As a consultant to Actors' Equity and New York City preservation advocates, Lee Pomeroy devised a plan to revise the design of the proposed Portman Hotel and preserve the historic Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters.
(meta data) TITLE: Proposal to Save Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters | Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects 34 captures 07 Mar 2009 - 04 Apr 2022 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. Collection: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20150520041113/http://www.lhparch.com:80/project.aspx?cat=&id=28 Proposal to Save Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters < previous project | next project >New York, NY Lee Harris Pomeroy provided counsel to Actors' Equity Association in its fight to save the historic Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters, two of Broadway's oldest and most prominent playhouses, threatened with demolition to make way for a new Portman Hotel. The Morosco alone had produced more Pulitzer Prize-winning plays than any theater in the nation. Mr. Pomeroy participated in the National Register Historic Designation report and subsequently prepared an alternative design incorporating the historic theaters into the Portman Hotel design. The design retained Portman's major amenities - an atrium, exhibition halls, restaurants, lobbies and retail shops; but by re-orienting the hotel 180 degrees, allowed incorporation of the historic theaters in the new development. The proposal received enthusiastic, widespread support from Actor's Equity, the Municipal Art Society of New York, the American Institute of Architects and the New York Landmarks Conservancy. A heated legal battle to save the theaters ended with a U.S. Supreme Court decision to raze both buildings to make room for the new 50-story Portman Hotel. Following the demolition of the Helen Hayes and Portman Theatres, an organization called Save the Theatres Inc. was formed to study the future of the remaining Broadway theatres. Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects, along with such prominent New Yorkers as Joseph Papp, Woody Allen, Carole Burnett, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Alan Alda worked with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Actors' Equity Foundation, and The National Trust for Historic Preservation, to come up with recommendations to protect the unique character of the theatre district while encouraging appropriate real estate development. The results led the way for the designation of an historic district and landmark status for 46 remaining Broadway theatres and zoning which would include air rights transfers to encourage mixed-use development in the area. In order to promote a safe and secure environment for visitors and invigorate the vibrancy of the theatre district, the use of large brightly lit billboards applied to the facades of buildings was encouraged. © 2012 LHP Architects, PLLC. All Rights Reserved. Website by Spliteye
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Lee Harris Pomeroy
Career.
In New Rochelle, New York, Pomeroy, along with architects John Lebduska and Fred W.Lyon, designed another notable adaptive reuse project which involved the conversion of an automobile garage into an award-winning 75,000-SF, three-level New Rochelle Public Library. New Rochelle Public Library The main section of the building was refurbished from a former parking garage The project won an 'Award of Excellence for Library Architecture' from the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association in 1980. 
 At the Fulton Street Pedestrian Mall, an eight block-long shopping street open only to pedestrians and public buses, in downtown Brooklyn, Pomeroy was responsible for pedestrian and traffic surveys; transportation planning, urban design and coordination of engineering consultants along with extensive community and agency involvement. He designed street furniture and equipment for the project including large, free-standing canopies, vendors’ kiosks, directory and telephone kiosks; and high mast lighting. The graphics program, which he also designed for the project, consists of informational, directional and street signage. The Mall had been in operation since the 1970s, but Pomeroy's renovation was completed in 1984; it is now one of the most profitable, culturally diverse and lively public spaces in New York City. The project was awarded an Albert S. Bard Award from the City Club of New York. In the 1980s, Pomeroy, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, played a key role in the establishment of the Broadway Theater District, protecting architecturally significant historic theaters from demolition while encouraging large scale commercial development through the transfer of air rights.