{"nrhp_refnum":"03001201","name":"Virginia Theater","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"203 W. Park Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Champaign","county":"Champaign County","state":"IL","lat":40.11694235300007,"lon":-88.24518354499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-11-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 132' x 132' multi-level, mixed-use theater building at 203 West Park Avenue, Champaign, Illinois, built in 1921 with street-level storefronts and a stage-and-screen auditorium. It was designed by C. Howard Crane's office and built by A. W. Stoolman.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the theater as an excellent, largely intact example of a medium-sized metropolitan stage and motion picture house of the early to mid-20th century. It combines an Italian Renaissance Revival exterior with Spanish Renaissance Revival interior spaces. It has hosted stage, music and film programs since opening night in December 1921.","narrative":"Virginia Theater occupies the southwest corner of North Randolph Street and West Park Avenue in Champaign, Illinois. Completed in 1921, the 132-by-132-foot building combines an auditorium and stage with commercial storefronts along its Park Avenue front. Architect C. Howard Crane's Chicago office, under H. Kenneth Franzheim, produced the design, with local architect George Ramey supervising and A. W. Stoolman as contractor. More than 80 firms took part in construction. The exterior shows Italian Renaissance Revival design in beige terra cotta, a red-tiled hipped pavilion and balustraded flat roofs. Inside, public spaces follow a Spanish Renaissance Revival scheme with plaster carving, wrought iron and original colors. The theater opened on 28 December 1921 with the stage play The Bat, followed by films. The building retains a high degree of its original integrity and represents a medium-sized stage and motion picture house of its era, which is why it was recognized. Its storefronts housed small businesses until 1999.","period_of_significance":"1921-1953","architect_builder":"C. Howard Crane and H. Kenneth Franzheim, architects; George Ramey, local supervising architect; A. W. Stoolman, contractor","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance Revival; Spanish Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as theater; the form notes the theater tradition continues into the 21st century.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.031271-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/8918/28891824/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/03001201.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001201/7ea0859ddd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001201/7ea0859ddd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Killivalavan Solai","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virginia_Theatre_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Killivalavan Solai</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virginia_Theatre_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891824","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Theatre_(Champaign)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7934627"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/champaign-county/virginia-theater-03001201/"}