NOW PLAYINGSMALL-TOWN MOVIE THEATERS AND PRESERVATION PRACTICE

Cassandra BennettEssentials of Historic Preservation

Fall 2012

TONIGHT’S ENTERTAINMENT• Nationwide preservation efforts, especially in small-towns

• National Trust’s Main Street program• Multi-use facilities • Social media

• West Tennessee case studies• Park Theatre (1941) in McKenzie• Capitol Theatre (1927) in Union City

• Preservation practices

WHY THEATERS? • Excellent cornerstone projects for a community’s early

efforts to revitalize the downtown • Full of childhood and young adult memories and

emotional attachments • Local theaters are a source of great pride and links a

community’s past, present, and future

• Theater preservation movement mirrors the movement nationwide

• Focus has been urban opera houses and picture palaces until mid-1990s

• National Trust• Main Street• “11 Most Endangered Historic Places”

• League of Historic American Theatres• CinemaTreasures.org

NATIONWIDE PRESERVATION EFFORTS

WEST TENNESSEE CASE STUDIES

MCKENZIE UNION CITY

Fall 2011 Fall 2012

PARK THEATRE IN MCKENZIE• Goal; return to 1941 appearance • Use as a multi-purpose community center• Owned by the City of McKenzie• Tennessee Downtown

CAPITOL THEATRE IN UNION CITY• Masquerade Theatre, founded 1989• Theatrical 4 productions a year• Example of importance to community and sustainability• Funding• Main Street

SEGREGATION

“How do we reconcile my past with your past, even in the same landscape?” Robert Melnick 

“Preserving the architecture of racial segregation in all its forms can be a way to facilitate public education, understanding about modern race relations, and social tolerance.”

Robert R. Weyeneth