The Byrd Theatre began the next leg of its ongoing renovation project earlier this month. (Photo by Jackie DiBartolomeo)
The effort to make movie watching at The Byrd Theatre a little more comfortable is officially underway.
The nearly century-old Carytown theater began work on Jan. 2 to replace its balcony seating.
The project is part of the Byrd’s Pull Up A Seat campaign, which seeks to raise money to not only replace the balcony seats in the theater, but to also replace the seats in the side sections of the theater, as well as adding two additional ADA-accessible platforms.
Funded through patrons and donors, the project total is expected to come in at around $650,000, Byrd Theatre Executive Director Ben Cronly told BizSense. Local construction company Daniel & Company is the general contractor for the project.
The theater, which remains open during the renovations, received a $315,000 donation from Byrd Theatre Foundation Board of Directors chair Martin Davenport back in October that was earmarked for the seat replacement project. The donation covers all costs for seat replacement in the balcony.
Additional funds have been raised to bring the total to $554,000 as of the end of December (including Davenport’s donation), leaving roughly $96,000 in donor support still needed to complete the project.
For now, it’s the balcony seating that’s the focus. Cronly said in a statement that a crew from Harris Electric began disconnecting the lights in the end- aisle standards on Jan. 2. A team from Junk Shuttle then removed the original 1928 end-aisle standards, which have been sent off to be restored for reinstallation with the new seats, to preserve the authentic atmosphere of the theater.
Byrd Theatre balcony seating after seat backs and cushions were removed. (Courtesy Ben Cronly)
Seat backs, bottoms and cushions were also removed. Some seat back fabric that dated back to 1928 was collected for future, unrelated historic preservation projects, Cronly said. Cast iron middle supports were also taken out.
New seats, which are wider than the original 19-inch-wide seats, are currently being manufactured by Illinois-based Irwin Seating and are set to arrive at the Byrd in mid-March. The new seats will be between 21 and 24 inches wide.
When the project is done, the theater will have slightly less seating than before. With a previous total of about 1,100 seats with 950 seats being used, the theater will have about 930 seats at the conclusion of the project. Some side section rows will be removed for more legroom for moviegoers. Chester-based Delta Graphic is designing the layout of the new seats.
If no contractor or vendor delays occur, the balcony seat replacement project is slated to be completed by the end of March. Cronly said the theater hopes to replace the seats in the side sections of the auditorium and to add the two ADA-accessible platforms sometime during the summer.
The effort is the latest phase in a process that began in 2017 when the seats in the theater’s center section were replaced.
The Byrd Theatre opened in 1928 at 2908 W. Cary St. and is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. The Byrd Theatre Foundation, which owns and runs the theater, was formed in 2002.
The Byrd Theatre Foundation operated with $963,000 in revenue and $1.46 million in annual expenses, according to its most recent public financial reports issued to the IRS in 2023.
Correction: The Byrd Theatre is on the National Register of Historic Places. An earlier version of this story said it was a National Historic Landmark based on incorrect information on the theater’s website.
The Byrd Theatre began the next leg of its ongoing renovation project earlier this month. (Photo by Jackie DiBartolomeo)
The effort to make movie watching at The Byrd Theatre a little more comfortable is officially underway.
The nearly century-old Carytown theater began work on Jan. 2 to replace its balcony seating.
The project is part of the Byrd’s Pull Up A Seat campaign, which seeks to raise money to not only replace the balcony seats in the theater, but to also replace the seats in the side sections of the theater, as well as adding two additional ADA-accessible platforms.
Funded through patrons and donors, the project total is expected to come in at around $650,000, Byrd Theatre Executive Director Ben Cronly told BizSense. Local construction company Daniel & Company is the general contractor for the project.
The theater, which remains open during the renovations, received a $315,000 donation from Byrd Theatre Foundation Board of Directors chair Martin Davenport back in October that was earmarked for the seat replacement project. The donation covers all costs for seat replacement in the balcony.
Additional funds have been raised to bring the total to $554,000 as of the end of December (including Davenport’s donation), leaving roughly $96,000 in donor support still needed to complete the project.
For now, it’s the balcony seating that’s the focus. Cronly said in a statement that a crew from Harris Electric began disconnecting the lights in the end- aisle standards on Jan. 2. A team from Junk Shuttle then removed the original 1928 end-aisle standards, which have been sent off to be restored for reinstallation with the new seats, to preserve the authentic atmosphere of the theater.
Byrd Theatre balcony seating after seat backs and cushions were removed. (Courtesy Ben Cronly)
Seat backs, bottoms and cushions were also removed. Some seat back fabric that dated back to 1928 was collected for future, unrelated historic preservation projects, Cronly said. Cast iron middle supports were also taken out.
New seats, which are wider than the original 19-inch-wide seats, are currently being manufactured by Illinois-based Irwin Seating and are set to arrive at the Byrd in mid-March. The new seats will be between 21 and 24 inches wide.
When the project is done, the theater will have slightly less seating than before. With a previous total of about 1,100 seats with 950 seats being used, the theater will have about 930 seats at the conclusion of the project. Some side section rows will be removed for more legroom for moviegoers. Chester-based Delta Graphic is designing the layout of the new seats.
If no contractor or vendor delays occur, the balcony seat replacement project is slated to be completed by the end of March. Cronly said the theater hopes to replace the seats in the side sections of the auditorium and to add the two ADA-accessible platforms sometime during the summer.
The effort is the latest phase in a process that began in 2017 when the seats in the theater’s center section were replaced.
The Byrd Theatre opened in 1928 at 2908 W. Cary St. and is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. The Byrd Theatre Foundation, which owns and runs the theater, was formed in 2002.
The Byrd Theatre Foundation operated with $963,000 in revenue and $1.46 million in annual expenses, according to its most recent public financial reports issued to the IRS in 2023.
Correction: The Byrd Theatre is on the National Register of Historic Places. An earlier version of this story said it was a National Historic Landmark based on incorrect information on the theater’s website.
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Thank you Martin for your generosity in handling the balcony seat replacement all yourself. The theatre renovation has been quite the marvel.
And to those that even gave $1. In the profit world ever dollar counts. Looking forward to NOT fighting for the “newer” middle row seats after the summer when the work is all done!
A point of clarification: while the Byrd Theater is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it is not a National Historic Landmark.
Awesome, love to see this!