Doors, Ghosts, and More

To followup on my post earlier this week about the Winter Garden Theatre, today I’m featuring the interior doors and doorways of its main floor sister, the Elgin.

She’s an elegant Grand Dame, faithfully restored to her former glory … save for the evidence of modern stage lighting and sound equipment.

The inside of the doors featured in last week’s post of Thursday Doors

Inside lobby doors

The fabric covering on the walls was reproduced from small patches of the original wall-covering found under 26 layers of paint.

As with many old buildings, the Elgin and Winter Garden have their fair share of ghost stories. They include the “White Lady” purported to have been seen hovering at the top of the Grand Staircase, the “Lavender Lady” characterized by the scent of lavender that will inexplicably waft through the Winter Garden, and the mysterious movements of the elevator.

The three elevators are fully functional and original to the 1913 building.  It is operated by a manual handle on the inside of the elevator.  One of these elevators is said to occasionally travel between floors on its own – a technical impossibility.

Yes, we rode in the *haunted* elevator.  At first it was reluctant to move, but then suddenly started its descent without further coaxing.

Outer door to the elevator

We were unable to visit the backstage of either theatre because there were productions in rehearsal, but we were given access to the original (non functional) washrooms on the upper level off the Winter Garden theatre.

After squeezing between the doorway and a privacy barrier immediately inside the door, I found a TINY washroom.  Ladies, I will no longer complain about the current size of the facilities available in modern buildings.

We were told that at the time, these washrooms were a bit of a scandal to the moral sensibilities of the day.  The Men’s and Ladies’ washrooms were located side-by-side in the lobby – not unlike placement today in most buildings.

At the time however, it was considered quite inappropriate that men could view a woman entering a washroom.

I don’t like to end this post on the inside of an old washroom, so I’ll close with a view of the exterior doors, this time including the box office kiosk.

Thursday Doors is a weekly photo feature hosted by the Head Door Man, Norm Frampton at Norm 2.0.