Cleveland’s 90-year-old theater district is getting lit.
After celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, Cleveland’s Playhouse Square is undergoing a makeover complete with the addition of a 20-foot-tall crystal chandelier. The “chandelier spectacular,” as they refer to it, will be powered by LED lights and will contain over 4,600 crystals. Located at the busy,nightlife-heavy cross section of E. 14th Street and Euclid Avenue, the addition intends to bring some shine to a theater district that attracts more than a million visitors a year, and is second only to New York City’s Lincoln Center in terms of its audience capacity yet still doesn’t rate on many visitor’s must-see list.
“This is the jaw-dropper,” said Chief Creatologist Danny Barnycz. “This is what people will feel compelled to come and see, to photograph. We envision this becoming a true Cleveland landmark.”
From the looks of the designs (as seen above), he may be right. Designed after similar chandeliers at the Allen, Palace and State Theatres, it looks like it will be exactly what you’d expect to see in classically designed theater lobby — only outside.
This seems to all fit in with PlayhouseSquare’s dedication to keep theater going strong. In the past, the board-run performing arts center and development district has renovated five different theaters: the Ohio, the Palace, the State, the Allen and the Hanna — all of which were at risk of being demolished. Besides its performing arts center, PlayhouseSquare is funded by 1.6 million square feet of office and retail space, one million square feet of other real estate and its development of the Wyndham Cleveland Hotel, in the square.