While Manhattan has a plethora of important landmarks and tourist attractions, one of the earliest and most well-known is Radio City Music Hall, which sits outside Rockefeller Plaza and features the now-famous red-letter marquee. Radio City Music Hall, which opened in 1932 and became a national landmark in 1978, is located on the Avenue of the Americas. Its music hall has hosted countless international acts and is still a popular tourist attraction today.
Radio City Music Hall is an art-deco structure constructed on Columbia University-leased land. The venue was originally intended to be the new home of the Metropolitan Opera, but John D. Rockefeller, Jr. changed his mind after the stock market crashed and the Opera pulled out of the deal. Until 1979, when its purpose was changed to include concerts and other special events, Radio City Music Hall was used as a venue for shows and movies. With almost 6000 seats, it was the world’s largest movie theater at the time of its opening. Its pipe organ is the world’s largest movie theater organ.
Radio Corporation of America, a radio affiliate of nearby NBC Corporation, was one of the site’s first tenants, hence the name. Radio City Music Hall, the world’s largest indoor theater, became known as the Showplace of the Nation as more and more people traveled to New York specifically to see the venue and the shows that it hosted. Due to its capacity and grand atmosphere, it quickly became the preferred venue for film premieres.
The popularity of Radio City Music Hall as a movie venue waned in the late 1970s, and plans were made public to convert the space into an office building. However, preservation efforts as well as commercial interests led to a renovation that breathed new life into the venue. It was reopened in 1980. The interior of Radio City Music Hall was renovated for the second time in 1999, at a cost of around $70 million US dollars. The venue’s carpets, wallpaper, and seats were all replaced, and the murals were restored.