with a seating capacity of about six hundred.
In 1918 the other first floor tenants included a grocery store,the gas office, a dry goods store and a meats & grocery store. In the
1930s bowling alleys were located in the basement.
In 1929 the theater was closed for about a month in order to remodel it for"talkies". At the time William Viano was the theater
manager. On June 28, 1929,the Minute-man reported:
This will be the first theatre of its size in New England to introduce the"talkies". The Western Electric reproducing
system will be installed. This system,which combines the vitaphone and movietone, is used in the Boston theatres. It
requires doubling the size of the booth in addition to new wiring and equipment. The theatre will also be redecorated
throughout with new draperies on the stage. There will be an entirely new set of seats,with leather cushions and backs.
Continuation sheet 1
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 1792 Mass. Ave.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE (continued)
It would appear that this theater was part of the Viano family of theaters. The Viano family built and owned a number of other
area theaters including the Teele Square Theater and the Broadway Theater in Somerville as well as the Regent Theater in
Arlington. State building inspector records indicate that the building underwent some unspecified alterations in 1941 according
to designs by John Edmund Kelley and was also altered in 1970.
For some time the Lexington Theater functioned as a triplex with separate screens upstairs and down in addition to the rear
theater. The theater was operated by the Sack Theaters/USA Cinemas/Loews chain for some time and more recently was
known as the Lexington Flick. Since January 2009 it has been called the Lexington Venue. Today,the theater has two screens.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Department of Public Safety records,Massachusetts State Archives,Boston.
Lexington Minute-man, October 21, 1916; June 28, 1929.
Massachusetts Historical Commission,MACRIS database.
Sanborn insurance maps
Town Directories
hllp:Hcinematreasures.org/theater/9295/
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Continuation sheet 2