New Victory Theater, New York City

Over the years, the theater experienced a variety of incarnations and name changes. In 1994/95, it underwent an $11.4 million renovation, including the rebuilding of the double staircase that had been removed in 1911 for the widening of 42nd street, and returning the rest of the theater to the way it looked in its early years. On December 11, the refurbished theater, renamed the New Victory Theater, opened as New York’s first theater for kids and families. Upon its reopening, it once again became the oldest operating theater in New York City.

Sound testing of the theater’s walls revealed widespread delamination of the three-dimensional faux drapery plaster from the masonry substrate. John Tiedemann Inc./HPCS USA was retained to re-adhere the plaster to the masonry. This was successfully achieved with application of HPCS AD 25 Gel, a thixotropic adhesive, using a specialized tool that JTI/HPCS USA developed for precisely this purpose. In addition, JTI/HPCS USA replaced all the rosettes at the light fixtures around the perimeter of the dome, using a heat resistant resin. We also restored and pinned many ornamental elements with AD 25 Gel and reinforced the ornately decorated fibrous plaster panels at the balcony façade with an HPCS adhesive.