Hilbert Circle Theatre
Built in 1916, the Hilbert Circle Theatre was prominent as the Midwest’s best-known performance house for traveling entertainers, silent movies, world premiere features, classical concerts and talking motion pictures. After highly skilled painters and plaster craftsmen from throughout the country restored and preserved the Theater’s ornate Greco-Roman architecture during a 1982-84 renovation/conservation project, it became the home of the internationally acclaimed Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. The Theatre seats 1,835 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Madame Walker Theatre Center
Listed as a National Historic Landmark, the Madame Walker Theatre Center four-story building stands as a memorial to Madame C. J. Walker, America’s first female self-made millionaire. She made her fortune by manufacturing hair care products for African- Americans. An exhibit in the Madame C.J. Walker Memorial Room highlights the life and work of Madame Walker with memorabilia and Walker Co. products.
Erected and embellished with African and Egyptian motifs, the theater where Louis Armstrong and Lena Horne once played is now used for plays, concerts and other entertainment. The theater also hosts Jazz on the Avenue concerts every other Friday night.
The Madame Walker Center along with Crispus Attucks Junior High School and Bethel A.M.E. Church are located in the Midtown/Crosstown neighborhood. Home to the first African-American settlers who came to Indianapolis in the early 1800s, the neighborhood is now home to a variety of African-American-owned and operated businesses.
Built in 1927, Crispus Attucks School was named for the first African-American to die in the U.S. Revolutionary War. It was created as a result of pressure to segregate the races in city schools and is now in the National Register of Historic Places.
Christ Church Cathedral
Built in 1857 on Monument Circle, this Episcopalian house of worship is the oldest church building in Indianapolis. An excellent example of the English Gothic “country church” style of architecture, it is constructed of stone. Christ Church has steep gables, tall windows with pointed arches, a spire, a bell tower and in the interior, wooden trusses and stained glass by Tiffany.
Indiana Theater Building and Indiana Roof Ballroom
Built in 1927, this luxurious one-time movie palace features a terra cotta auditorium and facade based on 17th-century Spanish architecture. The historic downtown gem was saved from the wrecking ball when the 3,000-seat theater was separated into three stages in 1984 to become the permanent home of the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT), the state’s premier resident, professional not-for-profit theatre.
Visitors can see the grand lobby; the mainstage, where the IRT performs its season of classic and contemporary works; the upperstage; and the Cabaret Theatre. On display is a collection of costumes and theater props.
Housed in the same building, the Indiana Roof Ballroom is a beautifully restored ballroom designed to resemble the plaza of a Spanish village. Featuring a 40-foot domed ceiling of stars and clouds, The Roof also has an in-house technical staff and an ongoing reputation for excellent banquet service.
Scottish Rite Cathedral
This downtown Gothic-Tudor structure, containing a 54-bell carillon and a 7,000-pipe organ, was designated by the International Association of Architects as “one of the seven most beautiful buildings in the world shortly after completion in 1929.
Currently, a $10 million fund-raising campaign is under way to enhance and preserve the 72-year-old landmark. The renovations will include the main entrance to the cathedral, the ballroom, pipe organ, carillon, and the main elevators.
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