Restoring Abandoned Cinemas Revive a City Centre

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fountainhall

Restoring Abandoned Cinemas Revive a City Centre

Post by fountainhall »

When I was a kid, I loved going to the cinema. In my small city, there were more than 15 cinemas, all either on the long main street or within 150 meters of it. I can still remember most of the names - Odeon, Playhouse, Capital, Majestic, Gaumont, Queens, Kings and a galaxy of others. I loved the huge Capital because the screen was so big and it had a wurlitzer. Between the A and B movies, it would rise spotlit from a pit in front of the stage and an organist would play producing wondrous sounds. That organ even had a nightingale stop. I heard that someone had to fill it with water before each performance. The Queens was great, not because of wandering male patrons (if any did wander, in those years I would not have noticed them!) but because children could get in in the afternoon to see two features for the equivalent of about 5 cents.

But along with progress came the developers' wrecking balls. Most cinemas and theatres became office blocks. The same occurred throughout much of the western world, especially in smaller cities. Touring theatres died as small touring companies found touring too expensive. City centre cinemas occupied too much valuable real estate.

Now one city in the USA has decided that renovating and restoring long abandoned old theatres actually makes economic sense. It not only preserves a city's heritage.Birmingham, Alabama, once had 20 theatres, all within five blocks. These were the places where Buster Keaton, Mae West and the Marx Brothers all appeared. Now restoration seems they make economic sense in reviving the city centre. The Lyric and the glorious Alabama theatres have finished restoration. Now work is under way on the art-deco Carver Theatre and Lincoln Theater, both which served the African-American community, More will follow.
[Glenny Brock, a resident of Birmingham, Alabama, who left her job as journalist to work full-time on saving theatres] says the Lyric's restoration has led to businesses - from a hip coffee shop to a ramen bar - springing up around it, and new apartments are making the downtown area an appealing place to live.
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The Glorious Interior of the Restored Alabama Theater - copyright The Alabama Theater

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The Lyric Theater Before and After Restoration

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47820698
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