Collins Theater

136 Maple Avenue,
Covington, VA 24426

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Additional Info

Functions: Storage

Previous Names: Hippodrome Theatre

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Collins Theater

The Hippodrome Theatre was opened by 1913. Collins Theater was opened in the 1920’s and was part of the Collins Hotel building It was closed on July 9, 1951. The auditorium has been demolished, but the front of the building survives and is used for storage.

Contributed by Norman Plant

Recent comments (view all 6 comments)

SethG
SethG on September 18, 2019 at 8:41 am

According to the 1991 NRHP listing, this was built in the ‘20s sometime and may have originally been called the Hippodrome. Michael Collins built the neighboring Hotel Collins in 1910, and this larger structure may have replaced a small wood-frame Hippodrome that operated previously. Although the NRHP listing says this is 128 S Maple, '136’ is clearly visible on the ticket booth. The auditorium was demolished long ago, and the lobby was being used to store junk by the public works department in 2012. The 2015 streetview shows it spruced up a bit.

SethG
SethG on September 18, 2019 at 10:43 am

I think it’s really misleading to list these as demolished just because the auditorium is gone. I don’t want anyone to miss seeing this because they think the building isn’t there anymore. You can almost never see the inside of these older theaters, and most of them were gutted long ago, even if they technically still have walls and a roof over the location of the seats/screen.

Norman Plant
Norman Plant on September 30, 2019 at 6:01 pm

Seth, I agree. The only way I found this one was when I was on my way to get a picture of the Covington downtown.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 8, 2020 at 2:54 pm

The Hippodrome Theatre at Covington, Virginia, was listed as a subscriber to The American Motion Picture League in that outfit’s ad in The Moving Picture World of December 20, 1913.

SethG
SethG on February 12, 2024 at 12:13 pm

The Hippodrome, or at least the 1913 iteration, was a different building on this same site.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on June 19, 2024 at 9:08 am

Originally closed on July 9, 1951 for refurbishing, but never reopened.

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