James E. Casale (c.1890 – 1958) was an Italian-born American architect best known for his work on

atmospheric theater An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, archi ...

s, including the

Polk Theatre (Lakeland, Florida) The Polk Theatre in Lakeland, Florida is a historic theater located at 121 South Florida Avenue. The 1,400-seat theatre was built in 1928 after the local business "boom" of the town had ended and despite the fact that the population was only 15,0 ...

. and the Pulitzer Mansion in New York. Casale also designed the limestone town house at 60 East 86th in New York, and the Britton Cinema in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Casale was born in

Villarosa Villarosa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Enna, in the region of Sicily in southern Italy. People * James E. Casale, architect *John LaRocca (1901–84), Sicilian-American mobster *Mike Fadale, actor, chef Sister cities * Morlanwel ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in approximately 1890 and received his architectural education from

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He was well known for his work remodeling upper-class homes in New York City, mostly on the East side of New York. His most prominent conversions were those of the Villard Houses, designated

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

s, into the offices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese (now part of the Palace Hotel), the conversion of the Pulitzer mansion at 7-15 East 73rd Street-1206-into apartments, and the conversion of the Lamont house at 107 East 70th Street into the Headquarters of the

Visiting Nurse Service of New York Founded in 1893 by nursing pioneer Lillian D. Wald and Mary M. Brewster, VNS Health is one of the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organizations in the United States, serving the five boroughs of New York City; Nassa ...

. He was married to Grace Casale and together they had two daughters, Grace and Jane Kathryn. He died in 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casale, James E. 1890 births 1958 deaths People from Villarosa Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American architects