{"nrhp_refnum":"73001537","name":"Loew's Theatre","other_names":["Akron Civic Theatre"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"182 S. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Akron","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.08070403900007,"lon":-81.52039967399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-07-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1929 movie palace at 182 S. Main Street in Akron, Summit County, Ohio, opened as Loew's Theatre and now known as the Akron Civic Theatre. It was designed by architect John Eberson.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a product of the golden age of the American movie palace and an outstanding example of John Eberson's \"atmospheric\" design. It is believed to be the last surviving of 11 theatres opened by Marcus Loew. It was the first in America built with sound film equipment installed from the start, and the first in Akron with air cooling.","narrative":"Opened on April 20, 1929 as Loew's Theatre, this movie palace on South Main Street in Akron was designed by John Eberson, a leading theatre architect of his day. A three-story Italian Renaissance stone facade with a tile roof and carved griffins fronts the building, and an enclosed bridge over the Ohio Canal leads to the main block. Inside, a large lobby, a grand stairway and a vaulted mezzanine lead to the auditorium, built in Eberson's atmospheric style, where the walls resemble a palace courtyard with statues and urns beneath a ceiling of twinkling stars and drifting clouds. Costing over $1 million, it seated 2,987 people. It is believed to be the last surviving of the 11 theatres Marcus Loew opened, and it was the first in America built with sound film equipment from the start. It was also Akron's first air-cooled theatre and had a fine Wurlitzer organ. In the 1930s it hosted major stage entertainers, and it now serves as a community entertainment center.","period_of_significance":"1929","architect_builder":"John Eberson","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance; Eberson \"atmospheric\" theatre design","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition, occupied and in use as a community entertainment center; the form describes the theatre as flourishing again.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.314429-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001537.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001537/1d2652c77b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001537/1d2652c77b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Robbie Schneider","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akron_Civic_Theatre_(Loew%27s_Theater_-_Akron,_Ohio).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Robbie Schneider</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:Akron_Civic_Theatre_(Loew%27s_Theater_-_Akron,_Ohio).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"08000622","name":"South Main Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/south-main-street-historic-district-08000622/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991605","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akron_Civic_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4701674"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/loews-theatre-73001537/"}