Casa Italiana Theater

The Casa Italiana building on Columbia University’s campus was built in 1927 by McKim, Mead & White, the same firm that designed the layout for Columbia’s campus. The neo-Renaissance style building is modeled after Roman palazzos. Currently, The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America is housed in the Casa with a multitude of university events being held in the Teatro.

EverGreene was contracted in August of 2022 to help restore the decorative ceiling as well as perform some touch-ups on the walls and wood to give the Teatro an overall refresh. Our decorative painters fully repainted the decorative plaster ceiling, including touch-ups on the metallic paint. There were some previous cracks on the plaster ceiling that were fixed via fills and injections, and some missing ornamental pieces that were re-casted and installed. The frieze, proscenium, and columns at the front of the stage also received plaster touch-ups and a full repainting. The paint and plaster on the crests on the walls were touched up as needed. Our conservators also repaired and refinished the wood wainscotting, baseboard, stage dais, and two stage side doors to even the stained color and take out any scratches and dings.