a look back: salvaging the nortown theater's depression era art deco terra cotta facade

with the ten year anniversary of urban remains rapidly approaching, i've taken a considerable amount of time to reflect on where i began and where i'm going. dwelling more on the former for the time-being, i'm looking through hundreds of pictures taken when i first started salvaging large-scale construction sites and historically significant buildings.

the nortown theater was both, and i knew that early on. i would spend nearly half a year salvaging ornament from the interior and exterior of this remarkably atmospheric theater, while it was being obliterated from the inside out. i remember working in my little store on paulina street alone everyday, then closing around 6pm to head up western avenue in my pickup truck to my second home, the nortown theater. there, i would fire up the generator and get to work until i was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

salvaging the interior deserves its own post, with photographs and stories from peeling back layer upon layer until reaching where the tradesman left off in 1931. this blog post is instead a recollection of removing ornamental terra cotta from the distinctive facade, and my documentation process over 8 years ago. i've included photographs of the terra cotta after it was carefully cleaned and re-photographed in my studio, long after the nortown was demolished.

demolition of the nortown theater's east-facing facade was done by hand and machine within the span of a month. some of the pieces salvaged were at the fate of the wrecker's handling, while i removed the most distinctive sections, consisting of a single frieze with alternating "comedy" and "tragedy" faces.

nearly the entire "signature" frieze containing the figural panel was systemically removed with relatively little difficulty, despite some steel anchors that were tricky to dislodge at times. the larger muse figural panels with the distinctive musical notes were taken down by the wrecker, and i then dislodged any and all brick from the rear cavities or "webbing." unfortunately, a panel set aside for me when i was away had "disappeared" when i went to retrieve it. there were several souvenir seekers and if they'd approached me and asked nicely, i would have given them a piece of terra cotta and/or a fragment or brick. sadly, others would come late at night and help themselves, with one person going so far as to remove one of the diamond panels located at the level of the frieze panels.

this was no doubt one of my most memorable salvages since it was one of the very first large scale "high profile" buildings for urban remains. i gained an ungodly amount if insight into how a building is put together and how to deconstruct it through trial and error. i also witnessed oppressive community backlash first hand, which made me question whether i was a "vulture" or one who felt an undying passion to document the slow and painful death of this historic theater, and salvage any and all ornament from the landfill. this was also the first salvage where i succumbed to several injuries, including stitches and a damaged back that has plagued me to this day. yet, if i had to do it all over again i wouldn't change a thing. the nortown theater salvage became the gateway to many more notable salvages i have had the privilege of being involved with over the last 10 years.