Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium

• Designed by: Samuel G. Wiener with Jones, Roessle, Olschner, Wiener, and associated architect Seymour Van Os
• Design date: 1927
• National Historic Landmark
• Included in the National Register of Historic Places

Sam Wiener’s last major work before he immersed himself in European Modernism, the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium is considered the finest example of Art Deco architecture in Louisiana. From the late 1940s until the late 1950s, the Auditorium hosted the nationally broadcast radio program, Louisiana Hayride, which was pivotal in launching the careers of stars like Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.

One could convincingly argue that the Municipal Auditorium is simultaneously Art Deco and Wiener’s first building with modern overtones. The volumetric massing expressing 6 vertical circulation elements is clearly modern, as are the colossally-scaled pilasters defining the auditorium proper which refers to the legacy of modern masters H. H. Richardson and Louis Sullivan. The building features highly articulated brickwork as the principal façade material with both coursing variations and vertical offsets. The walls are given a textural quality by a 2-course horizontal striation of headers that project and recede every 7 vertical brick courses. These heroic striations, which are best seen from afar, were necessary so as not to be visually lost on such a large structure.

The building is further embellished with decorative accents of carved limestone, glazed terra-cotta, marble, and cast-iron grilles. Limestone architraves surround the entrance and exit doors giving them a significant presence on the façades. Wiener added a very small nod to his Jewish heritage when he added a small (about 3” across), rotated Star of David at the center of the cast-iron grilles in the four brick rondels on both the north and south façades. The remainder of the building is decorated with either 5 or 8 pointed stars making the diminutive, rotated Stars of David all the more conspicuous.