Commodore Theatre

Commodore Theatre is an historic movie theater located at Portsmouth, Virginia. It was built in 1945 in the StreamlineArt Deco style, and originally sat 1,000 people.^[3] The theater closed in 1975 and sat empty until a change in ownership and extensive renovation beginning in 1987.^[3] It reopened two years later, and as of 2023 was in operation displaying first-run films accompanied by a full kitchen.^[4]

The Commodore was built in 1945 by William Stanley Wilder, a Portsmouth native who owned and operated several theaters in Virginia's Tidewater region from the 1920s through the 1940s.^[3] The theater was named after Commodore James Barron, an officer on the frigate USS Chesapeake involved in the Chesapeake–Leopard affair and who is buried in a churchyard next to the theater.^[3] It is rumored that the construction supplies for the building – which ordinarily would have been unavailable due to wartime shortages– were allocated to the project due to the entertainment it would provide to the large number of soldiers stationed in Portsmouth.^[3]

The theater's design has been described as "an excellent example of the Streamline Art Deco style."^[3] Its two-story façade features a plain mass of yellow pressed brick decorated with horizontal stripes of brown brick on the upper level with a central pavilion of curved-top vertical pylons of Indiana limestone and decorative strips of glass block.^[3] The lower level of the façade is composed of Indiana limestone ashlar veneer with a base of black marble. A dominant element of the auditorium is the pair of restored murals on the side walls representing the progress of America and the commerce and industry of Hampton Roads.^[3]

Después de un período de disminución de la asistencia y su conversión en un cine para adultos , el Commodore cerró en 1975. ^{[ 3 ]} Permaneció vacío hasta que fue adquirido por el propietario actual, quien realizó una renovación de dos años. ^{[ 3 ]} Se conservaron la marquesina exterior y la taquilla, así como la mayoría de los accesorios interiores. ^{[ 3 ]} Los asientos originales se retiraron de la platea principal y se reemplazaron por asientos estilo teatro-restaurante; un balcón utiliza asientos tradicionales estilo auditorio. ^{[ 3 ]}

Actualmente, el cine ofrece estrenos todas las noches, con sonido Dolby Digital y THX , acompañados de una experiencia gastronómica atendida por una cocina completa en el edificio principal. ^{[ 5 ]}

Fue incluido en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos en 1997. ^{[ 1 ]} Está ubicado en el Distrito Histórico del Centro de Portsmouth . ^{[ 6 ]}

• Sitio web del Teatro Commodore