Vacant Theater in NY prior to Restoration
Goodwill Theatre, Johnson City New York
The Goodwill Theatre is one of the recreation programs established by George F. Johnson, owner of the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company. Constructed 1920 to the design of local architects Lacey, Schenck, and Cummings, the theater is distinguished by its monumental, size, temple-form facade, and lavish, classically inspired interior decoration. The movie theater was a gift to the residents of Johnson City from George F. Johnson, their leading employer. One of Johnson's numerous philanthropic efforts on behalf of his workers over the long period of his involvement with Endicott Johnson, the Goodwill Theatre represents Johnson's generosity, his concern for the well being of his employees and his wide reaching influence over many aspects of their lives. Known as the "Square Deal," Johnson's management policy exemplified the popular early twentieth century theory known as Welfare Capitalism, which held that employers were responsible for the welfare of their employees. In the Binghamton/Endicott/Johnson City area, Endicott-Johnson's intimate involvement in almost every aspect of its workers' daily lives transformed the company's operation and labor relations and had a tremendous impact on the economic and social life in the Susquehanna Valley.
The village of Johnson City was first settled in the late eighteenth century by Samuel Allen, who purchased four hundred acres of land in what is now the central area of the village. Allen constructed a residence on what is now Main Street (now the site of the post office). Other early pioneer families (Crocker, Andrews, Jennison, and Brigham) also settled along this street, which developed as the principal east-west travel route through Broome County and Johnson City. By 1848 the Erie Railroad was completed, traveling in an east-west direction through Johnson City north of the present day business district.
Early industries in the village included farming, lumbering and brick making. However, it was not until the late 1800s, with the establishment of the Lester Brother's Boot and Shoe Company, that the village began to grow substantially. This shoe manufacturer originally housed its operations in Binghamton; however, by 1888, continued growth had precipitated a search for larger facilities. It was during this time that Lester hired George F. Johnson as a foreman because of his experience in working at various Massachusetts shoe factories as a young man. Johnson had his own concepts of how a company should operate and how the employees should work and live. Among other things, he believed that a factory should be located "in the open country, with the homes of the workers around it in a little village. Then the men and their families could have gardens, could get fresh air and the sun, and bring up their children decently, away from the crowded city."
Johnson approached Lester with his work concept and convinced him to purchase vacant farmland in Johnson City where the company could easily expand, be adjacent to two railroad lines and provide workers with land to build their homes close to the factories. Johnson also had other motives for suggesting the relocation, believing that the resulting isolation from other enterprises would ensure that the strikes and unionization then occurring in Binghamton would not happen in the new and more remote location. Acting on Johnson's advice, between 1888 and 1889, Lester purchased several farms and in 1890 relocated the shoe company to this area, which would be known as Lestershire until 1916, when it was renamed Johnson City.
With this move, a new industrial community was founded that would play an influential role in the lives of most of its residents for the next fifty years.
During the 1890s, after several real estate speculations by Lester proved unprofitable, he was forced to sell out. The company was reorganized under the auspices of Henry B. Endicott, one of the company's major creditors, and George F. Johnson assumed the role of general superintendent. In 1899 Johnson was offered the opportunity to become a full partner in the business. Subsequently, the firm's name was changed to the Endicott Johnson Company. During this period Endicott and Johnson realized that by controlling all aspects of production, from production of raw materials to the finished product, the company could reduce costs while increasing productivity and profits. From the turn-of-the-century through World War I, the Endicott Johnson Company grew steadily, building fifteen new plants in Johnson City and hiring a significant number of new workers. "The scale and scope of operations expanded to include all processes of tanning and retail sales." In 1920 with the death of Henry B. Endicott, Johnson assumed the presidency of the company, and "by 1922, Endicott Johnson [had become] the largest manufacturer of its type in the world."
The first factory was constructed in Johnson City in 1890; this was a large wooden multi-story building known as the Pioneer Factory. Located on Corliss Avenue, this building housed the company's entire operation. However, by the early 1900s, the company had outgrown this one-building operation and in 1913 began constructing a series of factory buildings in Johnson City to meet its manufacturing demands. By this period the company's operations had expanded to include production of the raw material, all processes of tanning, and production of all the parts necessary to manufacture a shoe. New factories specializing in a particular process of shoe making or production of a particular material or part of the shoe were built. Between 1901 and the 1930s, the company expanded from producing boots for farmers and laborers to manufacturing many different types of footwear, including work shoes, fine stylish shoes for women, dress shoes for men, shoes for sports, and children's shoes. The company also expanded beyond shoes and manufactured such things as golf balls, play balls, and the boxes in which the shoes were packed; these were all produced from excess materials. Between 1890 and 1945, when the last factory building was built, the company constructed over seventy buildings in the region. Today few of these structures remain, with seven in Johnson City and two in West Endicott. No factory buildings remain in Endicott, as they were removed to allow IBM to expand its complex during the late 1970s.
Johnson City was shaped largely by the steady growth of the Endicott Johnson Company. As new factories were constructed, additional workers were hired. At the end of the nineteenth century most of Endicott Johnson's employees came from rural areas in New York, Pennsylvania and the New England area. Many had left jobs in the mines because of frequent shutdowns and lack of work or saw the opportunity to exchange the rigorous life of a farm for a shorter workday and better pay. Originally only a small portion of the workers were immigrants, mostly from Ireland and Germany. However, by the early 1900s, many immigrants from Eastern European countries had settled in Johnson City specifically for its employment opportunities; they knew jobs were readily available and that the company treated its employees fairly. Many immigrants came from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Italy, and the Ukraine. Slovak immigrants represented the largest of the ethnic groups to work at Endicott Johnson. Many immigrants wrote home to family and friends encouraging them to come to America to work for Endicott Johnson because of the security of steady work and good wages. By the 1930s these immigrants and the second generations of these ethnic groups made up approximately one-half of the workforce. The other fifty percent of the workers were individuals who continued to come to the area from the mining regions in Pennsylvania and rural farming towns in New York.
Endicott Johnson also employed many women, both native born and immigrant. Many of the these women worked as stitchers, while others worked in areas such as the cutting rooms, as packers, inspectors, trimmers, and repairers. Children of the Endicott Johnson employees often went to work for the company too, as it was easy to secure a job. As a result, several generations of the same family often worked for the company.
During the early 1900s Johnson developed an aggressive program of corporate sponsored philanthropy directed at his employees. George F. Johnson's life as a child was not one of wealth. Money was not readily available for extravagant pleasures, such as riding a carousel or going to a playhouse, and even as a young boy, Johnson had to work to support his family. The circumstances of his life, along with the rise of Progressive Movement ideals, helped shape Johnson's philosophical beliefs about capitalism and corporate management.
Johnson's management program, known as the "Square Deal," was intended to break down the barriers between management and the labor force. Having worked his own way up from the bottom to the ranks of the shoe industry, Johnson understood the workers' situation; therefore, he was always considered as "one of the boys." Both through his fair employment practices and his philanthropy, he attempted to ensure the personal welfare of each worker and his/her family. He paid decent wages, reduced working hours and improved working conditions. His programs included medical and health benefits, housing, restaurants, year-round markets, and educational, recreational, religious and social facilities. He consciously located factories, worker housing and recreational and social facilities in proximity to each other so that his employees and their families would have convenient access to all the important activities of everyday life. Johnson's paternalism and generosity made him popular with the workers and succeeded in securing their loyalty and increasing productivity. At the same time, his significant role in planning, financing and operating so many of the community's vital institutions gave the company a large amount of control over many aspects of the workers' lives.
In Johnson City, George F. Johnson's philosophies and wide-ranging programs shaped all aspects of community life. A village resident could be born in an Endicott Johnson medical facility, attend schools, libraries, churches, and recreational facilities supported in part or fully by the Endicott Johnson Company, purchase food supplies at an Endicott Johnson-sponsored public market, be employed by the Endicott Johnson Company, and live in an Endicott Johnson built home. Today, Johnson City continues to reflect the sense of a family-oriented and close-knit community.
The Endicott Johnson Company began its company sponsored recreational programming as early as 1911. Johnson believed children who were left unsupervised and without an outlet for their energy would be led into an unhealthy or criminal life. Johnson, who never had the opportunity as a child to enjoy recreational pleasures, wanted to ensure that the children of Broome County would never be denied these experiences. Johnson also realized that the reduced workday created more leisure time for his workers, which, he believed, could lead to drinking, fighting and general trouble making. To prevent this, Johnson provided a wide range of family oriented recreational facilities and entertainment for his workers and their children. Throughout the neighborhoods in which his workers lived, Johnson built parks with carousel rides, swimming pools, and playgrounds. In addition, the Endicott Johnson Company also sponsored picnics and clambakes and built recreational facilities for sport oriented entertainment, such as basketball, boxing, bowling and golfing. The company provided facilities that featured music, dancing and band concerts and theaters for vaudeville shows and movies. The company even owned a minor league baseball team, known as the Bingos, complete with a field for the team to play.
Around 1919, a controversy exploded within Broome County regarding local "blue laws" prohibiting Sunday recreational activities. A letter written by Johnson voicing his opinion about this issue was printed in February 1st, 1919 issue of the Record-Johnson City-Endicott-Union. The letter stated that "I have been, and am, in favor of Sunday afternoon baseball, properly conducted, under proper restrictions. Have been, and am, in favor of Moving Pictures for the working people and their families, on the long, dull Sunday afternoons and evenings." Although the city of Binghamton and the village of Endicott continued to forbid theaters to show Sunday movies, on April 21st, 1919, Johnson City passed an ordinance allowing baseball games and moving picture shows on Sunday. Even prior to the passage of the new ordinance, Johnson had devised his own solution to the problem of Sunday baseball games by providing free tickets for the workers and their families.
By 1920 Johnson had also convinced the village of Endicott to allow Sunday movies after residents complained that they wanted Sunday motion picture performances also. According to the January 3rd, 1920 newspaper issue of the Record-Johnson City-Endicott-Union, George F. Johnson appealed to village officials, stating: "The people want Sunday motion picture performances and the trustees of the village have made a grave error in refusing to grant their wish. If the Board of Trustees will not legalize exhibitions on that day in Endicott, then we will go ahead without gaining their sanction. There is always one way to open--to give free exhibition." Johnson went on to note that other nearby communities were allowing Sunday motion picture performances in accordance with the state law and that a few individuals who opposed the Sunday movies should not be the voice of the community. Johnson asserted that it was a "serious mistake the members of the board made when they, with scant courtesy, thrust aside the wish of 2,000 persons to listen to the plea of a few." The plea of a few that Johnson refers to were the clergymen of the area, who persuaded the village board to vote against the Sunday movies.
Johnson's remarks in the Record indicate that he believed the movie theater was educational and a benefit to the community, "particularly to that part of the community who labor six days in the week, and who enjoy a harmless picture show on Sunday afternoon or evening, and many of whom have attended to their "church duties" earlier in the day, and feel free to attend a movie, if it so pleases them to do so." Johnson was inclined to go as far as calling for a referendum vote, for which he would pay the expenses, to allow the residents to make the final decision. However, it is obvious that Johnson's voice and opinions were not to be taken lightly because his meeting with the trustees of both villages convinced them to reverse their decisions and allow Sunday entertainment.
In 1920 George F. Johnson commissioned the construction of the Goodwill Theatre. The building was completed by the end of the same year at a cost of $354,497.63. The Goodwill marked its grand opening on December 16th, 1920. George F. Johnson and his family attended this opening, and Johnson was asked to speak to the audience. In his remarks, Johnson referred to a time when money was short and he attended a playhouse where he found a less than pleasurable seat, was crowded by others and had his toes stepped on. Johnson recalled that upon leaving this playhouse, he had promised himself that one day he would have his own [theater] and that it would be a comfortable and enjoyable experience. He informed the audience that the theater was built for the Endicott Johnson workers and their families.
The opening night performance at the Goodwill Theatre featured the picture What's Your Hurry. There were two performances, accommodating a crowd of three thousand people. Frank Beman, owner of the Binghamton-based Beman Organ Company and builder of the theater's pipe organ, was at the performances to play the accompanying selections for the opening night.
Over the next few years, the theater hosted traveling shows, stage and minstrel shows, vaudeville acts, concerts, boxing matches, and movies. "Many individuals and groups of local talent performed there as well. The E-J Minstrels and the E-J Band with its famous Sunday night concerts were featured attractions." In 1921 George F. Johnson corresponded with William H. Mack, the Goodwill's manager, regarding the type of programs to be presented. Johnson wrote that he wanted to use the theater "in connection with our recreation and entertainment - not operate it for financial profit." He also specified that he wanted the theater to "run musical entertainment of various kinds, put on special features when they are obtainable, and occasionally some of the best pictures obtainable. The House may be dark half of the time. Sunday will be the big day." Johnson observed that the Goodwill Theatre could "run as a straight Picture House at say ten cents, but it would kill the Endwell. And then, I don't like the idea of turning loose a beautiful big Play House like this, as a cheap, low-priced Picture House, packed to the doors every night." The Endwell was also located in Johnson City. Over the years there were several theaters located in Johnson City: the Nickel Theater (operated 1906- 1908), the Delphi, the Endwell, and the Goodwill. When the Endwell closed in 1936, the Goodwill was the only operating theater in the village.
The Goodwill, subsequently known as the Enjoy Theater, continued to operate as a movie house until 1960, when its owner felt it was no longer profitable. "It was converted into Harmony Playhouse in mid-decade, touring thespians, some big names among them, employing the 45 foot stage for live dramatics." In 1969 it was purchased and operated as an adult movie house until the village board protested this particular use. In 1971 the Goodwill resumed showing family movies. It closed again in 1973, but reopened the next year under the management of the Solar Sportsystems Inc. The latter company continued to operate the theater until 1977. In 1978 efforts were made to develop it as a dinner theater and lounge and in 1992 there was a plan to convert if to a performing center; however, neither plan was carried out and the building remained vacant.
The first movies in the United States were presented in music halls and featured films that were short and silent. As the concept of the movie house became popular, examples were often found at fairground booths with the patron paying a nickel to view the movies (hence the name 'nickelodeon). The first cinema buildings in the United States were "derived from the conventional theatre or music hall and usually included a plain auditorium, a stage area … for turns between the films - with a piano, a pavement paybox and entrance hall and a small bar for sale of confections." By the 1920s the movie industry was at its heyday. As industries established a shorter workday, people had more leisure time and movie theaters provided an inexpensive source of entertainment. During the period of the super cinema and the movie palace, many elaborate buildings were constructed.
Theater buildings of this period were "still essentially an extension of the conventional theatre", but contained "more pomp in the entrance hall and foyer, elaborate lighting effects and ambitious decorative schemes in the auditorium." The piano was replaced by the organ. Buildings typically featured decorative facades and simple, undecorated backs and sides. "The special treatment given to the frontages evolved directly from the fairground booths and the biograph shows."
The Goodwill Theater exemplifies the 1920s movie palace type. At its opening, the Record-Johnson City-Endicott-Union of 11th December 1920 reported that the "playhouse erected by George F. Johnson exemplifies the Utopian ideals in every particular; comfort, safety, pleasure and safety of patrons assured." The newspaper described the building as featuring an unobstructed view of the screen from every seat, resting and lounge places, comfortable seating, heavily upholstered asbestos curtains for safety, plush carpeting to reduce noise, a remote control system to operate the electrical equipment, a modern heating system installed around the seats, and good ventilation and cooling systems. The theater housed over one thousand seats and featured a stage with removable sections.
The Goodwill Theatre is an excellent example of a large-scale early twentieth-century public building in the Neoclassical style. The revival of interest in the use of classical themes dates to the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. As many well-known architects of this period designed buildings for the Chicago exposition in classical styles, which influenced the design of large numbers of classically inspired buildings throughout the United States. The Neoclassical style was most prevalent in civic, recreational, governmental, educational, and bank buildings, which were characterized by grand scale, symmetrical form, exterior finishes of smooth ashlar, use of classical columns, tripartite arches and classically inspired decorative motifs. These terms also describe the Goodwill, which features a front facade of smooth ashlar stonework, classical columns of monumental Composite order, tripartite arches, and ornamentation such as Greek key designs, swags and triglyphs. The interior is richly ornamented in classically inspired decoration, including fluted Composite columns and pilasters, decorative Greek key designs, egg and dart detailing, dentils, fluting, guilloches, rosettes, swags and floral motifs.
The decorative effect is enhanced by the wide range of colors carried throughout the theater.
The design of the theater building was the work of the architectural firm of Lacey, Schenck and Cummings. William Lane served as the structural engineer, Peter Clark of New York City was responsible for the counterweight system of the stagehouse, and the A.E. Badgley Company constructed the building. Lacey, Schenck and Cummings, a local architecture firm, is known for its use of the Neoclassical forms and motifs on other early twentieth century works, including the Binghamton Public Library and the Binghamton Sun Building.
The Goodwill Theatre remains in good condition and retains its architectural integrity. Except for the loss of the original marquee, the exterior is virtually intact. On the interior, the seats have been removed and the elaborate plaster ornament has suffered deterioration. However, much of it remains intact and repairable. Today, the theater is in the process of a complete restoration. Woodwork, decorative ornament and windows are being repaired or replaced in kind. An article in the Record-Johnson City-Endicott-Union of December 11th, 1920 provided a great deal of descriptive detail about the interior decoration and the original color scheme (which included a combination of cafe au lait, old cherry, French grey, and Adam blue) and is being used to guide the renovation.
In 1980 the Susquehanna Urban Cultural Park, now known as the Susquehanna Heritage Area, was established as a means to protect, reserve and promote natural, cultural and architectural properties in the city of Binghamton and the villages of Johnson City and Endicott and to educate the public about the region's history. The Goodwill Theatre is included in this heritage area because of its significant relationship to the history of Endicott Johnson, one of the most significant themes in local history.
Building Description
The Goodwill Theatre is located in the village of Johnson City, Broome County. The theater, at 36 Willow Street, is situated one block south of the central business district. The building is on the west side of the street and occupies a square parcel 100 feet wide and 125 feet deep, which is the original property associated with it.
The theater is located in a mixed-use neighborhood consisting of residences, businesses, municipal buildings, and industrial buildings dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. West of the theater, to the rear, is Broad Street, a neighborhood of homes built by C. Fred Johnson of the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company. This development was known as the Goodwill Tract.
The theater fills most of its lot and is surrounded by a sidewalk on the front (east) elevation and alleys extending two-thirds of the way down each side elevation. It is T-shaped in plan, with the rear elevation extending an additional bay north and south.
Built in 1920, the Goodwill Theatre was designed in the Neoclassical style by the local architectural firm of Lacey, Schenk and Cummings. It is a three-story building on a concrete foundation. It features a steel and reinforced concrete structural system, while its exterior is faced with red brick, cut limestone, and marble.
The primary (east) facade is divided into three horizontal and three vertical sections, with a classical temple form as its focal point. From bottom to top, the building is divided into a limestone and marble ground level entrance floor, a brick main auditorium floor and a limestone entablature including a frieze, deep projecting cornice and stepped parapet. The roof is flat and clad in a combination of shingles, tar and stone. The edge features terra cotta coping.
Horizontally, the center, temple form section projects slightly and is set off by limestone quoins. It has a rusticated ground floor with three entrances, each a pair of recessed glass doors set in steel frames. Each pair of doors is surmounted by a limestone lintel with keystone. Bronze poster boxes, now removed, originally flanked the doors. Above the entrance floor are four monumental Composite order columns framing enormous, horseshoe arched openings. Windows have limestone frames and keystones and are glazed with stained glass. Each window bay features a decorative wrought-iron railing. Flanking the tripartite arch are rectangular wood-frame multi-pane casement windows within limestone surrounds. Above each window is a small limestone medallion illustrating a harp surrounded by leaves. The temple-form section features a decorative limestone frieze with swags and triglyphs and the words "Goodwill Theatre." This is surmounted by a limestone pediment with a raking cornice.
Flanking the temple form are smaller bays clad with smooth limestone blocks on the ground floor and brick above with limestone quoins. There are original openings at the ground floor level that once held casement windows (now removed). The original marquee has been removed.
On the north and south (side) elevations, the bays nearest the facade continue the same form and materials. Otherwise, these elevations are utilitarian, clad with common brick on a marble or brick foundation. On the north elevation, there are two sets of double doors on the upper levels that lead to iron platforms and fire escapes. There are also several wood-frame, double-hung windows with limestone sills. The south elevation features three sets of double metal doors at ground level and two sets at the upper level that lead to iron platforms and fire escapes. The south elevation also features nine wood-frame double-hung windows with limestone sills.
The west (rear) elevation is also utilitarian. It is clad in brick and rests on a brick foundation. This elevation contains eleven wood-frame double-hung sash windows with limestone sills.
The interior of the building contains seven thousand square feet and is divided into four sections: the basement and three levels of theater area, stage, dressing rooms, and restrooms. The basement is devoted to storage and boiler rooms.
The first-floor entrance is into a foyer featuring an office, ticket booth, and three sets of doors leading to the lobby. The foyer features painted plaster walls and a ceramic tile floor. The lobby originally contained a concession stand, now removed. Behind the concession stand, a half-wall demarcated the rear of the theater. This wall has also been removed. At the north and south ends of the lobby, marble stairs with decorative iron handrails provide access to the second-floor lobby and balcony. Beyond the stairs, the lobby features exit doors at each end.
Theater seating on the first floor was divided into sections by two center and two side aisles. The floor is concrete and the aisles were originally covered with cork. Seating has been removed and concrete blocks have been laid in an attempt to level the floor, which was designed to slope down to the stage. The orchestra pit sits below the stage. Originally there were two stairways leading to the pit and two to the organ loft; however, all four have been removed.
The stage is twenty-five feet wide with a frontage of forty feet. The proscenium opening is forty-four feet and the space under it is twenty-nine feet. Behind the stage is a two-story tall stagehouse with adjacent storage and bathroom. There are stairways at either end of the stagehouse.
The stage is flanked by two pairs of fluted Composite columns that support an entablature. These columns, supported on square plinths, are painted in shades of bronze, green, and red. The entablature features decorative egg and dart moldings, as well as dentils, fluting, guilloches, and rosettes. The entablature, painted in the same colors, is surmounted by decorative crown cresting with a cartouche in the center surrounded by a Greek key design. The stage features a movie screen and a gold and black curtain.
On either side of the stage are large iron grillwork panels, one of which serves as an organ screen. These panels are set behind small balconies and within ornamental plaster surrounds crowned with broken pediments.
The walls of the theater space feature a decorative frieze supported by paired fluted pilasters. At the base of each pilaster is a Greek key and floral design, which also extends around the walls of the theater. The walls feature panels of green acoustic tiles surrounded by ornamental plaster guilloches.
The barrel-vaulted plaster ceiling is painted a deep blue, forming the background for an elaborately decorated central dome. This azure ceiling creates the illusion of a clear blue sky above. Surrounding the central dome is a square border with the same fluted pattern found on the frieze. The dome is decorated with rows of dentils, a diamond pattern and a band of flowers and Greek key design. At the innermost edge of the dome is a plain band and egg and dart band. The color scheme is green and bronze.
The second floor is devoted to a mezzanine. At the center of the mezzanine is an open well that overlooks the foyer. Surrounding the opening well are iron railings with an oval pattern. At each end of the mezzanine is a sitting/lounge area and a lavatory. Also at each end are staircases leading to the third floor balcony.
The third level features a projection booth, bathrooms and a balcony, which is separated from the projection booth by a half-wall. Balcony seats have been removed. The balcony features decoration similar to that found elsewhere in the building. Beneath the balcony is a row of lights; lights were also concealed in the cornices of the columns and pilasters.
Although the seats have been removed and much of the plaster is damaged, the theater retains a great deal of architectural integrity. The theater is now in the process of restoration. Architects have located and/or duplicated most of the missing decoration and are working to restore the original color scheme.
Front facade (1999)
Rear (1999)
Rear (1999)
Proscenium from balcony (1999)
Looking up to second floor from lobby (1999)
Second floor lounge (1999)
Balcony detail (1999)
Column detail (1999)
