{"nrhp_refnum":"93000879","name":"Twentieth Century Theatre","other_names":["Ham-4389-12"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3023--3025 Madison Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.15084819300006,"lon":-84.43304973599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Art Moderne movie theatre at 3023-25 Madison Road in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, built in 1941 for Willis Vance.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the theatre is a distinctive and better-than-average example of Art Moderne design applied to a movie theatre, and one of a few remaining examples of the style in Cincinnati. Its streamlined exterior and public interior spaces remain mostly intact, unlike most other surviving neighborhood theatres from the same era, which have lost original detail.","narrative":"Built in 1941 on Madison Road in Cincinnati's Oakley neighborhood, this three-story movie theatre faces Oakley Square. It was designed by Fred W. Stritzel of Columbus for Willis Vance, who owned several suburban theatres, and built by a Columbus contractor. The exterior is orange brick and terra cotta, with rounded corners, a blue undulating terra cotta wall, and a marquee and neon sign tower rising 80 feet. Inside, curved walls, serpentine ceilings and a grand staircase continue the streamlined look. When it opened, it offered air conditioning, a smoking mezzanine, and hearing devices. It showed movies until 1984 and housed commercial uses until 1986. Of eighteen neighborhood theatres built in Cincinnati between 1936 and 1947, twelve remain, and most have lost original detail. This one kept its exterior and main public spaces largely intact. At listing it stood vacant, with plaster and roof damage from neglect.","period_of_significance":"1941","architect_builder":"Fred W. Stritzel (architect); F & W Construction (contractor, given in the text as \"F and Y Construction Company\" of Columbus, Ohio)","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Art Moderne","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Vacant at the time of nomination; neglect and vandalism have caused plaster and roof deterioration. Used as a theatre until 1984 and for commercial purposes until 1986.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:06.844881-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/93000879.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000879/e9465ce69e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000879/e9465ce69e-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"w_lemay","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20th_Century_Theater,_Oakley,_Cincinnati,_OH_-_46184274434.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">w_lemay</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:20th_Century_Theater,_Oakley,_Cincinnati,_OH_-_46184274434.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988845","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Century_Theatre","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2462194"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/twentieth-century-theatre-93000879/"}