Greenbelt Cinema

Last updated

Greenbelt Cinema in September 2012. Greenbelt Movie Theater - 1937 Art Deco Style.JPG
Greenbelt Cinema in September 2012.

The Greenbelt Cinema (formerly Old Greenbelt Theatre) is a historic two-screen cinema built between 1937 and 1938 in Roosevelt Center within the Greenbelt Historic District of Greenbelt, Maryland. It was built in the Art Deco style of architecture - or more specifically, the Streamline Moderne variant that Art Deco had largely evolved into in the 1930s. The theater opened to the public on September 21, 1938, with the first film shown at the theater Little Miss Broadway starring Shirley Temple. [1] [2] [3]

In 2002, the owner of the property threatened to close it down and replace it with a dollar store or other retail establishment. The City of Greenbelt stepped in to purchase it and ensure it remained a movie theatre. The theatre's age meant that modernization and renovation were required; in 2012, it was estimated the Greenbelt Theatre required around $1.5 million in repairs and upgrades. The City eventually did gather the funds to perform major renovations from 2014–2015. The renovation includes new digital projection equipment, a new 35MM projector for archival screenings, a restored lobby and ticket booth, restroom improvements, and an enhanced concession area. [4] [5] [6] The city also assigned management and operation of the reopened theatre to The Friends of Greenbelt Theatre, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to the building's preservation and use. Seating 368 patrons in its Main Auditorium and 40 in its auxiliary auditorium (The Screening Room), the theater is one of the only nonprofit and two-screen movie theaters located in the state of Maryland. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Egyptian Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known as Egyptian Hollywood and the Egyptian, is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the world's first film premiere.

Landmark Theatres is a movie theatre chain founded in 1974 in the United States. It was formerly dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films. Landmark consists of 34 theatres with 176 screens in 24 markets. It is known for both its historic and newer, more modern theatres. Helmed by its President, Kevin Holloway, Landmark Theatres is part of Cohen Media Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theater (Spokane, Washington)</span> Performing arts venue and former movie theater in Spokane, Washington, US

The Fox Theater in Spokane, Washington is a 1931 Art Deco movie theater that now serves as a performing arts venue and home of the Spokane Symphony. It was designed by architect Robert C. Reamer, notable for his design of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. It was part of the Fox Film Corporation Empire founded by studio mogul William Fox. The theater opened September 3, 1931, and showed films continuously until it closed September 21, 2000, after an engagement of the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Oaks Theatre</span> Historic movie theater in Houston, Texas, United States

The River Oaks Theatre is a historic movie theater located in the River Oaks Shopping Center in the Neartown community in Houston, Texas, United States, east of the River Oaks community. The theater has three projection screens; one large screen, downstairs, and two smaller screens, upstairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senator Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Senator Theatre is a historic Art Deco movie theater on York Road in the Govans section of Baltimore, Maryland. It is the oldest operating movie theater in central Maryland and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated Baltimore City Landmark.

ArcLight Cinemas was an American movie theater chain that operated from 2002 to 2021. It was owned by The Decurion Corporation, which was also the parent company of Pacific Theatres. The ArcLight chain opened in 2002 as a single theater, the ArcLight Hollywood in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and later expanded to eleven locations in California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Eberson</span> Austrian-American architect

John Adolph Emil Eberson was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, earning the nickname "Opera House John". His most notable surviving theatres in the United States include the Tampa Theatre (1926), Palace Theatre Marion (1928), Palace Theatre Louisville (1928), Majestic Theatre (1929), Akron Civic Theatre (1929), the Paramount Theatre (1929), the State Theater 1927, and the Lewis J. Warner Memorial Theater (1932) at Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts. Remaining international examples in the atmospheric style include both the Capitol Theatre (1928) and State Theatre (1929) in Sydney, Australia, The Forum and Le Grand Rex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric theatre</span> Type of movie 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, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting.

Dundee Theater Movie theater in Nebraska, United States

The Dundee Theater is an historic movie theater located at 4952 Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska. Now operated by the nonprofit Film Streams, the Dundee is the longest-surviving neighborhood cinema in Omaha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eros Cinema</span> Cinema in Mumbai, India

The Eros Cinema is an Art Deco style cinema theatre located in Cambata Building at Churchgate, Mumbai, India. It has a seating capacity of 1,204 people per show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portage Theater</span>

Located at Six Corners in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side, the Portage Theater is one of the oldest movie houses in Chicago. The Portage Theater opened on December 11, 1920 as the Portage Park Theatre. Built for the Ascher Brothers circuit with 1,938 seats, the Portage was the first theater built specifically for film in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethesda Theatre</span> United States historic place in Bethesda, Maryland

The Bethesda Theatre, constructed in 1938, is a historic Streamline Moderne movie theater located at 7719 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It is a multi-level building composed of rectangular blocks: an auditorium block and a lower street-front lobby and entrance block, including shops. The theatre retains its original configuration of lobby, foyer, lounges, and auditorium. Many original interior finishes, including painted murals, remain intact, with the exception of the original seating. It was designed by the firm of the world-renowned "Dean of American Theatre Architects," John Eberson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alger Theater</span> United States historic place

The Alger Theater is a theatre located at 16451 East Warren Avenue in the MorningSide neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. It is one of only two remaining intact and unchanged neighborhood theaters in the city of Detroit. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quad Cinema</span> Multiplex theater in New York City

The Quad Cinema is New York City's first small four-screen multiplex theater. Located at 34 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village, it was opened by entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar, along with his younger brother Elliott S. Kanbar in October 1972. It has been described as "one of the oldest independent cinemas in the city" and "a vibrant center for art house films."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nimoy Theater</span> Movie theatre in Los Angeles, California

The Nimoy Theater, formerly known as Crest, Majestic Crest and Bigfoot Crest Theatre, is a movie theatre located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was founded as the UCLAN in 1941, and was built for live performances but switched to a newsreel cinema during World War II. Through ownership changes, it has been known at various times as UCLAN Theatre, Crest Theatre, and Metro Theatre. The original 500-seat art deco style theater was designed by Arthur W. Hawes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace Theater (Crossville, Tennessee)</span> United States historic place

The Palace Theater at 210 N. Main St. in Crossville, Tennessee is a historic movie theater built in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkway Theatre (Baltimore)</span> Movie theater in Baltimore, Maryland, US

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway, or simply the Parkway, is a movie theater located at 5 West North Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. The Parkway is open as of May 3, 2017, and is the new permanent home of MdFF. The Maryland Film Festival, a 5-day annual festival created and operated by MdFF, is housed in and around the Parkway and throughout the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro Theater (New York City)</span> Former movie theater in Manhattan, New York

The Metro Theater is a defunct movie theater at 2626 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by architecture firm Boak and Paris and built between 1932 and 1933. The theater is designed in the Art Deco style and originally contained 550 seats. Although the theater's interior was demolished after it was closed in 2005, the original facade remains intact and is a New York City designated landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chehalis Theater</span> Historic theater in Chehalis, Washington

The Chehalis Theater, also as the Chehalis Theatre, is a single-screen, Art Deco movie theater in Chehalis, Washington. The theater is situated at the north end of the Chehalis Downtown Historic District near the Hotel Washington. Known locally for the hand-painted illustrations of popular children's fantasy characters that once populated the ceiling, it is the only surviving movie house in the city.

References

  1. "Greenbelt, MD - Official Website - Old Greenbelt Theater". www.greenbeltmd.gov. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013.
  2. Alexander Barnes; Paul Sanchez. "Old Greenbelt Theatre". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  3. "Shining a Spotlight on "Flickering Treasures"". April 8, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  4. Gebhardt, Sara (July 18, 2002). "City Takes Over Greenbelt Theater". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  5. Nunn, Holly (August 29, 2012). "Greenbelt Theatre to pull curtain on $1.5million facelift". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Friends of the Greenbelt Theatre (April 30, 2015). "Old Greenbelt Theatre to Reopen as Non-Profit Movie Theatre" (PDF). Retrieved November 2, 2022.

39°00′05″N76°52′34″W / 39.0014089°N 76.8761593°W / 39.0014089; -76.8761593