An 18-Story Brick High-Rise

 In 2005, French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre flew to Detroit, Michigan, to document what they called “the ruins and the archetypal buildings of a modern American city.” When they came upon its vacant United Artist Theatre Building, an 18-story brick high-rise built in 1928 as a first-run movie theater and office buildings, they were overcome. “Just discovering this type of movie palace in such a state of ruin—with light pouring in through a hole in the roof and highlighting its Spanish-Gothic décor—was really moving to us," say the photographers in a phone interview. "It felt like being in a temple.”

With the help of CinemaTreasures.org, a website devoted to movie theaters worldwide, and the Theatre Historical Society of America (THSA), Marchand and Meffre discovered thousands of early 20th century theaters across the U.S. and Canada, their demise spurred by the 1950s arrival of television and all in various states of disrepair. They then spent the next 15 years photographing them. Their new book, Movie Theaters, features images of about 220 of these theaters, with both interior and exterior shots of many of them.

“We were very surprised at the sheer amount of theaters, and the detail and eclecticism put into many of them,” say Marchand and Meffre. “It was an architecture designed to seduce a new audience, and to make you feel really special when you were there.” But the duo was also quite shocked at how many of these theaters had been forgotten. Some had been turned into parking garages, others diamond wholesalers and building supply businesses. “We’d wander into what’s now a supermarket and ask for the manager, and if we were lucky they’d let us explore upstairs. There, we might discover this pristine theater that’s been sitting untouched for 50 or 60 years, just being used as storage space. It was quite an exciting process,” they add.

While some of these former theaters are still awaiting the plans and the money to rejuvenate them, others are living out encore careers as churches, fitness centers, and even a distillery.

Here are eight of our favorite picks from Movie Theaters that have taken on new life since their cinema days.

Smyrna Theatre; Smyrna, Delaware

“After the Great Depression there was really no money left to invest in grand movie palaces,” say Marchand and Meffre, “so the trend was in smaller, simpler theaters that were more Streamlined Moderne.”

This was the case with Delaware’s Smyrna Theatre, a first-run, single screen theater that opened its doors in 1948. With only 600 seats—including a small balcony reserved for the theater’s black patrons, which was common at the time—and a relatively plain brick exterior, the Smyrna helped bridge the gap between America’s grand movie palaces of the 1920s and ‘30s, and the multiplex theaters that became increasingly popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

After nearly a 30-year-run, the Smyrna ceased its day-to-day operations as a movie theater and new owners converted the space into a plumbing and heating supply shop. In the process, they cleared out some of the former theater’s most notable props and decor, including its projector and the murals that hung on either side of the proscenium, or the arch separating the screen from the auditorium.

Thankfully, when Mike Rasmuseen and Ron Gomes, Jr., took over the property in the mid-2010s for use as a small-batch distillery, “They were really conscious about the fact that it's a historic theater and that they should preserve what was left,” say Marchand and Meffre. This included the theater’s original stage, which is where Painted Stave Distilling now keeps its bottling line and quality control lab, as well its painted fresco ceiling—both of which you can see on public tours of the distillery. Tastings of Painted Stave’s gin, vodka and whiskey take place in the theater’s old lobby, while the upper floors—including the former projection room—serve as offices.

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Alhambra Theatre; San Francisco, California

Anyone who has stepped inside San Francisco’s Castro Theatre will recognize the same extravagant display of worldly influences still evident on the walls of the city’s former Alhambra Theatre. Prominent local architect Timothy L. Pflueger, the mastermind behind both venues, designed this 1,625-seat single-screen movie palace, which opened in 1926, alongside business partner, James Rupert Miller. Together, the two aspired to draw audiences with an array of elaborate decor, including towering Moorish arches, starburst ceiling artwork and large Asian-style urns.

For years, the pair’s plan worked, and crowds poured in. However, with the overall demise of cinema, the Alhambra’s owners converted the space into twin theaters in 1976, hoping to turn a profit. It later reopened as a single-screen, before finally concluding its movie house run in 1997. Now it’s home to a Crunch Fitness. “Gyms and fitness centers are one of the most common kinds of theater reuse,” Marchand and Meffre say. “Maybe second only to churches.”

When you think about it, reuse as a gym isn’t a bad idea. In the former Alhambra, patrons can work out in front of a still-operating screen that occasionally plays films, and utilize cardio machines in a balcony overlooking the remnants of a still colorfully ornate auditorium. In fact, most of the theater’s original detailing remains.

“There were many theaters throughout the general U.S. that had this kind of beauty,” say Meffre and Marchand. “But in many cases, their most defining features were removed in the 1950s and ‘60s because they weren’t considered modern enough for the time. The singularity of those buildings have now basically been erased from the American landscape. This is one that has clearly survived, and it’s beautiful.”