{"nrhp_refnum":"80001407","name":"Fort Armstrong Theatre","other_names":["Fort Theatre"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1826 3rd Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rock Island","county":"Rock Island County","state":"IL","lat":41.51013313800007,"lon":-90.57176636799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story steel-frame movie theatre clad in brick and terra cotta at 1826 Third Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois, built in 1920 and opened January 19, 1921, designed by Cervin and Horn.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as Rock Island's early monument to film as a major form of entertainment, and as a sign of confidence in the city's future that helped revive its economy after a post-World War II slump. It also has architectural significance because its interior and exterior ornamentation symbolically represents the early history of Rock Island.","narrative":"Built in 1920 on Third Avenue in Rock Island, this three-story steel-frame movie theatre is faced with stippled Indian-red brick and colorful terra cotta made by the Midland Terra Cotta Company of Chicago. Cervin and Horn, a local architectural firm, developed the design from ideas supplied by owners Walter A. Rosenfield and Joseph Hopp. The building cost more than $500,000 and opened in January 1921, during the silent film era. Its ornament draws on American Indian imagery, including high-relief chiefs' heads, feathers, corn and arrows, to evoke the area's early history. Besides the auditorium, it housed a corner cigar store and soda fountain, a tea room, a dance salon and a photographer's studio. It was valued as an expression of faith in both the film industry and the city's future, and it helped revive the local economy after a postwar slump. After purchase in 1976, it was restored for dinner theatre use between 1977 and 1979, keeping much of its original character.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Cervin & Horn","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored between 1977 and 1979 at a cost of $225,000 and reused as a dinner theatre; the interior was altered, and a thrust stage and modern sound and lighting systems were added.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.418538-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/8939/28893977/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001407.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001407/e4890213ef-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001407/e4890213ef-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ft_Armstrong_Theatre_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ft_Armstrong_Theatre_1.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004433","name":"Downtown Rock Island Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/downtown-rock-island-historic-district-100004433/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893977","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Armstrong_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5470751"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/rock-island-county/fort-armstrong-theatre-80001407/"}