Adapting an icon : adaptive reuse of downtown movie theaters

Abstract

Downtown theaters serve as landmarks for many communities across our region because of their unique design features. Elaborate auditoriums, decorated facades, and flashy, grand marquees are all iconic characteristics of local theaters. The value of the theater was never in the movie; rather the theater served the community as the center for social interaction, facilitated by the nostalgia that the architecture provided. However, these landmarks have become culturally forgotten and abandoned, and our downtown’s risk losing their sense of place without the prominence and upkeep of the local theater. My project investigates adaptive reuse solutions for the rehabilitation of local, downtown movie theaters into new socially engaged community spaces.