Harvard Exit Theatre, Historic cinema in Capitol Hill, Seattle, United States
The Harvard Exit Theatre was a cinema in Capitol Hill housed in a three-story building with classical architectural details and an original grand lobby dating to 1925. The interior retained its elegant character from an earlier era before becoming a movie house.
The Women's Century Club built the structure in 1925 as a meeting place, and it became a cinema in 1968 under Jim Osteen and Art Bernstein's ownership. The theatre operated until 2015 before being repurposed.
The theatre served as a gathering place where Seattle audiences discovered independent and foreign films that mainstream cinemas did not show. It became embedded in the city's film culture as a destination for art house cinema enthusiasts.
The building is no longer open to the public as a cinema following a 2018 renovation that converted it to another use. Visitors can view the exterior facade and classical architecture from the street.
The Women's Century Club, the original founders, still meets in the building on the third Friday of each month. This tradition has continued for nearly 100 years without pause.
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