UPDATED: Tale of Two Keiths: Keith Albee "sis" Demolition, Partial Restore of Lobby IMAGES

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 - 15:28 by Tony Rutherford , HNN Entertainment Editor

UPDATED APRI; 2021

Hoping for a restoration for RKO Keith's --- the sister of Huntington's Keith Albee --- is over. The photo reveals that interior roofing demolition began in late March. The lobby has been "disassembled" for restoration. It will grace the entrance of the condo high rise that replaces the long abandoned Keith's.

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"Pippin" and the Banff Mountain Film Festival recently graced Huntington's jewel, the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center. The Keith continues its fund raiser to "restore" the Thomas Lamb theater to the way it was in 1928 when it opened. The campaigns current highlight --- renovating the seats.

Illustrating the vital necessity of continued preservation and restoration, just compare photos. The Keith's "sister" theater's foyer in Flushing, NY has been declared a landmark, but sadly for 30 years has endured demolition by neglect. But in 2021 the wrecking bulldozer completed removal of the lobby and foyer for restoration, leaving the auditorium to await the wrecker's ball.

Plans again have been green lighted for a mixed use high rise that preserves only the RKO Keith's lobby, although the auditorium is not beyond restoration. It's 85th anniversary was Christmas Day. (See Flushing RKO at end of gallery. The entire structure was once a landmark, but became involved in a political debacle leaving only a portion of the structure protected.) It's again on the countdown for demolition, but the condo project appears to have fund raising issues, so it still sits and decays.

Fortunately, Huntington's Keith has stayed in operation and donations such as $700,000 roof kept the elements from destroying this "temple of amusement" from the past.

As you move through the gallery, pictures illustrate proposed "before/after" renderings of the Keith Albee (Huntington) interior, and the gallery shifts to examples of still needed restoration areas, such as the dressing rooms and electrical board.

Finally, the gallery displays spacious photos of the theater and flashes back to the festivities of the "gala" as we follow "flapper" pin-up model Bunny Bombshell and other guests through the Great Gatsby era celebrating the Keith Albee's opening ... and pointing potential donors to wonders that come from restorations yet to come.

For more information call Media Promotion Enterprises at 304-697-4222 or http://concerts.mpe-entertainment.com/1928-keith-albee-gala-the-orpheum-...

(To express contempt for the RKO Flushing conditions and proposed non-restoration, email: info@melindakatz.com., or visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/220242754654213)