gained a national practice. C. Ward Rapp died the same year, leaving his brother to head the firm. The firm diversified its practice away from theatres during the 1930s, and designed a variety of commercial and industrial projects. During this period Rapp was joined by Mason Gerardi Rapp, son of his elder brother William M. Rapp. After George L. Rapp's retirement in 1938, Mason G. Rapp succeeded to the practice. After the death of his uncle in 1941 he renamed the firm Rapp & Rapp, which had always been its common name. In 1965 Rapp retired, and the firm was dissolved. Mason G. Rapp died in 1978. Legacy The Rapp brothers were among a group of highly influential American theatre architects, which also included Thomas W. Lamb of New York City and John Eberson of Chicago. They were responsible for the design of some 400 theatres, most of which were built in the 1920s. They designed many movie palaces, including a number of atmospheric theatres, which utilized romantic architectural elements to evoke specific times and places. Their only surviving atmospheric theatre in Chicago is the Gateway Theatre, now the Copernicus Center, completed in 1930. If murals were to be included in the theatres, Louis Grell of Chicago was commissioned to paint them. Many of the theatres and other buildings designed by the Rapp brothers have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Buildings Some of the notable buildings that the firm designed include: Chicago, Illinois Central Park Theatre Chicago Theatre Gateway Theatre, now Copernicus Center Hotel Windermere Jackson Shore Apartments New Bismarck Hotel, today "Hotel Allegro" Old Dearborn Bank Building, also known as 203 North Wabash Street Oriental Theatre, now James M. Nederlander Theatre Palace Theatre Riviera Theatre Tivoli Theatre Uptown Theatre Other areas Denver, Colorado Paramount Theatre Aurora, Illinois Paramount Theatre Champaign, Illinois Orpheum Theater Joliet, Illinois Rialto Square Theatre Streator, Illinois The Majestic Theatre Davenport, Iowa Capital Theater Dubuque, Iowa Five Flags Center Sioux City, Iowa Orpheum Theatre Wichita, Kansas Miller Theater (1922-1972) Ashland, Kentucky Paramount Arts Center Detroit, Michigan Leland Hotel Michigan Theatre Kansas City, Missouri Mainstreet Theater St. Louis, Missouri Ambassador Theatre (demolished) St. Louis Theater (now Powell Hall) Jersey City, New Jersey Loew's Jersey Theater Buffalo, New York Shea's Theatre Middletown, New York Paramount Theatre New York City Paramount Theatre, Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, Times Square Kings Theatre, Brooklyn (formerly Loew's Kings