"Columbus was abuzz on the hot summer night in 1897. The city's leaders had fulfilled their promise in building the "showcase of the midwest" and tonight, the 23rd of August, The Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House was opened to the public.
It had been a tragic decade for hotels in this capitol city, with fires claiming the Seneca, the Deshler, and the Vendome Hotels. It was with great pride that the populace toured the majestic building, as it had been built on the dreams of 400 men investing $100 each towards its construction.
They marveled at the spectacular lobby that had been designed with exquisite taste and admirable skill. The decorative work was treated in specially modeled plaster, the ceiling beams forming panels which housed spectacularly decorative stained glass, with the central panel forming a magnificent dome. Pink marble wainscoting was edged by appropriately designed woodwork of cherry, creating a color scheme between old gold and terra cotta.
As visitors strolled through the peer of all lobbies, they roamed to the Cafe or supper room, lavatory, travelers' exchange (containing railroad, ticket, telegraph, transfer company and telephone offices), check rooms, bar, billiard, reading and writing rooms, barber shop, and in further wonder...five stores.
Never before had some of the visitors seen such a fine example of French Renaissance architecture, and they marveled at the open aired feeling as they strolled the promenade on the second floor which was landed centrally either by the grand stairway or elevators.
Directly connected with the promenade were spacious parlors with views of High Street, the main dining room, maids' dining room, ordinary (breakfast) room, private dining room and guest chamber corridor. The principal features of the second floor were the dining rooms and parlors with the balance devoted to the kitchen and guest chambers.
The dining room itself was akin to a palace ballroom, and no expense had been spared in its construction. Local laborers stood by the city's elite as the general manager, J. M. Lee, welcomed them to the hotel. They marveled at the extreme size of the room, extending the height of the second and third floors at a total expanse of 46 x 90. The length, however, was masterly relieved by a decorative arch which screened and secluded the musician's gallery. With six fluted pilasters on each side and dome capitals surmounted by an ornate entendres, the dining room presented an appearance, second to none in the country.
The parlors were finished in white enamel and gold with unique designs as more than a few ladies retired to the comfort of the seating arrangements away from the cigar smoke of the men.
The Great Southern housed 222 guest rooms in its expanse, with two club rooms, 56 private bathrooms and 8 public baths. The guest chambers on the second, third, and fourth stories was finished in plain oak, while the balance was completed in yellow pine.
Quite ahead of her time, the grand dame as she would soon be known housed the latest equipment for electric work, call bells, heating, ventilating and plumbing. Huge coal fired boilers were located in the basement which also housed the buildings own water supply from three separate wells."
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"The Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House
After fire destroyed five downtown theatres between 1889 and 1893, an assembly of businessmen decided to enhance the city’s south side with a new and improved fashionable hotel. Designed by the prominent local architectural firm of Dauben, Krumm, and Riebel, construction began in 1894 on the Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House.
The Southern Theatre opened on September 21, 1896, and the hotel opened the following summer. Constructed of "fireproof" tile, brick, iron, steel, and concrete, the theatre -- which originally seated 1,723 on three levels -- was praised for its plush seats, stylish boxes, excellent sight lines, and absence of posts or other obstructions. Its ample stage dimensions proved more than up to the challenge of the 1903 touring production of Ben-Hur, which featured a cast of 350 and a chariot race in which two teams of horses galloped on treadmills for a mile!
A Modern Facility
The Southern Theatre departed from the classical opera house by incorporating features considered very "modern" for its day. Most notable was the design of the audience chamber ceiling. From the proscenium opening, a series of concentric arches radiated into the house, creating an acoustic system that is still nearly perfect today.
The Southern Theatre was one of the first commercial facilities in Columbus to use electricity. The six arches that fanned out over the orchestra were lined with light bulbs—204 lamps in all! Tinted globes shaded the bulbs, giving the effect of warm, diffused light over the entire theatre. Ahead of its time, the building had to produce its own electricity. The complex also produced its own water supply from three wells in the basement.
Grand Acts for a Grand Stage
The Southern's opening entertainment was the Broadway touring production of In Gay New York, followed by An American Beauty starring Lillian Russell. During its early years, the greatest names of the theatrical world played the Southern, including Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, John Philip Sousa, Sarah Bernhardt, Al Jolson, and W.C. Fields. Actress Maude Adams flew from the stage to the balcony in an early production of Peter Pan and dancer Isadora Duncan refused to play Columbus unless she could play the Southern!
Changes for the Southern
By 1901, the Southern was still struggling to cover the building costs, said to have been $1.5 million. Fred and Ralph Lazarus stepped in, purchasing the property at an auction for $235,000. The brothers oversaw many renovations, including the installation of a projection booth and the removal of the first several rows of the arches so the newly installed pipe organ could be heard from behind. By 1931, the Southern was a full-time movie house.
After decades of increasing maintenance issues, the Lazarus family sold the facility to a realtor with plans of turning it into an apartment building and garage. That didn’t come to pass, however, and in 1979, the Southern’s doors were closed.
Rebuilding the Legend
In 1982, the Great Southern Hotel and Theatre were purchased by local developers who decided to renovate the hotel. In 1986, property owners Bill and Barbara Bonner made a gift of the Southern Theatre to CAPA, which undertook a feasibility study in 1990 to determine the nature and scope of renovations required to bring life back to the facility.
Like the campaign that saved the Ohio Theatre nearly 30 years prior, the public drive to support the restoration of the Southern Theatre was wide-ranging and embraced both the public and private sector. The State of Ohio provided leadership funding in the public arena, contributing $3.9 million appropriated in three separate biennial budgets, and the City of Columbus provided more than $670,000 in UDAG funding for the effort. Private support made up 58% of the project's total funding of $10 million, with major support from 73 central Ohio businesses, local and national foundations, and more than 250 individuals.
On September 26, 1998, following an intensive, 14-month CAPA-led restoration, the Southern Theatre was reopened, providing a beautiful, accessible, and lively link to our community's past and its vital future."
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