Saenger Upgrades Revised

The Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, shuttered since Hurricane Katrina in Aug. 2005, is expected to be renovated and open by 2013 but with a bigger price tag.

The theatre was expected to open a year earlier with $39 million in renovations. The price is now $51 million.

Restoration plans call for the theatre to reflect the way it looked when it opened in 1927 as a playhouse before turning into the city’s preeminent movie palace. Floodwaters swamped the theatre’s underground infrastructure and orchestra-level seats, and destroyed its ornate Florentine interior, according to the Times-Picayune.

The theatre was an active concert venue, hosting acts like the Allman Brothers Band and Carole King, until Katrina hit in 2005.