As with the theater, the acoustics are before their time. In it's heyday, the ballroom was host to the best and most popular dance bands and could accommodate up to 3,000 dancers. On the top floor of the 12-story casino is the world's largest circular-floor ballroom. Architects of the Radio City Music Hall traveled to Avalon to study the theater's design before building RCMH. The insulation/acoustics are so perfect, movie-goers can't hear the music from the ballroom above them, but every nuance of a film can be heard easily from any seat. But there's also a magnificent Page organ as well and each weekend there's usually a short organ recital before the usual 7:30 film viewing. Built in 1929 for about $2M, by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr, it holds claim to the first movie theater built specifically for films with sound ("talkies") which were just taking off at the time. I don't think you can really understand Catalina without knowing something about this beautiful landmark. I took the 45 minute tour of the Casino and was happy I did. Perhaps no other part of the island symbolizes Avalon's interesting history like the Casino - a place that's never housed gambling.
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