Hollywood Theater
2815 Johnson Street Northeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Description
The Hollywood Theater is significant under Criterion C for architecture as a substantially intact example of a neighborhood movie theater designed by the architectural firm Liebenberg and Kaplan (L&K), masters of movie theater design. The work of this regionally prominent and remarkably prolific firm has been widely noted in secondary literature about movie theater architecture. L&K's Hollywood Theater is a notable local example of Streamline Modeme architecture applied to a small neighborhood movie theater typology. The Hollywood was the second Great Depression-era theater designed by L&K that was built entirely new from the ground up (as opposed to the firm's many remodeling commissions), and retains a high degree of historic integrity as compared to most other local theaters of the same style and era. Lastly, the theater is locally significant under Criterion A for entertainment/recreation as an example of the patterns and trends of movie theater ownership and development in the years between World War One and World War Two. The Hollywood Theater' s period of significance spans from 1935, when the building was constructed, to 1954, when the Johnson Street Streetcar line that once transported moviegoers to the theater was demolished along with the entire Twin Cities Rapid Transit streetcar network. Removal of the streetcar line dramatically reduced the economic viability of the Hollywood Theater, which faced further reductions in patronage due to competition with drive-in and suburban movie theaters that were spurred by increased adoption of the automobile, federally-financed highway construction, and growth of the suburbs in the first two decades after World War Two. The end date ofthis period of significance also closely follows the last major historic alteration of the theater in 1948 when the marquee was updated and a candy counter was added to the interior.Posted to the NRHP 2-5-2014
Sources
- Dave King
- nps.gov - NRHP Nominatoon Form
- National Register database - Reference number 13001145
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This page's URL is http://landmarkhunter.com/201464-hollywood-theater/