{"nrhp_refnum":"82003559","name":"Variety Store Building and Theatre","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"11801-11825 Lorain Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cleveland","county":"Cuyahoga County","state":"OH","lat":41.46115478200005,"lon":-81.77049353599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story commercial and apartment building with a 1900-seat theater at 11801-11825 Lorain Avenue on Cleveland's West Side, built in 1927 and designed by architect Nicola Petti.","why_significant":"It is one of the few remaining multiple-use buildings containing a theater on Cleveland's West Side, and it reflects the pattern of neighborhood commercial nodes that existed before the automobile. The theater is a well-preserved example of the restrained classical style of 1920s movie theaters, in contrast to the atmospheric palaces, and is one of only a handful left in Cleveland.","narrative":"Built in 1927 on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, this two-story brick, steel and concrete building combines ten storefronts, twelve second-floor apartments and a 1900-seat theater. Entrepreneurs Sam Stecker, Meyer Fine and Abe Kramer commissioned it, and architect Nicola Petti, who designed at least four other Cleveland theaters, planned it. The theater showed films and vaudeville from its opening and was considered among the city's finest. Its lobby has an arched plaster ceiling, a giant semi-elliptical window and the original cut-glass chandelier. The auditorium seats 1550 on the main floor and 350 in the balcony. Warner Brothers bought the property in 1929, and Wargo Realty acquired it in 1954. Although the commercial fronts are not architecturally distinguished, the theater is a well-preserved example of the restrained classical approach to 1920s movie houses. Several comparable West Side theaters, including the Granada, Lyric and Tivoli, have been demolished, which makes this building a rare survivor and a record of neighborhood commercial life before widespread automobile use.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Nicola Petti","architectural_style":"Restrained classical 1920s movie theater style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied; the theater interior spaces are described as virtually unaltered, with a forestage added over the intact original orchestra pit.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.302609-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82003559.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003559/bf4b4517e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003559/bf4b4517e5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cricchetti","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Variety_Store_Building_and_Theatre_2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Cricchetti</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:Variety_Store_Building_and_Theatre_2.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987562","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q43159905"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/cuyahoga-county/variety-store-building-and-theatre-82003559/"}