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Catalina's
beautiful "Casino"
The
Casino opened on Memorial Day 1929. No gambling has ever taken
place here. It gets its name casino literally from Italian
as "a place of entertainment".
The
casino has long been recognized as one of the best examples
of Art Deco anywhere in the world. It was design by Architects
Webber and Spaulding who incorporated Moorish Alhambra influences.
The building is 140 feet high and 180 feet in diameter. There
is a 12 foot wide balcony around the ball room. It has 4,500
square feet of black walnut, 60,000 four-inch squares of silver
on the theater's domed ceiling, and uses 500 square feet of
22-karat gold leaf.
The
1,184 seat theater has a beautiful mural that surrounds the
whole exterior of the seating area and it was designed by
John Gabriel Beckman. His job prior to this theater was the
famed Chinese Theater in Hollywood on the Avenue of the Stars.
He continued to maintain these murals until his death in 1991.
The theater also holds a full scale pipe organ that is still
used during periodic concerts.
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