Fairborn Theatre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Fairborn Theatre
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Front and northern side
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 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | 34 S. Broad St., Fairborn, Ohio |
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| Area | 1.1 acres (0.45 ha) |
| Built | 1948 |
| Architect | Lloyd Zeller, Herman Hunter; C.W. Fry Construction Company |
| Architectural style | Moderne |
| NRHP reference No. | 05000755 |
| Added to NRHP | July 27, 2005 |
The Fairborn Theatre is a historic movie theater located in Fairborn, Ohio, Ohio, United States. It was built shortly after World War II in 1948. This theater is special because it was designed with an aviation theme. It has been recognized as a historic site due to its unique architecture.
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Discovering the Fairborn Theatre's Design
Architects Lloyd Zeller and Herman Hunter created the design for the Fairborn Theatre. The building is made of brick and sits on a strong concrete foundation. It has an asphalt roof. When it first opened in 1948, the theater was very large. It could seat about one thousand people!
Aviation-Themed Architecture
The Fairborn Theatre is located near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This is an important Air Force facility. Because of this, the theater includes cool aviation-related details. For example, inside there is a painting showing soldiers and aircraft from World War II.
Streamline Moderne Style
The theater is a great example of Streamline Moderne architecture. This style was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. It features smooth, flowing lines and shiny metal details. The Fairborn Theatre's design shows off these modern and sleek elements. Its location on State Route 444 also shows how Fairborn grew with car-related businesses.
Saving the Fairborn Theatre
Chakeres Theatres managed the Fairborn Theatre from 1948 until the early 1970s. At that time, it closed for a while to be changed into a two-screen movie theater. After this update, the theater continued to operate until January 2000. Chakeres Theatres stopped running it then.
Donation and Renovation Efforts
Chakeres Theatres owned the building until 2002. They then gave it to a local arts organization in Fairborn. Soon after, a big renovation project began. This project lasted for more than ten years. Most of the work was done by volunteers with a small budget.
Restoring the Original Look
The renovations included important tasks like removing asbestos from the building. They also fixed the roof. One major change was taking down the wall that separated the two theater rooms. This brought the theater back to its original one-room design. The estimated cost to restore the theater was about $5.5 million. Some of the money came from the Ohio Department of Development. In 2010, they gave $48,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the arts organization.
Becoming a Historic Landmark
In 2005, the Fairborn Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it is recognized as an important historic building. It qualified because of its special architecture. The Fairborn Theatre is one of three properties in Fairborn listed on the Register. The others are the 1924 Bath Township Consolidated School and the 1799 Mercer Log House.
