{"nrhp_refnum":"01000170","name":"Center Theatre","other_names":["Woodbourne Theater"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 52","address_restricted":false,"city":"Woodbourne","county":"Sullivan County","state":"NY","lat":41.758342999000035,"lon":-74.60181842399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Art Deco movie and vaudeville theater on the east side of NY 52 in the hamlet of Woodbourne, Sullivan County, New York. It was built in 1938, designed by Abraham H. Okun and built by Jacob Bernard Sacks.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the theater is a distinctive, highly intact example of a twentieth-century Art Deco theater in Sullivan County, tied to the Catskills resort and entertainment culture. It is a fine work of regional architect Abraham H. Okun, with a decorative geometric facade and a unified interior. The c. 1972 Woodstock Peace Painting in the foyer adds a link to the Woodstock-inspired Peace Palace era.","narrative":"Center Theatre is a two-story Art Deco movie house on NY 52 in Woodbourne, a small Sullivan County hamlet in the Catskills. Built in 1938 to designs by regional architect Abraham H. Okun and constructed by Jacob Bernard Sacks, it was equipped for both films and vaudeville and seated 650, a very large number for such a small community. The buff brick facade uses geometric forms and a stepped central tower, while the interior keeps its silver-painted moldings, mahogany dados, painted plaster ceiling and serpentine lobby. It reflects the entertainment life of the Catskills resort era and was also used for public gatherings such as high school graduations. In the early 1970s it operated briefly as the Peace Palace, inspired by the Woodstock Festival, and a psychedelic-influenced mural was painted in the foyer. Although part of the ceiling has collapsed, most original finishes survive, and a non-profit arts group is restoring the building.","period_of_significance":"1938","architect_builder":"Abraham H. Okun; Jacob Bernard Sacks","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant in the current function; the theater has been acquired by a non-profit arts organization and is being restored, despite a partial ceiling collapse and some deterioration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.535882-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01000170.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000170/2b65a2ef05-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000170/2b65a2ef05-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Center_Theatre_Woodbourne_NY_Dec_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Center_Theatre_Woodbourne_NY_Dec_09.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322347","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_Theatre_(Woodbourne,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5059358"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/sullivan-county/center-theatre-01000170/"}