City Center Reopens

The nearly 70-year-old City Center in New York is no longer showing its age following a $56 million facelift.

The city-owned venue recently reopened after undergoing extensive renovations including new paint, resloping to improve sightlines and new, wider plush seats. By opting for comfort in seating, the venue’s capacity has decreased from 2,700 to 2,245.

Improvements stayed true to the building’s classic, Moorish style, according to architect Duncan Hazard, and remedied some previous missteps at the venue.

“Over a few unfortunate restorations, the color had become an unappealing gray-white,” he said. “We did some archaeology of the paint finishes and found out the original 1923 color scheme.”

Other additions are a new lighting booth, an outer lobby bar, large video monitors in the inner lobby, new elevators and updated bathrooms.