18-GRAND THEATRE RESTORATION PROJECT

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tained ear phones from the doorman as they entered the theatre, plugged them in the designated seats and listened to the screen voices. Earphones were then left with the doorman as the customer left the theatre. The new Grand had cooling and heating systems as well. Air conditioning and cooling were furnished by the latest Air Temps refrigeration and conditioning system. It included a 60-ton unit and was capable of handling 30 cubic feet per seat per minute and induced fresh air which was circulated constantly and which was changed every 3 minutes or less. The heating system was the latest type hot blast unit hea- ters which were tied in to the cooling ducts and fans so that warm air was induced and circulated by the same method as it was cooled. In addition to the units heating the auditorium proper, a heater was in- stalled over the second set of doors leading from the inner lobby to the foyer. This tempered the cold air rushing in from the front doors and thus prevented frigid blasts from reaching the auditorium proper. Four inches of rock wool was installed over the entire ceiling primarily to facilitate the efficiency of the heating and cooling system. The stage was fully equipped for the presentation of stage shows. The dressing rooms were repainted and refurnished in anticipation of live shows. George P. O'Rourke Construction Company of Dallas were the general contractors. J. H. Elder director of construction and maintenance; George Harris, assistant to Mr. Elder; Elmer Zrenner, director of sound and projection and A. L. Stone, Jr. his assistant. All representatives of the Interstate-Texas Con- solidated organization worked in collaboration with the contractors. Eugene Gilboe and his assistant, Duke Mahoney were in charge of the painting and decoration. The Grand was one of the finest equipped theatres for its size in the Interstate-Texas Consolidated sys- tem and was designed for comfort and had nearly perFect screen and sound recordings. In 1979, Cineplex Corporation, a theater chain with home offices in Marshall, Texas purchased the Grand Theatre. The Grand was then "twinned" in 1980. The balcony was closed off in order to produce a theater upstairs and down. The downstairs theater retained the approximately 400 seats that were originally in the building, however, the balcony theater only retained 250 seats. Cineplex Corporation added acoustical drapes and several other adjustments to aid with the movie presentation. They also modernized the lobby and lowered the ceiling in the downstairs theater. This was done by the Corpora- tion in order to improve hearing in the theater. 7 132