[1] The theater was entertainment mogul, Michael Shea's first movie house in Buffalo with 2,800 seats and a staff of nearly 100 employees.
[2][3] A custom pipe organ was designed and installed in 1922 by The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., model: Opus 585.
[4] In 1951, in an effort to modernize the facility, Shea's Hippodrome Theatre underwent a major renovation designed by architect Michael J. DeAngelis.
The original marquee was replaced with modern signage and the building was renamed the "Center Theater", after being sold by Shea to Paramount decades earlier.
[5] Possibly by design, many of the original architectural details were unable to be seen, due to the darkness of the renovated interior spaces.