{"nrhp_refnum":"78002109","name":"Palace Theatre Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Broadway and 6th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lorain","county":"Lorain County","state":"OH","lat":41.46565460000005,"lon":-82.17458499599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A reinforced concrete theatre and commercial building at Broadway and 6th Street in Lorain, Ohio, completed in 1928 for the Variety Amusement Company.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the largest theater of its kind in Ohio and an excellent example of late 1920s architectural eclecticism. It replaced a theatre destroyed by the 1924 tornado and was built as a tornado-proof structure. It is also described as an important Lorain landmark, now the focus of a restoration effort.","narrative":"Rising at Broadway and 6th Street in Lorain, this reinforced concrete building combines a 1,950-seat theatre with four street-level shops and second-floor offices. Its classically inspired terra cotta facade has cut stone details, a central marquee and a recessed entrance. Inside, a marble-floored foyer leads to a two-story lobby with Venetian Gothic character and an Italian Renaissance auditorium with a sunburst proscenium, a domed ceiling and a three-quarter-ton chandelier. The stage holds a Wurlitzer pipe organ. Variety Amusement Company president Silverman built it after a June 1924 tornado destroyed the Old State Theatre, spending $500,000 in eight months on a tornado-proof structure. It opened on April 19, 1928, when Lorain first heard the Vitaphone talking-movie system. Described as the largest theater of its kind in Ohio, it hosted vaudeville, legitimate theater and charity shows, and remains a local landmark with a community restoration effort.","period_of_significance":"1928","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Classically inspired facade; Italian Renaissance auditorium; Venetian Gothic lobby (late 1920s eclecticism)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked occupied and in good condition; owned by a private non-profit committee, with a broad-based effort under way to restore it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.338102-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002109.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002109/88dd23b4e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002109/88dd23b4e2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TnrSmith","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palace_Theater_Lorain_OH.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TnrSmith</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:Palace_Theater_Lorain_OH.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100007496","name":"Broadway Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/broadway-historic-district-100007496/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989799","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorain_Palace_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6678741"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lorain-county/palace-theatre-building-78002109/"}