ASHRAE Journal - December 2019 - 49

ASHRAE - CELEBRATING 125 YEARS

indoor temperature of 78° to 80°F (26° to 27°C) at a relative humidity of 45 to 55%. The Metropolitan Theater
also incorporated an overhead supply air distribution
system, even though it was still thought that a bottomup approach was beneﬁcial given the natural upward
convection generated by body heat, a concept that would
emerge again as displacement ventilation many years
later.
The ASHVE laboratory produced a signiﬁcant body
of work supporting a thermal comfort envelope with
basic characteristics not too different from those
of today; yet, theater managers pushed back on the
notion of a high-temperature/low-humidity environment. The early success of movie theaters was intertwined with the marketing of cold indoor temperatures, whether 70°F or 20°F (21°C or -7°C) less than the
outdoor temperature. CEC hoped research ﬁndings
would help convince operators to revise their views
and not limit their focus to temperature. Marketing
at the time used phrases like, "20 Degrees Cooler
Inside," "Never Over 70 Degrees," "Arctic Breezes," and
"Siberian Zephyrs."2 Many theaters were designed with
a positive pressure system. Theater managers left lobby
doors open to allow exﬁltration of cool air and draw in
pedestrian trafﬁc on hot days. It was not until the 1930s
that operators ﬁnally started to move away from a
focus on temperature alone. In 1925, ASHVE published
"Minimum Requirements for Heating and Ventilation
of Buildings" in the ASHVE Guide. Continued work
by Yaglou, Hougton, Riley, Coggins and others led to a
major update in 1938, resulting in a recommendation
that 15 cfm (7 L/s) per person of ventilation was acceptable, considering multiple variables such as odor, volume of a space, occupant age, space conditions and the
concept of air recirculation.

Revitalizing Historic Theaters for the Next Generation
Fast forward to the latter half of the 20th century,
and many historic movie palaces fell into disrepair or
abandonment due to suburbanization across America.
Playhouse Square in Cleveland (Figure 6), the second
largest performing arts district in the United States, was
an example of a collection of ﬁve 1920s era theaters that
experienced a rebirth. The ﬁrst two theaters of the complex, the Ohio and the State, were designed by Thomas
Lamb and opened in 1921. The last of the theaters to
open was the Palace, designed by Rapp and Rapp, the

Figure 6 Playhouse Square. This photo from 1928 is reminiscent of a different era,
where theater palaces were the center of life for many major U.S. cities. Source:
Playhouse Square Archive at Cleveland State University

same designers as the Central Park Theater in Chicago.
This collection of theaters successfully showed theater,
vaudeville shows and movies for 40 years.
The years following WWII, which included the rise of
television, led to a decline of the Cleveland theaters, like
many others across the United States. In the 1960s and
1970s, all but one of the Playhouse Square theaters were
closed, with plans to demolish the two original theaters.
Due to the committed efforts of a devoted group of community members, the Playhouse Square Foundation,
founded in 1973, developed plans to revamp and renovate the theaters. In 1978, the district was added to the
National Register of Historic Places.
Over the next 40 years, each theater was revitalized
and became a key element for the rebirth of downtown Cleveland. Three of the most recent projects at
Playhouse Square include work at the Allen Theater
(Figure 7), the Hanna Theater (Figure 8) and the Ohio
Theater lobby (Figure 9). These projects increased the
ﬂexibility for a variety of performances for greater
ﬁnancial sustainability. Rather than focusing on large
seat counts, theaters were reconﬁgured with fewer
seats but a greater variety of seating options. Finishes,
HVAC systems, lighting, and technology systems support
improved indoor air quality, reduced power demand,
increased energy efﬁciency, and created greater ﬂexibility to host all types of productions.
D E C E M B E R 2 0 19

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ASHRAE Journal - December 2019

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