Apollo Theater Begins Campaign for Renovation Funds

The Apollo Theater Foundation has started a national fund-raising effort to raise $47-million for what it hopes will be the last phase of recent renovations on the famous New York theater, reports the Associated Press. According to Jonelle Procope, the foundation president, the plan is to memorialize the names of musical legends on bronze plaques in front of the theater and to change the third-floor performance space to make it partially visible from the street.

“In a way, you’ll be stepping back in time to experience the Apollo in its heyday,” Christopher Cowan, the project’s architect, said. “That’s the period of cultural significance for the Apollo. It became a center for jazz. It had amazing performers.” The foundation has already spent $37-million replacing the theater’s seats and stage and restoring its famous marquee.

Dick Parsons, chairman of Time Warner and the theater’s board of directors, says he buys into the vision the foundation holds for the theater. “The Apollo has been the venue in which so much of American culture has been created and demonstrated to the world,” he said. “We still want it to be a place where stars are born and legends are made and culture is disseminated.”