Law school of Berytus

The law school of Berytus (also known as the law school of Beirut) was a center for the study of Roman law in classical antiquity located in Berytus (modern-day Beirut, Lebanon). It flourished under the patronage of the Roman emperors and functioned as the Roman Empire's preeminent center of jurisprudence until its destruction in AD 551.

The law schools of the Roman Empire established organized repositories of imperial constitutions and institutionalized the study and practice of jurisprudence to relieve the busy imperial courts. The archiving of imperial constitutions facilitated the task of jurists in referring to legal precedents. The origins of the law school of Beirut are obscure, but probably it was under Augustus in the first century. The earliest written mention of the school dates to 238–239 AD, when its reputation had already been established. The school attracted young, affluent Roman citizens, and its professors made major contributions to the Codex of Justinian. The school achieved such wide recognition throughout the Empire that Beirut was known as the "Mother of Laws". Beirut was one of the few schools allowed to continue teaching jurisprudence when Byzantine emperor Justinian I shut down other provincial law schools.

The course of study at Beirut lasted for five years and consisted in the revision and analysis of classical legal texts and imperial constitutions, in addition to case discussions. Justinian took a personal interest in the teaching process, charging the bishop of Beirut, the governor of Phoenicia Maritima and the teachers with discipline maintenance in the school.

The school's facilities were destroyed in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that hit the Phoenician coastline. It was moved to Sidon but did not survive the Arab conquest of 635 AD. Ancient texts attest that the school was next to the ancient Anastasis church, vestiges of which lie beneath the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Beirut's historic center.

## Background

As the guarantor of justice, the Roman emperor was expected to devote substantial amounts of time to judicial matters. He was the chief magistrate whose major prerogative (jus) was the ordering of all public affairs, for which he could demand assistance from anyone at any time.

With legal appeals, petitions from subjects and judicial queries of magistrates and governors, the emperors were careful to consult with the jurists (iuris consulti), who were usually secretaries drafted from the equestrian order. From the reign of Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), jurists began compiling organized repositories of imperial edicts (constitutiones), and legal scholarship became an imperially sponsored function of administration. Every new judicial decision was founded on archived legal precedents and earlier deliberations. The edict repositories and the imperially sponsored legal scholarship gave rise to the earliest law school system of the Western world, aimed specifically at training professional jurists.

## History

During the reign of Augustus, Beirut was established under the name Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus(and granted the status of Ius Italicum) as a colony for Battle of Actium veterans from the fifth Macedonian and the third Gallic legions. It was chosen as a regional center instead of the more prominent Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, which had a history of belligerence against Rome.

Beirut was first mentioned in writing as a major center for the study of law in the 239 works of Gregory Thaumaturgus, the bishop of Neo-Caesarea. Other early written sources do not mention when the law school was established, and the date is much debated among modern historians and scholars. Edward Gibbon suggested its founding may have been directed by locally born Emperor Alexander Severus, who reigned during AD 222–235; this hypothesis had been supported by Gilles Ménage, a late 17th-century French scholar. Italian jurist Scipione Gentili, however, attributed the school's foundation to Augustus, while 19th-century German theologian Karl Hase advocated its establishment shortly after the victory at Actium (31 BC). Adolf Friedrich Rudorff dated it to the reign of Hadrian, while Franz Peter Bremer suggested that it opened around 200, based on Thaumaturgus.

Theodor Mommsen linked the establishment of the law school in Beirut with the need for jurists, since the city was chosen to serve as a repository for Roman imperial edicts concerning the eastern provinces. After arriving in Beirut, these were translated into Greek, published and archived. This function was first recorded in 196 AD, the date of the earliest constitutions contained in the Gregorian Codex, but the city is thought to have served as a repository since earlier times. The proximity of the repository to the law school allowed the Beiruti jurists to consult archived documents and for students to learn of the most recent imperial decrees—an advantage that the law schools of Caesarea Maritima and Alexandria lacked.

The 3rd-century emperors Diocletian and Maximian issued constitutions exempting the students of the law school of Beirut from compulsory service in their hometowns. In the 4th century, the Greek rhetorician Libanius reported that the school attracted young students from affluent families and deplored the school's instructional use of Latin, which was gradually abandoned in favor of Greek in the course of the century. By the 5th century, Beirut had established its leading position and repute among the Empire's law schools; its teachers were highly regarded and played a chief role in the development of legal learning in the East to the point that they were dubbed “ecumenical masters”. From 425, the law school of Constantinople became a rival center of law study and was the only school, along with Beirut's, to be maintained after Justinian I closed those of Alexandria, Caesarea Maritima and {{Athens in 529 because their teachings contradicted with Christian faith.

On July 9, 551, the Phoenician coastal cities were devastated by a high-magnitude earthquake. In Beirut the earthquake was followed by a tsunami and a fire that obliterated the city. In the aftermath, 30,000 people lost their lives, including many students from abroad. Justinian allocated funds to rebuild Beirut, and the law school was temporarily moved to the southern Phoenician city of Sidon, pending reconstruction; the best teachers, however, moved to Constantinople. Misfortune hit Beirut again in 560 AD when a massive fire ravaged the recovering city. The law school was not reopened, and all prospect for its return was abandoned with the Arab conquest in 635 AD.

## Academia

The study course at the law school of Beirut was restricted to Roman law; it did not cover the local laws of the province of Phoenicia. Ancient texts provide an idea of the curriculum, the teaching method, the course languages and its duration.

### Preparatory studies

Potential students were expected to have undergone grammar, rhetoric and encyclopedic sciences studies. Another prerequisite was the mastery of Greek and Latin, given that the classical legal references and imperial constitutions used in the teaching program were written in Latin. The aspirants could pursue their preparatory studies in public schools or have private tutors.

### Curriculum

Little is known about the Beirut law school's curriculum before the 5th century. The Scholia Sinaitica and the Scholia to the Basilika provide glimpses of the school's teaching method, comparable to the method of rhetoric schools at the time. The lecturer would discuss and analyse legal texts by adding his own comments, which included references to analogous passages from imperial constitutions or from the works of prominent classical Roman jurists such as Ulpian. He would then formulate the general legal principles and use these to resolve legal problems inspired from actual, practical cases. This method differed from the scheme of classical times in which the student had to master the law basics before engaging in case studies.

Jurisprudence was taught in Latin, even in the law schools of the East, but toward the end of the fourth and the beginning of the 5th century, Latin was supplanted by Greek at Beirut, which was the long-established lingua franca of the eastern territories of the Roman Empire. A similar shift probably occurred at the school of Constantinople at about the same time.

The Omnem constitution at the beginning of the Digest is the only source of information about the existing study system in the 5th century until the Justinian reforms of 533. The old program was a four-year course to be completed before the age of 25. The courses were based on the works of Gaius, Ulpian, Papinian and Paulus. Students attended lectures for three years and spent the fourth year in private study of Paulus' Responsa; they had the option to stay for a fifth year to study imperial constitutions. The students of each year were distinguished by special nicknames: first year, Dupondii; second, Edictales; third, Papinianistae; fourth, Lytae.

Justinian's Omnem constitution fixed the duration of the legal course in the schools of Beirut and Constantinople at five years. The courses consisted of lectures and self-study using materials advanced in his Corpus Juris Civilis, namely the Institutiones (Institutes), Digesta (Digest) and Codex (Code). First-year students were lectured on the Institutes and on the first part of the Digest; second-year students were taught the greater part of the Digest, and third-year students had to learn various texts from Papinian and the leges singulares. There were no lectures during the course's fourth year but the pupils studied the remainder of the Digest. Nicknames were still given according to the year of study, but Justinian changed the name of first-year students from the frivolous Dupondii (which means "two pennies") to Iustiniani novi and dubbed fifth-year students Prolytae.At the end of the course, graduands were given certificates allowing them to work as court advocates or in the imperial civil service.

### Professorial body

Ancient texts reveal the names and deeds of some of the most notable law professors at the Beirut school. The scarce sources include historical accounts, works of legal scholarship, anthologies, ancient correspondences and funerary inscriptions. Antioch-based rhetoric teacher Libanius wrote many letters of correspondence to Domninus the Elder, a 4th-century law school professor. In 360, Libanius invited Domninus to leave Beirut and teach with him at the rhetoric school of Antioch. Domninus apparently declined the offer, since later correspondence to him from Libanius, between 361 and 364, served as recommendations for law school candidates. The most brilliant era of Beirut's law school, spanning the century between 400 and 500, was known as the era of the "Ecumenical Masters" (Greek: τῆς οἰκουμένης διδάσκαλοι). During this period, a succession of seven highly esteemed law masters was largely responsible for the revival of legal education in the Eastern Roman Empire. The seven revered masters, cited with praise by 6th-century scholars, were Cyrillus, Patricius, Domninus, Demosthenes, Eudoxius, Leontius and Amblichus.

Cyrillus was the founder of the ecumenical school of jurists. He is believed to have taught as of c. 400 or c. 410. Styled "the great" due to his reputation as a teacher, he was known for his direct use of ancient sources of law and for interpreting jurists such as Ulpian and Papinian. Cyrillus wrote a precise treatise on definitions that supplied the materials for many important scholia appended to the first and second titles of the eleventh book of the Basilika. Patricius was praised in the third preface of the Justinian Digest (Constitutio Tanta) as a distinguished professor of the Beirut law school. Archaeological excavations done in Beirut at the turn of the 20th century revealed a funerary monument believed to have belonged to Patricius. The son of Eudoxius, Leontius was described by ecclesiastical historian Zacharias Rhetor, who was his first-year student in 487 or 488, to have a great reputation in the legal field. He was raised to the office of Praetorian prefect of the East under Emperor Anastasius I between 503 and 504, and became Magister militum in 528. Leontius was also involved as a commissioner in the preparation of the first codex of Justinian. His contemporary, Amblichus, wrote a commentary on Ulpian's Libri ad Edictum.

Historical sources also tell of Euxenius, a teacher at the Beirut law school who taught during the times of the "Ecumenical Masters". Euxenius was the brother of the city's bishop Eustathius and was involved in the 460 religious controversy caused by Timothy Aelurus, which opposed the Miaphysites to the followers of the Council of Chalcedon. Dorotheus, Anatolius (son of Leontius) and Julianus were school professors contemporary to Justinian I. The first two were summoned to the imperial court and commissioned to draft the Digesta. Under the supervision of Tribonian, Dorotheus also collaborated with Theophilus, a Constantinopolitan law teacher, in drafting the Institutiones. Julianus, the last known professor of Beirut's law school, was extolled by Theaetetus as "the light of the law". After the earthquake, Julianus left Beirut and settled in Constantinople, where he authored the Epitome Iuliani in 555.

Under Justinian, there were eight teachers in the law schools of the Byzantine Empire, presumably four in each of Beirut and Constantinople's schools. Justinian mandated the supervision and enforcement of discipline in the school of Beirut to the teachers, the city's bishop and the governor of Phoenicia Maritima.

### Notable students

Extant ancient texts provide a list of the names of 51 students who attended the law school of Beirut; these students came from twenty different Roman provinces. Some of those students were deemed notable and achieved fame. In his 238 AD panegyric to Christian scholar Origen of Alexandria, Cappadocian bishop Gregory Thaumaturgus relates taking extensive Latin and Roman law courses in Beirut.

According to Eusebius of Caesarea, Pamphilus of Caesarea was born into a rich family in Beirut in the latter half of the 3rd century and attended its law school. Pamphilus later became the presbyter of Caesarea Maritima and the founder of its extensive Christian library. He is celebrated as a martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eusebius also tells of martyred brothers Aphian and Aedesius, born to a noble Lycian family. They converted to Christianity while studying law in Beirut and were persecuted and executed for their beliefs.

Fourth-century historian Eunapius wrote of Anatolius, a high-ranking Roman official known to his enemies as Azutrio. Anatolius occupied the offices of consul of Syria, vicarius of the Diocese of Asia, proconsul of Constantinople, urban prefect of Constantinople in 354, and Praetorian prefect of Illyricum until his death in 360. In his account of Anatolius, Eunapius summarized: "He reached the summit of the science of law. Nothing about this is surprising because Beirut, his homeland, is the mother and nurse of these studies". Libanius' correspondence with Gaianus of Tyre discusses the latter's achievements after his graduation from the law school of Beirut; Gaianus became the consular governor of Phoenicia in 362. Gazan lawyer and church historian Sozomen, also a law student at Beirut, wrote in his Historia Ecclesiastica about Triphyllius, a convert to Christendom who became the bishop of Nicosia. Triphyllius received legal training in Beirut and was criticized by his teacher Saint Spyridon for his atticism and for using legal vocabulary instead of that of the Bible.

Zacharias Rhetor studied law at Beirut between 487 and 492, then worked as a lawyer in Constantinople until his imperial contacts won him the appointment as bishop of Mytilene. Among Rhetor's works is the biography of Severus, the last miaphysite patriarch of Antioch and one of the founders of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who had also been a law student in Beirut as of 486. Another late 5th-century student was John Rufus, an anti-Chalcedonian priest who moved to Maiuma after the expulsion of his master, Peter the Fuller. In Maiuma, John Rufus authored the Plerophoriae and the Life of Peter the Iberian.

## Location

Historically, Roman stationes or auditoria, where teaching was done, stood next to public libraries housed in temples. This arrangement was copied in the Roman colony at Beirut. The first mention of the school's premises dates to 350, but the description does not specify its location. In the 5th century, Zacharias Rhetor reported that the school stood next to the "Temple of God", the description of which permitted its identification with the Byzantine Anastasis cathedral.

At the turn of the 20th century, archaeological excavations in the souq between the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral and Saint George Cathedral of the Maronites unearthed a funerary stele etched with an epitaph to a man named Patricius, "whose career was consecrated for the study of law". The epitaph was identified as being dedicated to the famous 5th-century law school professor. In 1994, archaeological diggings underneath the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Beirut Central District's Nejmeh Square identified structural elements of the Anastasis cathedral, but they were restricted to an area of 316 square metres (3,400 sq ft) and failed to unearth the interred school.

## Reputation and legacy

The law school of Beirut supplied the Roman Empire, especially its eastern provinces, with lawyers and magistrates for three centuries until the school's destruction. The influx of students was abundant and persistent because of the affluence, honor and secured employment offered by the profession. A degree in law became highly sought following an edict issued in 460 by Emperor Leo I. The edict ordered that candidates for the bar of the Eastern praetorian prefecture had to produce certificates of proficiency from the law teachers who instructed them at one of the recognized law schools of the Empire.

The in-depth studies of the classical legal works in Beirut, and later in Constantinople, conferred an unprecedented scientific dimension to jurisprudence; this academic movement gave rise to the minds behind Justinian's legal reforms. As a result of the new understanding of the classical legal texts, the imperial laws of the late 5th and early 6th centuries were clearer and more coherent than those of the early Postclassical Era, according to legal historian George Mousourakis and other scholars.

The school garnered accolades throughout its existence and was bestowed with the title Berytus Nutrix Legum (Beirut, Mother of Laws) by Eunapius, Libanius, Zacharias Rhetor and finally by Emperor Justinian. His 533 Omnem constitution read:

> These three works which we have composed we desire should be put in their hands in royal cities as well as in the most fair city of Berytus, which may well be styled the nursing mother of law, as indeed previous Emperors have commanded, but in no other places which did not enjoy the same privilege in old times, as we have heard that even in the brilliant city of Alexandria, and in Caesarea and others, there have been ignorant men who, instead of doing their duty, conveyed spurious lessons to their pupils, and such as these we desire to make desist from that attempt by laying down the above limits, so that, if they should hereafter be guilty of such conduct and carry on their duties outside the royal cities and the metropolis Berytus, they may be punished by a fine of ten pounds of gold and be expelled from the city in which instead of teaching the law they transgress the law.

From the 3rd century, the school tolerated Christian teachings, producing a number of students who would become influential church leaders and bishops, such as Pamphilus of Caesarea, Severus of Antioch and Aphian. Under Cyrillus, the first of the Ecumenical Masters, the Christian faith was consolidated as an integral element of the legal training.

Two professors from the law school of Beirut, Dorotheus and Anatolius, had such a repute for their wisdom and knowledge that they were especially praised by Justinian in the opening of his Tanta constitution. The emperor summoned both professors to assist his minister Tribonian in compiling the Codex of Justinian, the Empire's body of civil laws issued between 529 and 534. The Tanta passage reads:

> Dorotheus, an illustrious man, of great eloquence and quæstorian rank, whom, when he was engaged in delivering the law to students in the most brilliant city of Berytus, we, moved by his great reputation and renown, summoned to our presence and made to share in the work in question; again, Anatolius, an illustrious person, a magistrate, who, like the last, was invited to this work when acting as an exponent of law at Berytus, a man who came of an ancient stock, as both his father Leontius and his grandfather Eudoxius left behind them an excellent report in respect of legal learning...

For centuries following its compilation, the work of Justinian's commission was studied and incorporated into the legal systems of different nations and has profoundly impacted the Byzantine law and the Western legal tradition. Peter Stein asserts that the texts of ancient Roman law have constituted "a kind of legal supermarket, in which lawyers of different periods have found what they needed at the time."

The Corpus Juris Civilis remained the basis of Byzantine law until the publication of the Ecloga legum in 741 by Emperor Leo III and his son and co-regent Constantine V. The Ecloga was a shortened and more philanthropic version of the Codex of Justinian, whose dispositions were more in tune with Christian values. It was written in Greek, since Latin had fallen into disuse, and its provisions continued to be applied in later centuries in the neighboring Balkan and Asia Minor regions, with surviving translations in Slavic, Armenian and Arabic. Emperor Basil I, who ruled in the 9th century, issued the Prochiron and the Epanagoge, which were legal compilations invalidating parts of the Ecloga and restoring the Justinian laws. The Prochiron served as the basis for the legal writings of the 12th-century first archbishop of Serbia, Saint Sava. His legal compilation was intended for the Serbian church but the influential work was adopted as the basic constitution for the Bulgarian and Russian orthodox churches. Around 900, Emperor Leo VI commissioned the Basilica, a Greek rewriting of the Justinian laws that is considered the ancestor of modern Greece's law until the enactment of the Code of 1940.

The Codex of Justinian also had a great influence on Western law, particularly on the legal history and tradition of western Europe and its American colonies. In Italy, a single complete copy of the Justinian Digest survived and lay forgotten until its rediscovery in 1070. In 1088, Irnerius, a jurist and teacher of the liberal arts in Bologna, was the first to teach the newly recovered Digest and the rest of Justinian's books. He and his successors explained the Roman laws to their students by means of glosses or explanatory notes written on the edges or between the text lines. The Roman legal concepts resulting from the studies of these "glossators" spread to the universities and law courts of Europe. The Roman law revival that started in Italy, during the Middle Ages, was taken up by France, the Netherlands and Germany in later centuries. The enactment of the German Civil Code in 1900 put an end to the application of extant forms of law derived from the Justinian codes in most European states.

The reputation of Beirut as "mother of laws" reemerged in modern times. In 1913, Paul Huvelin, the first dean of the newly established Université Saint-Joseph's Faculty of Law, dedicated the inaugural speech to the classical law school of Beirut in an effort to confer legitimacy to the new academy. The epithet Berytus Nutrix Legum is used as a motto and as part of the emblem of the Beirut Bar Association, founded in 1919. It is also featured in the seal and flag of the Municipality of Beirut.

## See also

- 5th century in Lebanon

Ancient school of Roman law, to 551 AD

Buildings and structures demolished in the 6th century

Demolished buildings and structures in Lebanon

Former buildings and structures in Lebanon


Metacomet Ridge

The Metacomet Ridge, Metacomet Ridge Mountains, or Metacomet Range of southern New England is a narrow and steep fault-block mountain ridge known for its extensive cliff faces, scenic vistas, microclimate ecosystems, and rare or endangered plants. The ridge is an important recreation resource located within 10 miles (16 km) of more than 1.5 million people, offering four long-distance hiking trails and over a dozen parks and recreation areas, including several historic sites. It has been the focus of ongoing conservation efforts because of its natural, historic, and recreational value, involving municipal, state, and national agencies and nearly two dozen non-profit organizations.

The Metacomet Ridge extends from Branford, Connecticut, on Long Island Sound, through the Connecticut River Valley region of Massachusetts, to northern Franklin County, Massachusetts, 2 miles (3 km) short of the Vermont and New Hampshire borders for a distance of 100 miles (160 km). It is geologically distinct from the nearby Appalachian Mountains and surrounding uplands, and is composed of volcanic basalt (also known as trap rock) and sedimentary rock in faulted and tilted layers many hundreds of feet thick. In most cases, the basalt layers are dominant, prevalent, and exposed. The ridge rises dramatically from much lower valley elevations, although only 1,200 feet (370 m) above sea level at its highest, with an average summit elevation of 725 feet (221 m).

## Geographic definitions

Visually, the Metacomet Ridge exists as one continuous landscape feature from Long Island Sound at Branford, Connecticut, to the end of the Mount Holyoke Range in Belchertown, Massachusetts, a distance of 71 miles (114 km), broken only by the river gorges of the Farmington River in northern Connecticut and the Westfield and Connecticut Rivers in Massachusetts. It was first identified in 1985 as a single geologic feature consisting of trap rock by the State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut. A 2004 report conducted for the National Park Service extends that definition to include the entire traprock ridge from Long Island Sound to the Pocumtuck Range in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Further complicating the matter is the fact that traprock only accounts for the highest surface layers of rock strata on the southern three–fourths of the range; an underlying geology of related sedimentary rock is also a part of the structure of the ridge; in north central Massachusetts it becomes the dominant strata and extends the range geologically from the Holyoke Range another 35 miles (56 km) through Greenfield to nearly the Vermont border. This article describes the entire Metacomet Ridge and all geologic extensions of it.

## Nomenclature

Until January 2008, the United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) did not recognize Metacomet Ridge, Traprock Ridge or any other name, although several sub-ranges were identified. Geologists usually refer to the overall range generically as "the traprock ridge" or "the traprock mountains" or refer to it with regard to its prehistoric geologic significance in technical terms. The Sierra Club has referred to the entire range in Connecticut as "The Traprock Ridge". The name Metacomet Ridge was first applied in 1985 in a book published by the Connecticut State Geological Survey, adopting the name from the existing Metacomet Trail along a large portion of the range in central Connecticut.

The name "Metacomet" or "Metacom" is borrowed from the 17th century sachem of the Wampanoag Tribe of southern New England who led his people during King Philip's War in the mid–17th century. Metacomet was also known as King Philip by early New England colonists. A number of features associated with the Metacomet Ridge are named after the sachem, including the Metacomet Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, King Philip's Cave, King Philip Mountain, and Sachem Head. According to legend, Metacomet orchestrated the burning of Simsbury, Connecticut, and watched the conflagration from Talcott Mountain near the cave now named after him. The names Metacomet and King Philip have been applied to at least sixteen landscape features and over seventy-five businesses, schools, and civic organizations throughout southern New England.

## Geography

Beginning at Long Island Sound, the Metacomet Ridge commences as two parallel ridges with related sub-ridges and outcrops in between; the latter include the high butte–like cliffs of East Rock and the isolated peak of Peter's Rock. The western ridgeline of the Metacomet Ridge begins in New Haven, Connecticut, as West Rock Ridge and continues as Sleeping Giant, Mount Sanford, Peck Mountain, and Prospect Ridge, for a distance of 16 miles (26 km) before diminishing into a series of low profile outcrops just short of Southington, Connecticut, 2.75 miles (4.4 km) west of the Hanging Hills in Meriden.

To the east, beginning on the rocky prominence of Beacon Hill, 130 feet (40 m), in Branford, Connecticut, overlooking the East Haven River estuary, the Metacomet Ridge continues as a traprock ridge 60 miles (97 km) north to Mount Tom in Holyoke, Massachusetts; it then breaks east across the Connecticut River to form the Holyoke Range, which continues for 10 miles (16 km) before terminating in Belchertown, Massachusetts. Several scattered parallel ridges flank it; the most prominent of these are the hills of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and the Barn Door Hills of Granby, Connecticut.

North of Mount Tom and the Holyoke Range, the apparent crest of the Metacomet Ridge is broken by a discontinuity in the once dominant traprock strata. Underlying sedimentary layers remain but lack the same profile. Between the Holyoke Range and the Pocumtuck Ridge, a stretch of 9 miles (14 km), the Metacomet Ridge exists only as a series of mostly nondescript rises set among flat plains of sedimentary bedrock. Mount Warner, 512 feet (156 m), in Hadley, Massachusetts, the only significant peak in the area, is a geologically unrelated metamorphic rock landform that extends west into the sedimentary strata.

The Metacomet Ridge picks up elevation again with the Pocumtuck Ridge, beginning on Sugarloaf Mountain and the parallel massif of Mount Toby, 1,269 feet (387 m), the high point of the Metacomet Ridge geography. Both Sugarloaf Mountain and Mount Toby are composed of erosion-resistant sedimentary rock. North of Mount Sugarloaf, the Pocumtuck Ridge continues as alternating sedimentary and traprock dominated strata to Greenfield, Massachusetts. From Greenfield north to Northfield, Massachusetts 2 miles (3 km) short of the Vermont–New Hampshire–Massachusetts tri-border, the profile of the Metacomet Ridge diminishes into a series of nondescript hills and low, wooded mountain peaks composed of sedimentary rock with dwindling traprock outcrops.

In Connecticut, the high point of the Metacomet Ridge is West Peak of the Hanging Hills at 1,024 feet (312 m); in Massachusetts, the highest traprock peak is Mount Tom, 1,202 feet (366 m), although Mount Toby, made of sedimentary rock, is higher. Visually, the Metacomet Ridge is narrowest at Provin Mountain and East Mountain in Massachusetts where it is less than 0.5 miles (1 km) wide; it is widest at Totoket Mountain, over 4 miles (6 km). However, low parallel hills and related strata along much of the range often make the actual geologic breadth of the Metacomet Ridge wider than the more noticeable ridgeline crests, up to 10 miles (16 km) across in some areas. Significant river drainages of the Metacomet Ridge include the Connecticut River and tributaries (Falls River, Deerfield River, Westfield River, Farmington River, Coginchaug River); and, in southern Connecticut, the Quinnipiac River.

The Metacomet Ridge is surrounded by rural wooded, agricultural, and suburban landscapes, and is no more than 6 miles (10 km) from a number of urban hubs such as New Haven, Meriden, New Britain, Hartford, and Springfield. Small city centers abutting the ridge include Greenfield, Northampton, Amherst, Holyoke, West Hartford, Farmington, Wallingford, and Hamden.

## Geology

The Metacomet Ridge is the result of continental rifting processes that took place 200 million years ago during the Triassic and Jurassic periods. The basalt (also called traprock) crest of the Metacomet Ridge is the product of a series of massive lava flows hundreds of feet thick that welled up in faults created by the rifting apart of the North American continent from Eurasia and Africa. Essentially, the area now occupied by the Metacomet Ridge is a prehistoric rift valley which was once a branch of (or a parallel of) the major rift to the east that became the Atlantic Ocean.

Basalt is a dark colored extrusive volcanic rock. The weathering of iron-bearing minerals within it results in a rusty brown color when exposed to air and water, lending it a distinct reddish or purple–red hue. Basalt frequently breaks into octagonal and pentagonal columns, creating a unique "postpile" appearance. Extensive slopes made of fractured basalt talus are visible at the base of many of the cliffs along the Metacomet Ridge.

The basalt floods of lava that now form much of the Metacomet Ridge took place over a span of 20 million years. Erosion and deposition occurring between the eruptions deposited layers of sediment between the lava flows which eventually lithified into sedimentary rock layers within the basalt. The resulting "layer cake" of basalt and sedimentary rock eventually faulted and tilted upward (see fault-block). Subsequent erosion wore away many of the weaker sedimentary layers at a faster rate than the basalt layers, leaving the abruptly tilted edges of the basalt sheets exposed, creating the distinct linear ridge and dramatic cliff faces visible today on the western and northern sides of the ridge. Evidence of this layer-cake structure is visible on Mount Norwottuck of the Holyoke Range in Massachusetts. The summit of Norwottuck is made of basalt; directly beneath the summit are the Horse Caves, a deep overhang where the weaker sedimentary layer has worn away at a more rapid rate than the basalt layer above it. Mount Sugarloaf, Pocumtuck Ridge, and Mount Toby, also in Massachusetts, together present a larger "layer cake" example. The bottom layer is composed of arkose sandstone, visible on Mount Sugarloaf. The middle layer is composed of volcanic traprock, most visible on the Pocumtuck Ridge. The top layer is composed of a sedimentary conglomerate known as Mount Toby Conglomerate. Faulting and earthquakes during the period of continental rifting tilted the layers diagonally; subsequent erosion and glacial activity exposed the tilted layers of sandstone, basalt, and conglomerate visible today as three distinct mountain masses. Although Mount Toby and Mount Sugarloaf are not composed of traprock, they are part of the Metacomet Ridge by virtue of their origin via the same rifting and uplift processes.

Of all the summits that make up the Metacomet Ridge, West Rock, in New Haven, Connecticut, bears special mention because it was not formed by the volcanic flooding that created most of the traprock ridges. Rather, it is the remains of an enormous volcanic dike through which the basalt lava floods found access to the surface.

While the traprock cliffs remain the most obvious evidence of the prehistoric geologic processes of the Metacomet Ridge, the sedimentary rock of the ridge and surrounding terrain has produced equally significant evidence of prehistoric life in the form of Triassic and Jurassic fossils; in particular, dinosaur tracks. At a state park in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, more than 2,000 well preserved early Jurassic prints have been excavated. Other sites in Holyoke and Greenfield have likewise produced significant finds.

## Ecosystem

`The Metacomet Ridge hosts a combination of microclimates unusual to the region. Dry, hot upper ridges support oak savannas, often dominated by chestnut oak and a variety of understory grasses and ferns. Eastern red-cedar, a dry-loving species, clings to the barren edges of cliffs. Backslope plant communities tend to be similar to the adjacent upland plateaus and nearby Appalachians, containing species common to the northern hardwood and oak-hickory forest ecosystem types. Eastern hemlock crowds narrow ravines, blocking sunlight and creating damp, cooler growing conditions with associated cooler climate plant species. Talus slopes are especially rich in nutrients and support a number of calcium-loving plants uncommon in the region. Miles of high cliffs make ideal raptor habitat, and the Metacomet Ridge is a seasonal raptor migration corridor. Because the topography of the ridge offers such varied terrain, many species reach the northern or southern limit of their range on the Metacomet Ridge; others are considered rare nationally or globally. Examples of rare species that live on the ridge include the prickly pear cactus, peregrine falcon, northern copperhead, showy lady's slipper, yellow corydalis, ram's–head lady's slipper, basil mountain mint, and devil's bit lily.`

The Metacomet Ridge is also an important aquifer. It provides municipalities and towns with public drinking water; reservoirs are located on Talcott Mountain, Totoket Mountain, Saltonstall Mountain, Bradley Mountain, Ragged Mountain, and the Hanging Hills in Connecticut. Reservoirs that supply metropolitan Springfield, Massachusetts, are located on Provin Mountain and East Mountain.

## History

### Pre-colonial era

Native Americans occupied the river valleys surrounding the Metacomet Ridge for at least 10,000 years. Major tribal groups active in the area included the Quinnipiac, Niantic, Pequot, Pocomtuc, and Mohegan. Traprock was used to make tools and arrowheads. Natives hunted game, gathered plants and fruits, and fished in local bodies of water around the Metacomet Ridge. Tracts of woodland in the river bottoms surrounding the ridges were sometimes burned to facilitate the cultivation of crops such as corn, squash, tobacco, and beans. Natives incorporated the natural features of the ridgeline and surrounding geography into their spiritual belief systems. Many Native American stories were in turn incorporated into regional colonial folklore. The giant stone spirit Hobbomock (or Hobomock), a prominent figure in many stories, was credited with diverting the course of the Connecticut River where it suddenly swings east in Middletown, Connecticut, after several hundred miles of running due south. Hobbomuck is also credited with slaying a giant human-eating beaver who lived in a great lake that existed in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. According to native beliefs as retold by European settlers, the corpse of the beaver remains visible as the Pocumtuck Ridge portion of the Metacomet Ridge. Later, after Hobbomuck diverted the course of the Connecticut River, he was punished to sleep forever as the prominent man-like form of the Sleeping Giant, part of the Metacomet Ridge in southern Connecticut. There seems to be an element of scientific truth in some of these tales. For instance, the great lake that the giant beaver was said to have inhabited may very well have been the post-glacial Lake Hitchcock, extant 10,000 years ago; the giant beaver may have been an actual prehistoric species of bear–sized beaver, Castoroides ohioensis, that lived at that time. Many features of the Metacomet Ridge region still bear names with Native American origins: Besek, Pistapaug, Coginchaug, Mattabesett, Metacomet, Totoket, Norwottuck, Hockanum, Nonotuck, Pocumtuck, and others.

### Colonization, agricultural transformation, and industrialization

Europeans began settling the river valleys around the Metacomet Ridge in the mid–17th century. Forests were cut down or burned to make room for agriculture, resulting in the near complete denuding of the once contiguous forests of southern New England by the 19th century. Steep terrain like the Metacomet Ridge, while not suitable for planting crops, was widely harvested of timber as a result of the expanding charcoal industry that boomed before the mining of coal from the mid–Appalachian regions replaced it as a source of fuel. In other cases, ridgetop forests burned when lower elevation land was set afire, and some uplands were used for pasturing. Traprock was harvested from talus slopes of the Metacomet Ridge to build house foundations; copper ore was discovered at the base of Peak Mountain in northern Connecticut and was mined by prisoners incarcerated at Old Newgate Prison located there.

With the advent of industrialization in the 19th century, riverways beneath the Metacomet Ridge were dammed to provide power as the labor force expanded in nearby cities and towns. Logging to provide additional fuel for mills further denuded the ridges. Traprock and sandstone were quarried from the ridge for paving stones and architectural brownstone, either used locally or shipped via rail, barge, and boat.

### Transcendentalism

Increased urbanization and industrialization in Europe and North America resulted in an opposing aesthetic transcendentalist movement characterized in New England by the art of Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, and other Hudson River School painters, the work of landscape architects such as Frederick Law Olmsted, and the writings of philosophers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. As was true of other scenic areas of New England, the philosophical, artistic, and environmental movement of transcendentalism transformed the Metacomet Ridge from a commercial resource to a recreational resource. Hotels, parks, and summer estates were built on the mountains from the mid-1880s to the early 20th century. Notable structures included summit hotels and inns on Mount Holyoke, Mount Tom, Sugarloaf Mountain, and Mount Nonotuck. Parks and park structures such as Poet's Seat in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and Hubbard Park (designed with the help of Frederick Law Olmsted) of the Hanging Hills of Meriden, Connecticut, were intended as respites from the urban areas they closely abutted. Estates such as Hill-Stead and Heublein Tower were built as mountain home retreats by local industrialists and commercial investors. Although public attention gradually shifted to more remote and less developed destinations with the advent of modern transportation and the westward expansion of the United States, the physical, cultural, and historic legacy of that early recreational interest in the Metacomet Ridge still supports modern conservation efforts. Estates became museums; old hotels and the lands they occupied, frequently subject to damaging fires, became state and municipal parkland through philanthropic donation, purchase, or confiscation for unpaid taxes. Nostalgia among former guests of hotels and estates contributed to the aesthetic of conservation.

### Trailbuilding

Interest in mountains as places to build recreational footpaths took root in New England with organizations such as the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Green Mountain Club, the Appalachian Trail Conference, and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Following the pioneering effort of the Green Mountain Club in the inauguration of Vermont's Long Trail in 1918, the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, spearheaded by Edgar Laing Heermance, created the 23 miles (37 km) Quinnipiac Trail on the Metacomet Ridge in southern Connecticut in 1928 and soon followed it up with the 51 miles (82 km) Metacomet Trail along the Metacomet Ridge in central and northern Connecticut. More than 700 miles (1,100 km) of "blue blaze trails" in Connecticut were completed by the association by the end of the 20th century. While the focus of the Appalachian Mountain Club was geared primarily toward the White Mountains of New Hampshire in its early years, as club membership broadened, so did interest in the areas closer to club members' homes. In the late 1950s, the 110 miles (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail was laid out by the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club under leadership of Professor Walter M. Banfield of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The trail follows the Metacomet Ridge for the first one–third of its length. Overall, trailbuilding had a pro-active effect on conservation awareness by thrusting portions of the Metacomet Ridge into the public consciousness.

### Suburbanization and land conservation

Although the Metacomet Ridge has abutted significant urban areas for nearly two hundred years, because of its rugged, steep, and rocky terrain, the ridge was long considered an undesirable place to build a home except for those wealthy enough to afford such a luxury. However, suburbanization through urban exodus and automobile culture, and modern construction techniques and equipment have created a demand for homes on and around the once undeveloped Metacomet Ridge and its surrounding exurban communities. As of 2007, the metropolitan areas bordering the range—New Haven, Meriden, New Britain, Hartford, Springfield and Greenfield—had a combined population of more than 2.5 million people. Populations in exurban towns around the range in Connecticut have increased 7.6 percent between the mid-1990s to 2000, and building permits increased 26 percent in the same period. Considered an attractive place to build homes because of its views and proximity to urban centers and highways, the Metacomet Ridge has become a target for both developers and advocates of land conservation. Quarrying, supported by the increased need for stone in local and regional construction projects, has been especially damaging to the ecosystem, public access, and visual landscape of the ridge. At the same time, the boom in interest in outdoor recreation in the latter 20th century has made the Metacomet Ridge an attractive "active leisure" resource. In response to public interest in the ridge and its surrounding landscapes, more than twenty local non-profit organizations have become involved in conservation efforts on and around the ridge and surrounding region. Most of these organizations came into being between 1970 and 2000, and nearly all of them have evidenced a marked increase in conservation activity since 1990. Several international and national organizations have also become interested in the Metacomet Ridge, including The Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, and the Trust for Public Land.

## Recreation

`Steepness, long cliff–top views, and proximity to urban areas make the Metacomet Ridge a significant regional outdoor recreation resource. The ridge is traversed by more than 200 miles (320 km) of long-distance and shorter hiking trails. Noteworthy trails in Connecticut include the 51-mile (82 km) Metacomet Trail, the 50-mile (80 km) Mattabesett Trail, the 23-mile (37 km) Quinnipiac Trail, and the 6-mile (10 km) Regicides Trail. Massachusetts trails include the 110-mile (177 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, the 47-mile (76 km) Robert Frost Trail, and the 15-mile (24 km) Pocumtuck Ridge Trail. Site–specific activities enjoyed on the ridge include rock climbing, bouldering, fishing, boating, hunting, swimming, backcountry skiing, cross-country skiing, trail running, bicycling, and mountain biking. Trails on the ridge are open to snowshoeing, birdwatching and picnicking as well. The Metacomet Ridge hosts more than a dozen state parks, reservations, and municipal parks, and more than three dozen nature preserves and conservation properties. Seasonal automobile roads with scenic vistas are located at Poet's Seat Park, Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation, J.A. Skinner State Park, the Mount Tom State Reservation, Hubbard Park, and West Rock Ridge State Park; these roads are also used for bicycling and cross–country skiing. Camping and campfires are discouraged on most of the Metacomet Ridge, especially in Connecticut. Museums, historic sites, interpretive centers, and other attractions can be found on or near the Metacomet Ridge; some offer outdoor concerts, celebrations, and festivals.`

## Conservation

Because of its narrowness, proximity to urban areas, and fragile ecosystems, the Metacomet Ridge is most endangered by encroaching suburban sprawl. Quarry operations, also a threat, have obliterated several square miles of traprock ridgeline in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. Ridges and mountains affected include Trimountain, Bradley Mountain, Totoket Mountain, Chauncey Peak, Rattlesnake Mountain, East Mountain, Pocumtuck Ridge, and the former Round Mountain of the Holyoke Range. The gigantic man-like profile of the Sleeping Giant, a traprock massif visible for more than 30 miles (50 km) in south central Connecticut, bears quarrying scars on its "head". Mining there was halted by the efforts of local citizens and the Sleeping Giant Park Association.

Development and quarrying threats to the Metacomet Ridge have resulted in public open space acquisition efforts through collective purchasing and fundraising, active solicitation of land donations, securing of conservation easements, protective and restrictive legislation agreements limiting development, and, in a few cases, land taking by eminent domain. Recent conservation milestones include the acquisition of a defunct ski area on Mount Tom, the purchase of the ledges and summits of Ragged Mountain through the efforts of a local rock climbing club and the Nature Conservancy, and the inclusion of the ridgeline from North Branford, Connecticut, to Belchertown, Massachusetts, in a study by the National Park Service for a new National Scenic Trail now tentatively called the New England National Scenic Trail. Metacomet Ridge Conservation Compact, a Connecticut focus on ridgeline protection was initiated with the creation of the Metacomet Ridge Conservation Compact. The compact was ratified on Earth Day, April 22, 1998. The Compact serves as a guide for local land use decision-makers when discussing land use issues in Metacomet or Trap Rock ridge-line areas within the state. Ultimately signed by eighteen towns out of the nineteen ridge-line communities, this agreement committed local conservation commissions to strive to protect these ridges. The 18 towns whose Conservation Commissions signed the pact are; Avon, Berlin, Bloomfield, Branford, Durham, East Granby, East Haven, Farmington, Guilford, Meriden, Middlefield, North Branford, Plainville, Simsbury, Suffield, Wallingford, West Hartford and West Haven.

## See also

- List of Metacomet Ridge summits
- Traprock mountains in other parts of the world

Mountain range in Connecticut and Massachusetts, United States

Landforms of New Haven County, Connecticut


Times Square Theater

The Times Square Theater is a former Broadway and movie theater at 217 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1920, it was designed by Eugene De Rosa and developed by brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn. The building, which is no longer an active theater, is owned by the city and state governments of New York and leased to New 42nd Street.

The Times Square Theater was designed simultaneously with the now-demolished Apollo Theatre immediately to the north and west. The theaters shared a symmetrical facade on 42nd Street, which is made of limestone and contains a central colonnade. The Times Square Theater took up most of the facade, though the western section was occupied by the Apollo Theatre's entrance. Inside, the Times Square Theater had a fan-shaped auditorium that could seat 1,155 people. The auditorium was designed in a silver, green, and black color scheme and had a shallow balcony, box seats, and murals. As part of a renovation proposed in 2018, the theater building will be substantially expanded with a glass annex, the original facade will be raised, and some of the interior elements will be preserved.

The Times Square opened on September 30, 1920, with Edgar Selwyn's play The Mirage. The theater mostly hosted legitimate shows in its first decade, but it briefly screened films in 1926 and 1928. Notable shows included The Front Page (1928), Strike Up the Band (1930), and Private Lives (1931). The theater staged its last show in 1933, and the theater became a cinema the next year. The Brandt family operated the Times Square for the next five decades, showing westerns and action films. There were several proposals to redevelop theaters along 42nd Street in the 1980s. New 42nd Street took over the Times Square and several neighboring theaters in 1990, but the theater building was difficult to lease out because of its lack of a rear entrance. Among the unsuccessful bids were those by MTV, Marvel Mania, Livent, Ecko Unltd., and a 4D theater company. Stillman Development International leased the building in 2017 and hired Beyer Blinder Belle to renovate it.

## Site

The Times Square Theater is at 215 West 42nd Street, on the northern sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building occupies a nearly square land lot covering 10,401 sq ft (966.3 m2), with a frontage of 105 ft (32 m) on 42nd Street and a depth of 100.5 ft (30.6 m). The theater is surrounded to the east and north by the Lyric Theatre. It also shares the block with the Hotel Carter building and the American Airlines Theatre to the west, as well as the New Victory Theater and 3 Times Square to the east. Other nearby buildings include 255 West 43rd Street, the St. James Theatre, the Hayes Theater to the northwest; 229 West 43rd Street and 1501 Broadway to the north; 5 Times Square and the New Amsterdam Theatre to the southeast; and the Candler Building to the south.

The surrounding area is part of Manhattan's Theater District and contains many Broadway theaters. In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for Legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The New Amsterdam, Harris, Liberty, Eltinge, and Lew Fields theaters occupied the south side of the street. The original Lyric and Apollo theaters (combined into the current Lyric Theatre), as well as the Times Square, Victory, Selwyn (now American Airlines), and Victoria theaters, occupied the north side. These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s.

## Design

The Times Square Theater, along with the Apollo Theatre immediately to the north and west, was developed by brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn in 1920. Both theaters were built simultaneously and designed by Eugene De Rosa. Architectural Plastering Co. performed the theater's exterior sgraffito work, while L. S. Fischl's Sons was the interior decorator.

### Facade

The theater's original facade, shared with the former Apollo Theatre, is made of limestone and is symmetrical. The layout is similar to that of the still-extant Music Box Theatre. The westernmost section served as an entrance to the Apollo Theatre, whose auditorium was originally on 43rd Street. There was a marquee overhanging the entrance to the Apollo. Above that was a vertical sign advertising the two theaters. The Apollo's name was placed on the western face of the sign, while the Times Square's name was placed on the eastern face. In addition, there were entrances to the Times Square Theater to the east, separated by rusticated limestone piers. The two theaters' entrances were otherwise identical in design.

At the second floor is a colonnade of six columns between a pair of outer bays. The New York Times described the columns as being in the Doric order. There were originally seven wrought-iron screens, one between each set of columns. The auditorium facade is slightly recessed behind the colonnade, creating a gallery. The outermost bays in the second floor contained sash window panes, flanked by pilasters that support a round arch. The pilasters in the corners of the arches were carved. A cornice ran above the facade. Unlike the four neighboring theaters, the Times Square Theater did not have any access from 43rd Street. Instead, its auditorium and stage house were both on 42nd Street. This allowed the auditorium to be positioned parallel to the street, facing eastward.

As of 2018, Beyer Blinder Belle is planning to substantially reconfigure the Times Square Theater building. The proposed renovation includes increasing the building's height to six stories, with its roof 138 ft (42 m) high. Four stories will be built above the existing building. The existing facade will be raised by 5 ft (1.5 m) to accommodate higher ceilings on the ground floor. The second story will have a glass enclosure in front of the colonnade, allowing passersby to view the former theater's interior. The enclosure, measuring 23 ft (7.0 m) tall, will partially cantilever above the sidewalk on 42nd Street. LED signs are also planned to be installed on the building's exterior. An open-air restaurant will also be placed on the roof.

### Interior

#### Original theater

The Times Square Theater had a fan-shaped layout. A contemporary account said the theater could accommodate 1,127 people; meanwhile, The Broadway League and Playbill both cite a capacity of 1,055, and theater historian Mary C. Henderson gives a figure of 1,035. The interior was originally decorated in the Empire style with some Adam style ornamentation. The original color scheme was silver and green against a black background. In later years, the green decorations faded to gray.

The theater had two levels of seating: a ground-floor orchestra level, as well as a balcony with a slightly higher seating capacity. The first four rows of the orchestra were designed with armchairs instead of typical theater seats. At balcony level was a crossover aisle with several entrances, reducing the distance that patrons had to climb compared to in older theaters. Near the front of the auditorium, on either side of the balcony level, was a wall section with two box seats. Each wall section had black velvet curtains and was topped by a plaster half-dome. The theater contained an "air cushion" facing 42nd Street to the south, which dampened noise from outdoors. On either side of the auditorium were emergency exits leading to passageways; the New-York Tribune said these were capable of emptying the theater "in a matter of seconds". The ceiling had a dome measuring 35 ft (11 m) wide.

A black velvet curtain separated the audience from the stage, which was 40 ft (12 m) wide. A grand staircase connected the orchestra and balcony levels. There was also a women's lounge and smoking room on balcony level, as well as a men's lounge in the basement. The men's lounge was decorated in the Tudor style and contained wooden paneling. To the west of the Times Square's auditorium was the Apollo's entrance, which consisted of a corridor with paneled walls and several types of marble. The old Apollo entrance from 42nd Street, with bas-relief sculptures and black-and-white marble decorations, was retained when the current Lyric Theatre was built in 1998. To the east of the auditorium is the lobby from the original Lyric Theatre.

#### Proposed conversion

The building is proposed to be converted into over 52,000 sq ft (4,800 m2) of mixed-use space as of 2019. Most of the building, about 34,000 sq ft (3,200 m2), is planned to be used as storefronts. The third and fourth stories are both planned to have double-height ceilings, as well as many of the historical features relocated from the auditorium. Both stories are to have outdoor terraces. A spiral staircase would connect the second through fourth floors, and the dome would be reinstalled above the staircase.

## Use as theater

### Development

Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. The Selwyn brothers, developed several Broadway theaters on 42nd Street. Before the Times Square Theater was developed, the brothers operated the Harris and Selwyn (now American Airlines) theaters. The Selwyn Theatre had opened on an adjacent site in 1918. Even before that theater was completed, the Selwyn brothers had asked their partner Crosby Gaige to search for sites where they could build additional theaters. The brothers bought two sites just east of the Selwyn Theatre: a 105-foot-wide (32 m) plot on 42nd Street, which contained George Sturges's unprofitable Bryant Theatre, as well as a 100-foot-wide (30 m) plot on 43rd Street, which was vacant.

As construction proceeded on the Selwyn Theatre in September 1917, the Selwyn brothers announced two additional theaters. Originally, the two theaters were to be named after actress Margaret Illington and producer Margaret Mayo. The following February, the Shubert family acquired a partial interest in the three theaters that the Selwyns were constructing. By this time, the planned Illington Theatre was to be known as the Times Square Theater. The Selwyn brothers leased the eastern site from Sperry and Hutchinson Co. in July 1918, after the plot had already been excavated. In May 1919, the New York City Department of Buildings approved the Selwyn brothers' plans for a 1,100-seat theater on 42nd Street and a 1,200-seat theater on 43rd Street. The O'Day Construction Company was hired to erect both theaters. The Selwyn brothers intended to use the two theaters exclusively for their own productions.

### Legitimate use

#### Selwyn years

The Times Square opened on September 30, 1920, with Florence Reed starring in Edgar Selwyn's play The Mirage. The production was a relative hit, lasting for 192 performances through March 1921. During that play's run, G.K. Chesterton spoke on the topic "Shall We Abolish the Inevitable?" at the theater. This was followed by the musical comedy The Right Girl, as well as the mhort-lived usical revue The Broadway Whirl. The plays The Demi-Virgin, Honors Are Even, and Love Dreams had short runs at the Times Square in late 1921. That November, the Clemence Dane play A Bill of Divorcement moved from George M. Cohan's Theatre to the Times Square; it was one of the first hits that featured actress Katharine Cornell. The theater also hosted recitals by actress Ruth Draper, who continued her performances there for several years. In 1922, the Times Square hosted plays such as The Charlatan, as well as The Exciters with Tallulah Bankhead.

The Fool, by Channing Pollock, opened in October 1922 and ran for over 200 performances through the next year. As an experiment, the Selwyn brothers brought over several visiting companies in mid-1923 to perform The Fool in place of the usual actors. Each company performed for three days before being performing the production at other theaters. The play Helen of Troy, New York, transferred from the Selwyn Theatre in October 1923; this was followed in December by Pelléas and Mélisande with Jane Cowl, which flopped after 13 performances. During early 1924, André Charlot presented his eponymous musical revue, featuring Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Jack Buchanan. Charlot's revue transferred to the Selwyn Theatre in April 1924, swapping houses with the musical Battling Buttler. The theater also hosted a dance recital by Albertina Rasch in May 1924, though the Sabbath Committee ruled that the recital could not be staged on Sundays. That September, the theater hosted Jerome Kern and Howard Dietz's musical Dear Sir, featuring Oscar Shaw and Walter Catlett. It was followed in November by Clifford Grey, Clare Kummer, and Sigmund Romberg's musical Annie Dear, which featured Billie Burke.

#### Decline

The Selwyn brothers dissolved their firm in 1925. The same year, the theater hosted the play Mismates, the namesake of the film Mismates. The musical Kosher Kitty Kelly also ran for 166 total performances at the Times Square Theater and Daly's 63rd Street Theatre, in spite of negative critical reception. Pollock's play The Enemy opened in late 1925 and ran for 202 performances. The Times Square Theater then showed a variety of films in early 1926, including The Volga Boatman and a double feature of Silence and The Prince of Pilsen. The theater's next legitimate show was Love 'Em and Leave 'Em, which relocated from the Apollo in May 1926.

The Anita Loos play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened in September 1926 and ran for 199 total performances across two theaters. During the play's run, the theater also hosted a speech by explorer Richard E. Byrd, a documentary presented by aviator Alan Cobham, and a ballet show. After Blondes relocated from the Times Square in March 1927, A. H. Woods planned to move his production of the play Crime into the theater. Instead, the Times Square screened silent films for the 1927–1928 season. The silent film Sunrise opened at the Times Square in September 1927, and the theater screened the film Dawn in May 1928. Although other theaters on 42nd Street were already struggling to book long-running shows by the late 1920s, the Times Square was still able to secure some hits. Jed Harris leased the theater in mid-1928 and presented the original Broadway production of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's comedy The Front Page, which opened in August 1928. The Front Page ran for 276 performances through April 1929.

Several shows had short runs in 1929, including The Middle Watch and Other Men's Wives. The next hit was George and Ira Gershwin's musical Strike Up the Band, which opened at the theater in January 1930 and ran for 191 performances over the next five months. At the onset of the Great Depression, many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance, leading to many flops. The 1930–1931 season alone had six shows, including a revival of The Merchant of Venice. The season ended with Noël Coward's Private Lives, starring Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, which lasted 256 performances. In the 1931–1932 season, four successive plays closed within one month. The 1932–1933 season, with three shows, was the Times Square's final season as a live venue. The season's shows included Clear All Wires!, Foolscap, and Forsaking All Others. The play Angel, with Lenore Ulric, was supposed to have opened at the Times Square in June 1933 but never did so.

### Movies

The theater remained dark for the 1933–1934 season, even though the play Ragged Army had been planned to open there in February 1934. The theater's owner Burgwyn Realty Corp. leased the theater to the Brandt family for use as a cinema in May 1934. The Brandts planned to operate the theater under a grindhouse format, with films running continuously. This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30. The lease originally ran for five years. The following year, Burgwyn lost the theater in a foreclosure proceeding. The Times Square and Apollo theaters were auctioned off; Timap Inc. acquired them in June 1935 for \$110,000 and assumed responsibility for the existing \$800,000 mortgage. The proscenium arch was infilled in 1939 when the former stage house was converted to a haberdashery, since the theater no longer needed these facilities after its conversion into a cinema.

By the mid-1940s, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this led Variety to call the block the "biggest movie center of the world". The Brandts owned seven of these theaters, while the Cinema circuit operated the other three. The Brandt theaters included the Selwyn, Apollo, Times Square, Lyric, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, as well as the Eltinge and Liberty theaters on the south side. The Times Square Theater showed action films and Westerns, and the Brandt changed the bill three times a week. Several producers offered to stage legitimate productions in the Brandt theaters, but none of the offers were successful. William Brandt indicated in 1946 that he might replace the theaters on the north side of 42nd Street with a skyscraper. By then, there was a shortage of new films in the theaters along 42nd Street, which led to decreased attendance.

William Brandt said in 1953 that any of his 42nd Street theaters could be converted to a legitimate house within 24 hours' notice, but producers did not take up his offer. By the late 1950s, the Times Square was classified as a "western and action outlet", displaying films that related to that genre. Tickets cost 25 to 65 cents apiece, the cheapest admission scale for any theater on 42nd Street. The Times Square and the other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them.

The 42nd Street Company was established in 1961 to operate the Brandts' seven theaters on 42nd Street. By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including the Times Square. Martin Levine and Richard Brandt took over the 42nd Street Company in 1972. The Times Square still operated as an action house. The other six theaters showed a variety of genres, though Levine said none of the company's 42nd Street theaters showed hardcore porn. The Brandts' theaters had a combined annual gross of about \$2 million and operated nearly the entire day. However, the area was in decline; the Brandts' theaters only had three million visitors by 1977, about half of the number in 1963. The area had also become dangerous and rundown as well. Patrons were fatally shot in separate incidents in 1977 and 1980. The Brandts' movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Times Square was showing "obscure horror/action triple-bills".

## Redevelopment

The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square. The same year, the City University of New York's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of the Times Square Theatre and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration. Another plan, in 1978, called for restoring the Selwyn, Apollo, and Harris for opera and dance, rather than for theatrical purposes. Other nearby buildings, including possibly the Times Square Theater, would have been razed to create a park.

### Preservation attempts

Another plan, called the City at 42nd Street, was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square. Under the plan, the Times Square Theatre would have been preserved, and some of the other theaters would have been modified. Mayor Ed Koch wavered in his support of the plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street". Subsequently, Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearby Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters, motivated the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in the early 1980s.

The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including the Times Square Theater, as landmarks in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on the exterior and interior of the Times Square Theater. Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades. In late 2015, the LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate the Times Square and six other theaters as landmarks. The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016, as the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by the state government.

### Early redevelopment proposals

The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, then proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue, developed by Park Tower Realty and the Prudential Insurance Company of America. The Brandt family planned to submit a bid to redevelop some of the theaters they owned on 42nd Street. In June 1982, the Brandts' five theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, including the Times Square, were added to the redevelopment plan. In August 1984, the UDC granted Jujamcyn Theaters the right to operate the Selwyn, Apollo, and Lyric theaters; as part of the same project, the Times Square Theater would have become retail space. In response, Brandt and Cine Theater Corp. sued the UDC, claiming that the moves shut out independent theatrical operators. Michael J. Lazar would have renovated the four theaters for Jujamcyn, but the city and state removed him from the project in 1986 following a parking scandal. The Brandts also leased all their movie theaters on 42nd Street, including the Times Square, to the Cine 42nd Street Corporation in 1986.

From 1987 to 1989, Park Tower and Prudential hired Robert A. M. Stern to conduct a study on the Apollo, Lyric, Selwyn, Times Square, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street. Stern devised three alternatives for the five theaters. City and state officials announced plans for the five theaters, along with the Liberty Theatre on the south side of 42nd Street, in September 1988. Stern presented a model of his plan the next month. The plan called for reducing the size of the Selwyn Theatre to accommodate "intimate drama", as well as replacing the Selwyn Building with a structure containing rehearsal studios. The UDC opened a request for proposals for six of the theaters that October. The Liberty and Victory were to be converted into performing-arts venues for nonprofit organizations, while the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square were to be converted to commercial use. By the end of the year, the plans were threatened by a lack of money.

In early 1989, several dozen nonprofit theater companies submitted plans to the UDC for the takeover of six theaters. Most of the bids were for the Liberty and Victory, but the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters received 13 bids between them. That year, the Durst Organization acquired the leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Selwyn. It subsequently announced plans to renovate the eight theaters in February 1990. The theaters closed when the New York state government acquired the theater sites that April via eminent domain. The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer. Although Durst protested the move, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the condemnation could occur.

### New 42nd Street control

#### 1990s proposals

A nonprofit organization, New 42nd Street, was formed in September 1990 to restore six of the theaters and find uses for them. Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue. In 1992, New 42nd Street received a \$18.2 million grant for restoring the six theaters as part of an agreement with Prudential and Park Tower. Donna Dennis used the vacant theater's facade in 1993 for an art exhibition that included old playbills. That year, officials proposed opening the New York Information Center, which would occupy the Times Square Theater and either the Apollo or Lyric theaters. After Disney committed to restoring the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1994, most of the other theaters around 42nd Street were quickly leased. Garth Drabinsky, president of Canadian company Livent, signed a long-term lease for the Apollo and Lyric theaters in July 1995, and the present Lyric Theatre (then known as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts) opened in 1998.

In September 1994, MTV took an option on the Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters, which it planned to convert into a production studio. However, the negotiations with MTV fell through. Marvel Entertainment signed a letter of intent to build a Marvel Mania restaurant inside the Times Square in May 1996. These plans were placed on hold after Marvel Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy protection at the end of the year. In mid-1997, Billboard Live International was negotiating to renovate the Times Square into a live-concert venue. Had this plan been successful, the theater building would have been expanded to 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) to accommodate live concerts, and much of the theater's architectural details would have been preserved. After Billboard Live reneged, CBS considered leasing the theater as a broadcast studio by late 1997. Ultimately, CBS never signed a lease. Yet another themed restaurant, operated by WrestleMania, was proposed for the theater in early 1998, though WrestleMania also did not sign a lease.

New 42nd Street leased the theater in August 1998 to Livent, which proposed an entertainment complex with a 500-seat auditorium and a themed restaurant. Livent encountered major accounting issues within a week of the lease. By November 1998, Livent had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the company canceled its plans to redevelop the Times Square Theater. New 42nd Street Inc. president Cora Cahan said she had received several proposals for potential uses of the theater, though most bidders said they did not want to build a performance space there. Producer Stewart F. Lane had proposed converting the theater for live use, but Cahan rejected the plan in January 1999. In the meantime, advertising firm TDI installed seven advertisement panels between the theater's columns. Cahan said that, in three months, the ads could raise \$100,000 for New 42nd Street's adjacent rehearsal studios. By then, the popularity of theme restaurants was decreasing, and most sites in the neighborhood had already been redeveloped.

#### 2000s and early 2010s

The Times Square Theater remained empty in 2000, after every other theater on the block had been renovated. Part of the issue was that it was not viable as a theater, as its only entrance was on 42nd Street, making it more difficult to load scenery and props. In addition, the Times Square was old, had a small lobby, and suffered from noise issues. The 42nd Street Development Project had its offices on the former stage until 2004. Construction workers removed seat cushions and dismantled the project's offices before the theater was marketed for commercial use. That year, New 42nd Street agreed to lease the Times Square to Ecko Unltd., which planned to convert it into a hip-hop store. Ecko planned to build a 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) or 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) store across four floors. The firm of Janson-Goldstein was hired to renovate the space; at the time, the store would have been completed in 2006. The project stalled after the planning process, even though Ecko had continued to pay rent, and the theater was covered in plywood. In 2009, the company abandoned its lease, and Cahan considered filing a lawsuit against Ecko.

A mural by Sofia Maldonado was placed on the empty theater in 2010. The Observer reported in early 2011 that a 4D theater was being planned for the Times Square. The next year, a group called Broadway 4D Theaters, LLC signed a long-term lease for the theater. The Times Square would have been renovated to accommodate a 4D film presentation dedicated to the history of Broadway, Broadway Sensation, to be produced by lawyer Robert Kory and producer/director Gary Goddard. The attraction was expected to open in early 2015. The Times Square had proven so hard to lease that the Real Estate Board of New York granted an award to the brokers who had arranged the deal. The media reported in 2014 that the project had been canceled due to financial troubles. In August 2015, Elie Samaha and Donald Kushner announced they purchased the assets of Broadway 4D Theaters and would continue the project. Singaporean company Oracle Projects International reportedly leased the theater in March 2016 for use as an event space.

#### Renovation

Stillman Development International LLC signed a 73-year lease for the Times Square Theater in 2017. The following year, Stillman and its partner Daishin Securities [ko] announced a \$100 million renovation of the building. Colliers International was also hired to market the building. At the time of the announcement, the project was supposed to take two years. Stillman hired Beyer Blinder Belle to design the renovation, add several stories, and raise the facade by five feet. The facade would be separated from the interior structure and raised using hydraulic jacks. In addition, Stillman would remove the proscenium arch, dome, and boxes for restoration. Even though the LPC had not designated the Times Square Theater as a landmark, parts of the building were still subject to preservation guidelines. The New York City Economic Development Corporation and the 42nd Street Development Project's Historic Preservation Committee both supported the plans.

In early 2019, Stillman's executive vice president Armen Boyajian expressed hope that the theater's restoration would be completed by early 2021. John Tiedemann had removed an iron gate on the facade for restoration, while contractor Shawmut had removed some of the interior decorative elements. The developers filed partial demolition plans for the Times Square Theater with the New York City Department of Buildings in July 2019. The developers then submitted construction plans in February 2020. Though the renovation had been slated for completion in 2020, the renovation was still incomplete at the beginning of 2021, and the developers did not give an updated timeline. Work on the Times Square had stalled by January 2023 because no tenants had shown interest in occupying the theater.

## Notable productions

Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include films screened there.

- 1920: The Mirage
- 1921: The Demi-Virgin
- 1921: A Bill of Divorcement
- 1923: Pelleas and Melisande
- 1924: Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924
- 1924: Battling Buttler
- 1925: Mismates
- 1925: Kosher Kitty Kelly
- 1926: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
- 1928: The Front Page
- 1929: The Middle Watch
- 1929: Other Men's Wives
- 1930: Strike Up the Band
- 1930: The Merchant of Venice
- 1931: Private Lives
- 1932: Clear All Wires!
- 1933: Forsaking All Others

Former theater in Manhattan, New York