First, I have to say Happy Birthday Aunt Judy!
Earlier this week I wrote about what used to be one block east of where I live. Today I thought I'd mention a building that is one block west of mine.
The First Corinthian Baptist Church now occupies the building. The Venetian palace look, however, is not typical of evangelical church design. When this building opened in February 1913 it was as the Regent Theater. The Regent was the very first grand motion picture palace, and one of the first buildings built specifically to show movies. It had one screen and seated 1800 people. When it opened it was a financial disaster and the owner brought in S. L. "Roxy" Rothafel, who made changes to the interior and brought in an orchestra to play songs arranged to match the movie being shown. The theater remained opened until the late 1950s or early 1960s. The front exterior is currently being repaired.
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