Ritz Theatre
1607 N. Washington Street,
Baltimore,
MD
21213
1607 N. Washington Street,
Baltimore,
MD
21213
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Located in the South Clifton Park district to the northeast of downtown. If you travel down North Washington Street it is hard to miss the old marquee of the Ritz Theatre. The Ritz Theatre opened November 23, 1926 seating 1,175. It was one of East Baltimore’s larger neighborhood theatres and was built for the Gaertner Organization. The entrance was to the right of the building, with the auditorium set slightly back from and parallel to N. Washington Street. There were two small balconies, one on each side of the projection booth. The Ritz Theatre was wired for sound in 1929.
In 1933, its interior was remodelled in a Spanish Atmospheric style. In June 1956 it became an African-American theatre, which closed in 1963.
The former Ritz Theatre has since been used as a food store, offices and a warehouse. The front had been painted all white but the marquee is still up. From the exterior the building looks to still be in good shape.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Recent photos:
http://www.kilduffs.com/RDA.html
If you look at the map view from around 2007 there were plans to turn the building into a supermarket. Here is a photo circa 1970 from a monograph on Baltimore theaters:
http://tinyurl.com/yzp57g3
November 21st, 1926 grand opening ad in the photo section. It opened on the 23rd.