If the walls could talk, they would tell stories of one of the most beautiful buildings in Johnson City, and we would understand more about the history of the Veteran Affairs Medical Center’s Memorial Hall.
For nearly a century, the old theater has entertained soldiers of the Civil War, World War I and World War II, people of Johnson City and all of Tennessee, and its reward was neglect.
Memorial Hall was built in 1905 by architect designer J. H. Freidlander. The theater is an example of the Beaux Arts architecture.
It wasvery typical of other theaters designed in the same time period.
The theater was designed as a part of the “Home for the Disabled Volunteer Soldiers” by an act of Congress in 1901, 40 years after the Civil War.
Former Congressman Walter P. Brownlow proposed the Soldiers Home during a time when aging Civil War veterans were homeless, begging in towns and cities and had no support for their disabling injuries.
Brownlow achieved his goal in creating the soldiers home.
He was given 475 acres to build on and a national competition was held to build the European-style home requested by Brownlow. Freidlander, who planned the theater, also designed the rest of the home in the French Renaissance style he submitted.
Brownlow never rested in his efforts to improve the facility.
He requested donations from several industrialists, such as Andrew Carnegie, who gave $25,000 to the library.
He managed to receive enough money to create the opera house or Memorial Hall, chapels for worship and a baseball field.
“The theater was designed similar to Ford’s Theater in Washington, D. C., where President Lincoln was shot and also designed similar to the St. James Theater in New York City,” said Bobby Funk, associate professor of theater.
The building was constructed out of masonry and brick of Flemish bond coursing and large white lyre windows.
The main three-story facade and entry is on one of the shorter ends of the building and the three main floor doors open out onto a large concrete apron at road level.
On each end of the lobby of the theater, the grand circular staircase ascends to the balcony.
Above the balcony is the `haunted projection booth,’ which was used on Tuesday and Thursday nights as movie nights.
The theater showed silent films such as His Picture In the Papers with Douglas Fairbanks, Hell’s Hinges with William S. Hart and Hearts of the World with Lillian Gish.
The main floor slopes down to the raised stage and the orchestra pit, where the Mountain Home band used to play, where Roy Acuff’s fiddle whined and where numerous plays and vaudeville stars graced the stage.
But no good deed is forgotten. The division of theater at ETSU is undertaking the renovation and restoration project of the structure.
“We have a 35-year lease with the VA to use the theater and one of our responsibilities of the lease is to take care of the space and restore the theater to its former glory,” Funk said. “The theater had been neglected due to the budget cuts since Reagan’s administration.
“It was deciding on paying for some sort of medical equipment or put money into the theater, and it was their duty to spend it on the medical equipment.”
The restoration project allows community involvement with the preservation of the historical landmark.
The Adopt-A-Seat program is available for participants to remember their loved ones and the veterans.
For a $500 donation the name of an individual will be engraved on a plaque and mounted on the back of a seat.
Also, all the dedicated names will be engraved on a plaque and mounted in the theater lobby.
Box-seat dedications are available for a $5,000 donation.
“We have five out of the eight box seats already dedicated” Funk said. “The money from that has been very helpful.”
Other options for contributions are an installment payment plan, where you can pledge now, then pay in installment, group purchases and matching gift opportunities, which are available through a participant’s employer.
The money raised will go to improve electrical systems in the theater to match the modern equipment, along with new lighting and sound systems, air conditioning, a safe and practical counter-weight fly system.
Other repairs incude making bathrooms handicapped accessable, repairs to stage and dressing rooms, replacement of damaged carpet and general maintenance of the building.
The Memorial Theater hosts two shows a year by the department of theater in the early spring and late fall.
“The theater is just too hot to have anything during the summer,”Funk said.
The building is now being rented out to groups who want to do shows in the theater.
This is a new concept since the groups which had always performed there in the past never had to pay, it was always free to use.
“It upset some groups, who have never had to pay to use the theater, but we are using the money to put back into the building to help with the maintenance,” Funk said.
So far, improvements to the theater have been slow, but work on converting the projection booth to a sound and lighting room are on its way.
The grand drape and burgundy curtains over the windows are now in and ready to be replaced. They should be ready by the time the next play, A Christmas Carol, is hosted by the theater division.

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