From Our Readers: Historic Theatres and Adaptive Reuse Projects
Responses to the Question of the Week from the National Trust Weekly Newsletter
At the National Trust for Historic Preservation, we recognize how our work is driven by our supporters’ love for historic and old places across the country. In January, we asked readers of our weekly newsletter to share with us their favorite historic theatres and adaptive reuse projects. The responses poured in, and so we thought we would share a sampling of them from across the country with you!
What is your favorite historic theatre?
photo by: Kelly Martin via Flickr CC BY-SA 3.0,
Exterior of the Pickwick Theatre (Park Ridge, Illinois) in January 2007.
- Proctor's Theater (Troy, New York)
- Oriental Theater (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- Egyptian Theater (Delta, Colorado)
- Miller Theatre (Augusta, Georgia)
- Adler Theatre (Davenport, Iowa)
- Pickwick Theatre (Park Ridge, Illinois)
- Arch Social Club (formerly the Schanze Theatre) (Baltimore, Maryland)
- Fisher Theatre, (Detroit, Michigan)
- Majestic Theatre (San Antonio, Texas)
- Bayview Opera House (San Francisco, California)
- The Annie Russell Theater (Winter Park, Florida)
- The Strand (Rockland, Maine)
- The Colonial Theatre (Phoenixville, Pennsylvania)
- The Sheldon Theater (Red Wing, Minnesota)
What historic building in your community has been repurposed into a second chapter? Tell us your favorite adaptive reuse project from your town.
Wynne Home Arts & Visitors Center (Huntsville, Texas): Once a private residence, this former home is now a cultural and civic space offering a combined arts and visitors center with art exhibitions, community events, and a welcome center for visitors to Huntsville.
Westman Hotel (Bend, Oregon): An old post office finds a new life as a historic hotel in downtown Bend. The hotel is named after Minnie Westman, the first female mail carrier west of the Mississippi who rode horseback through Oregon’s mountains to deliver mail to rural communities. The restored building used 30% less concrete than new construction while also preserving 66,000 bricks and character-defining features like the original elevator, terrazzo flooring, and 44 historic windows.
The Bardstown Motor Lodge (Bardstown, Kentucky): Located along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, this boutique hotel was once Bardstown’s Parkview Motel, which served travelers for 84 years. Located across from the entrance of My Old Kentucky Home State Park, this adaptive use project was developed using historic tax credits, and is one of four hotel projects by Common Bond Hotels to do so.
Butler Brothers Warehouse Distribution Building (St. Louis, Missouri): Originally constructed in 1906, this building was a leading wholesaler and one of the largest reinforced concrete structures in the region. After being vacant for a decade, Development Services Group and Trivers, an architecture and design firm, transformed it into The Victor, an apartment complex, with environmental benefits in mind. According to the submission, “The embodied carbon put into the structure nearly 120 years ago would take St. Louis’ Forest Park 100 years to offset if built today.”
Make sure you are signed up for our email list to participate! February's question of the month is "If you could give one historic building a Valentine, which would it be (and what’s your love story)?"
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