By the Numbers

594: Parquet (orchestra) seating

348: Balcony seating

509: Gallery seating

48: Seating in boxes

2: Number of balconies

30: Height, in feet, of proscenium arch (over stage)

36 by 60: Stage area, in feet

10: Number of dressing rooms

Empire Theater: A timeline

• May 1903: Julius Cahn and A.L. Grant announce plans to build Empire Theater at 142 Main St. as a vaudeville showcase. Crews take four months to remove 7,000 cubic feet of granite ledge to make room for the building. Cost estimates put the work at $93,000.

• Nov. 24, 1903: Theater opens with actor Raymond Hitchcock starring in “The Yankee Consul.” It seats 1,499. Ornate friezes along the stage and boxes represent “The Dance,” “Advance of Music” and “Drama.”

• 1914: Builders Cahn and Grant sell the theater to the Empire Theater Co.

• 1916: William Gray’s Maine and New Hampshire Theater Co. buys the Empire. It becomes part of a network of 150 theaters that stretches from Gardiner to Portsmouth, N.H., and Montpelier, Vt. Locally, Gray owns the Strand, the Empire, the Music Hall and the Priscilla theaters. The theater hosts vaudeville and other live acts, as well as first-run movies.

• May 1940: Maine and New Hampshire Theater Co. announces plans to close the theater for $70,000 in renovations. Both balconies will be removed and replaced by one bigger balcony. The stage will be removed and the movie screen moved back.

• Aug. 1, 1940: Renovated theater opens with seating for 1,350, new projection equipment and air conditioning. Posts that supported the balconies are gone, as are the decorative friezes and “cupids.” Orchestra seats cost 40 cents plus a 4-cent U.S. Defense tax. Balcony seats are 33 cents, tax included. Seats for children are 10 cents apiece. The opening attraction is Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy in “New Moon.”

• 1969: City of Lewiston and State Highway Department agree to widen Main Street from the bridge to Island Avenue, forcing the Empire Theater to remove its marquee. It hung over the sidewalk and would have interfered with passing trucks, according to city officials.

• 1973: Raymond G. Cailler’s Motion Picture Realty Inc. buys the theater for an undisclosed amount.

• 1982: Cailler announces plans to close and sell the Empire, blaming its demise on cable television. The theater continues to show second-run films on weekends while Cailler looks for a buyer. The Empire’s final film is 1981’s “The Dragonslayer.”

• 1983: Bricks from the top 10 feet of the Empire begin bulging out. Police close Main Street in front of the theater while Cailler brings in a structural engineer to shore up the structure.

• 1984: New Creation Ministries buys the building from Cailler. The church replaces the roof and begins hosting services. Pastors Bud and Helen Clark continue their ministry there for seven years.

• 1993: Platz Associates buys the Empire from New Creation Ministries/Agape Love Fellowship.

• Spring 2005: Scheduled for demolition.