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The applicant proposed that the two signs be 10 "x20" and <br />cast in pewter. The plaques do not include images. Each <br />plaque will include approximately 170 words about the <br />history of the building. <br />Planning staff is requesting the Historical Commission <br />recommend 340 words (or two sets of 170 words) for the <br />interpretive plaques. Planning staff has edited down the full <br />history to the following draft language: <br />Plaque 1 (168 words) <br />:405 <br />Edgewater <br />The history of the building at 817 Main Street represents the story of Louisville <br />and the community's changing demographics. From 1927 to 1972, members of <br />Louisville's Italian community owned and operated the building as the Rex <br />Theatre. In addition, a number of its owners were coal miners either prior to or at <br />the same time as their ownership of the theatre. <br />Following this long history as a movie theatre, the building came to have a role in <br />Louisville's reputation as a restaurant town. The building was the location of a <br />popular Mexican Restaurant, Senor T's, for about thirty years. <br />The colorfully painted canvas curtain from the Rex Theatre that was enjoyed by Rex <br />Theatre and Senor T's customers until Senor T's closed in 2008. The canvas curtain, <br />created during the silent movie era, displays advertising for twenty -two different <br />downtown Louisville businesses that operated at the time. The curtain, along with <br />other items from the Rex Theatre, can be seen at the Louisville Historical Museum at <br />1001 Main Street. <br />Plaque 2 (130 words) <br />The building at 817 Main Street, over 100 years old, represents a vibrant and <br />important part of Louisville's history. It served the community as a movie theater, <br />live theatre, and community gathering space for nearly seventy years. For many <br />decades, it was the only theatre in town. <br />The theatre (first called the Isis, then the Rex) brought popular movie culture to <br />Louisville. In 1927, when Santino Biella purchased this property Louisville <br />residents were able to view movies at the same time they were viewed in <br />Denver. The movies were accompanied by a player piano. Biella also offered <br />part -time jobs to young people in the community. The building was used as a <br />movie theater into the late 1970s, a period when most small town movie theaters <br />in the United States disappeared. <br />Attachments: <br />• Rex Theater History <br />