{"nrhp_refnum":"09000248","name":"Merced Theatre","other_names":["New Merced Theatre"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"301 W. 17th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Merced","county":"Merced County","state":"CA","lat":37.30040722700005,"lon":-120.48044922199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-05-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A multi-level Spanish Colonial Revival theatre and commercial complex at 301 West 17th Street (Main Street) in Merced, California, completed in October 1931 and designed by the Reid Brothers of San Francisco.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the theatre was the cultural and social center of Merced from the Depression through the post-war years, and that it was the town's largest and longest-running performance venue. It is also an outstanding example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture by the Reid Brothers, with an original A.B. Heinsbergen mural and tiles from the Hispano Moresque Tile Company.","narrative":"Merced Theatre is a Spanish Colonial Revival complex at Main Street and Martin Luther King Way in Merced, California. San Francisco's Reid Brothers designed it for the Golden State Theatre Company, and it opened in October 1931. A 100-foot tower carrying the city's name in neon letters rises above the marquee. The complex includes the theatre wing and a Main Street wing with six shops below and ten apartments above. Inside, the auditorium was built to suggest a Spanish castle courtyard at night, with painted stars, floating cloud effects and a Heinsbergen lobby mural. Hispano Moresque tiles decorate the lobby stairs and mezzanine. The theatre drew 2,600 people to its opening in a city of about 7,000. For decades it hosted films, concerts, graduations and newsreels, serving as the center of local social life. A 1978 remodel split the auditorium into four screens, and later restoration work has revived the tower, the Main Street wing and the single-hall auditorium plan.","period_of_significance":"1931 to 1958","architect_builder":"James William Reid and Merritt Jonathan Reid (Reid Brothers), architects; Antoon Bonaventure Heinsbergen, artist; builder Gian Battista Pasqualetti","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Exterior and Main Street wing restored (tower 2006, Main Street wing 2007); the theatre auditorium was undergoing restoration to return from a four-screen layout to a single hall. The apartments and shops remain in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.543031-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/09000248.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000248/9f302c9342-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000248/9f302c9342-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Mark Miller","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merced_Theatre.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Miller</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merced_Theatre.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859855","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced_Theatre_(Merced,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q574304"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/merced-county/merced-theatre-09000248/"}