Originally designed in 1928 by preeminent architect Thomas White Lamb, The Opera House was constructed as a memorial to B.F. Keith, the “father of vaudeville.” In 1995, National Trust for Historic Preservation’s listed it as one of the “11 Most Endangered Historic Places.” Henry Adams worked with Martinez & Johnson Architecture on the Opera House renovation for ClearChannel Entertainment. The complex houses a 2,600-seat theater with a stage and audience chamber, balcony, a multi-story lobby, grand foyer, ticket office, dressing/wardrobe rooms, staff lockers, and office space. The Boston Fire Department classified the building as a high rise due to the high lofts (unlike most jurisdictions that classify it according to the highest normally occupied level) and the project was required to adhere to Boston’s high rise code standards. Additionally, Boston’s downtown relies on a networked electrical system and the expansion of the stage area required demolition of an existing street transformer vault.  A new vault was designed and constructed within a basement utility vault using three 750 kVA networked transformers to supply the Opera House as well as the downtown secondary network.

Additional Information:

Location	Boston, MA
Construction Value	$38,000,000
Owner	ClearChannel Entertainment
Architect	Martinez & Johnson

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