Eureka Theater, Historic movie theater in Eureka, United States.
Eureka Theater is an Art Moderne cinema built in 1939, with a symmetrical stucco facade of cubic forms rising to a 50-foot vertical pylon sign bearing the letters EUREKA above the marquee. A V-shaped attraction board rests on the marquee, and the second floor, housing the owner's apartment, has smaller windows and accent lines.
The Eureka Theater was proposed in 1937 as part of a development that was to include a five-story, 162-room hotel, soon scaled back to the theater with flanking commercial spaces. Built in 1939 by theater magnate George M. Mann and designed by San Francisco designer William B. David, it was considered ultra-modern and expressed optimism as Eureka and Humboldt County emerged from the Depression. It ceased regularly scheduled movies on August 1, 1996, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2010.
The theater's name is spelled out in letters on a 50-foot pylon sign above the marquee, a landmark of Eureka's Art Moderne cinema. Regular film screenings ended on August 1, 1996; since then the building has been rented out for performances and events while restoration continues.
The theater stands at 612 F Street, its entrance set between two storefronts and reached from the sidewalk through a shallow semicircular outer lobby. The inner foyer beyond is less than 6 feet (1.8 m) wide, so groups pass through single file. The building is available for rent as a performance or event venue while restoration continues.
The 50-foot pylon sign reading EUREKA only looks like solid masonry: it is a frame structure clad in stucco appliqué. The second-floor blocks behind it held the owner's apartment, and the blue glass pane above the ticket window was lit whenever the box office was open.
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