The Ford Center for the Performing Arts premiered in 1998 as part of the extensive Times Square renewal project. The Lyric and Apollo Theatres, once popular in the early 1900s, had fallen into serious disrepair and were condemned in the 1990s. In their place, the state-of-the-art Ford facility combined restored elements of both theatres, including the Apollo’s original proscenium and the Lyric’s original facade. The venue was renamed the Hilton Theatre in 2005, the Foxwoods Theatre in 2010, and the Lyric Theatre in 2014.