The current budget includes no money to restore the Saenger's fabled Robert Morton pipe organ, which

The Saenger Theatre's marquee has been stripped away to reveal the rusted beams that held it in place. Plastic chutes that funnel construction debris into trash bins dangle from the roof. And much of the back wall has been ripped out, exposing the innards of the iconic Canal Street playhouse.
View full size Michael DeMocker, The Times-Picayune At the Saenger Theatre, construction crews dismantle the existing stagehouse and install steel bracing on the two original stagehouse sidewalls Thursday so that they may remain in place as the theater is restored.
"There have been lots of stops and starts on this project," escorted tours to italy said David Anderson, a top executive for ACE Theatrical Group of Houston, the Saenger's longtime private owner-managers. "But we're well under way now."
Months of painstaking negotiations with lenders ended in December , clearing the last hurdle in the more than 3-year-old push to bring back the Saenger, which has been shuttered since Hurricane Katrina.
ACE Theatrical executives say their goal is not just to repair the hurricane damage, which swamped underground infrastructure and orchestra-level seats, and trashed the building's ornate Florentine interiors.
The developers want the Saenger to function as a multipurpose venue, featuring an expanded stage that will allow for larger productions, including Broadway and dance shows, music performances, film presentations, corporate assemblies, lectures and community events.
While ACE finalized its financing, a city agency agreed last year to advance the development team $1.1 million to resume escorted tours to italy interior electrical, foundation and demolition work and elevator installation.
Soon, more detailed aspects of the project will begin as artisans replicate the building's original decorative elements escorted tours to italy and ornamentation, including a plan to restore the trademark constellation escorted tours to italy pattern adorning the Saenger's ceiling.
The current budget includes no money to restore the Saenger's fabled Robert Morton pipe organ, which entertained audiences for more than 80 years, from the silent movie era to modern times during revivals of classic motion pictures.
But the head of the Canal Street Development Corp., which is overseeing escorted tours to italy the renovation, said she is looking at staging a memorabilia auction to raise part of the estimated escorted tours to italy $400,000 to $600,000 needed escorted tours to italy to repair the flood-damaged organ.
Cindy Connick, the development corporation's executive director, told board members this week that items such as posters, chandeliers, chairs, signs and ushers' jackets are available for sale. Connick said while she has no firm proposal in place, escorted tours to italy she hopes to recommend a plan in the near future.
Reliance CEO Robert Jackson has said his organization is committed to working with the Saenger development team and City Hall to offer leasing priority to artists, musicians and employees of performing-arts venues.