University Theatre

1325 Main Street W,
Charlottesville, VA 22903

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rivest266
rivest266 on June 28, 2023 at 6:39 pm

Closed in 1990 after Neighborhood was not interested in taking this theatre over from Cineplex Odeon

Mike Richardson
Mike Richardson on February 14, 2018 at 2:58 am

Will have to take your word for it. Billy Smith loaned me the picture he framed for scanning and told me the verbage I put in the caption. Too bad he passed couple months ago, or I would prod his memories again. I do remember seeing a Peerless with Century head in the window of Cinema Taco on the Mall a few years ago. Was told that one was from the Jefferson.

Soundman176
Soundman176 on February 14, 2018 at 12:08 am

The projection booth photo is definitely NOT the University. The theatre operated with Peerless Magnarc carbon arc lamps until the day it closed.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 24, 2017 at 9:10 pm

1959 nighttime photo with full marquee in this link.

http://uvamagazine.org/articles/ed_roseberrys_charlottesville

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on February 19, 2014 at 8:20 pm

Though not yet named, the University Theatre was probably the project that was listed as being under construction in the April 9, 1938 issue of The Film Daily:

“Charlottesville — New, 580 seats, West Main St.; Builder: Jefferson and Lafayette Theaters, Inc.; Architect: Pruitt & Brown; Cost: $60,000.”
Pruitt & Brown was a firm based in New York City, but with branch offices in Virginia and in Oklahoma.

Mike Richardson
Mike Richardson on May 30, 2013 at 6:31 pm

From http://www.earlessrabbit.com/category/barefoot-excursions-with-coy/

The Corner Theatre

Built in ‘38, Opened August 11th at 7pm. First movie: Crime Without Passion (1934). Closed: 1990. Longest running movie: ET, 17 weeks, beating out The Sound of Music by a week. March 28, 1961, 3-day picketing for civil rights by UVA students (I won’t even reprint what the sub-headline was that ran) [showing at that time: On The Beach, Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner]. Theatre finally desegregated when Federally compelled in '64.

Wellespring
Wellespring on August 15, 2012 at 7:06 pm

Located in the area around UVA know as “The Corner.”

Following its demolition in the early 1990s, the location was home to regional record store chain Plan 9 Music. Following the departure of Plan 9, the site housed a tanning salon and, currently, a convenience store.

On a personal note, I saw Return of the Jedi here several times (either in 1983 or in re-release) and my first James Bond film (License to Kill)in 1989.

I also worked at Plan 9 for a number of years.