C. Howard Crane
Charles Howard Crane (August 13, 1885 - August 14, 1952) was an American architect.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Crane established a practice in Detroit, Michigan early in the 20th Century. Like Thomas W. Lamb and John Eberson, Crane specialized in the design of movie palaces in North America. Crane's career would include some 250 theaters in total, with 62 of them in the Detroit area. His 5174-seat Detroit Fox Theatre was the largest of the Fox Theatres. The 4,500 seat Fox Theatre in St. Louis was its slightly smaller architectural near twin. These were considered to have been his architectural masterpieces. Among the 5 massive Fox theatres, Crane also designed the Brooklyn Fox (4,088 seats, razed).
Crane was a genius at giving his venues great acoustics. Among his best theatres were Orchestra Hall (2,286 seats, temporarily renamed the Paradise Theatre), the former and once again home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Capitol Theatre (3,384 seats, and now the home of the Detroit Opera House and Michigan Opera Theatre).
Crane also designed Olympia Stadium (Detroit Olympia), which eventually had seating for 13,375 plus standing room for 3,300. Olympia, used by the Detroit Red Wings, was razed in 1987.
Crane also designed many office buildings. Most of his many downtown Detroit movie palaces had attached office towers that he designed (the Fox, United Artists, State, Capitol). However Crane's office tower masterpiece was in Columbus Ohio, the 47 story 555 ft. tall Leveque Tower.
Due to the Great Depression that started in late 1929, C. Howard Crane's theatre and office building commissions dried up. He became disillusioned and in 1930 moved to London, England, although he kept his Detroit office open for many years after moving. Crane designed many cinemas across Britain, but in much tamer designs than his American movie palaces.
Crane's most famous U.K. commission was Earls Court Exhibition Centre, an Art Moderne convention center that opened in 1937.
He returned to visit Detroit once or twice a year until World War II. He then remained in London, where he died and was buried in 1952. His namesake descendants (C. Howard Crane III, et al.) now live in the Detroit area.
Work
- Liberty/Paramount Theatre, Youngstown, Ohio, 1918
- Orchestra Hall, Detroit, 1919
- Capitol Theatre, now the Detroit Opera House, Detroit, 1922
- conversion of the 1902 Temple Beth El to the Bonstelle Theatre, Detroit, 1922
- Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, as consulting architect, 1923–1927
- Lafayette Building, Detroit, 1923, razed 2010
- the State Theatre, now The Fillmore Detroit, Detroit, 1925
- the Film Exchange Building, 1926
- the Guild Theatre, now the August Wilson Theatre, New York City, 1925
- Detroit Olympia, Detroit, the home of the Detroit Red Wings from 1927 until 1979, razed 1987
- United Artists Theater, Los Angeles, converted to the Los Angeles University Cathedral, 1927
- LeVeque Tower, Columbus, Ohio, 1927
- the United Artists Theater, Detroit, 1928
- the Fox Theatre, Detroit, 1928
- the Fox Theatre, St. Louis, 1929
- Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England, 1937
- the Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd headquarters, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey, England, 1938
See also
References
- Hauser, Michael and Marianne Weldon (2006). Downtown Detroit's Movie Palaces (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4102-8.
- Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.
- Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Perkins, Michael A.,(2005) Leveque: The First Complete Story of Columbus' Greatest Skyscraper, Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse.
- Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.
