Belnord Theatre

2700 Pulaski Highway,
Baltimore, MD 21224

No one has favorited this theater yet

View larger map →

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Durkee, F.H., Enterprises

Architects: John Fruend, Jr., William O. Sparklin

Functions: Furniture Showroom

Styles: Neo-Classical

Nearby Theaters

Located on the east side of Baltimore. The original Belnord Theatre was built and opened in 1911, designed by architect John Fruend Jr. It had an Airdome open-air theatre next to it. It was demolished in 1919 and the ‘new’ Belnord Theatre was built, designed by architect William O. Sparklin, opening on May 14, 1921 with 790 seats all on a single floor. It was equipped with a 3 manual Kimball organ. In October 1921 a 400-seat balcony was added.

The Belnord Theatre closed as a movie theatre in fall of 1969 and was converted to a supermarket and has changed hands a couple times since its conversion. By 2017 it had become a furniture store. The balcony and upper parts of the auditorium still survive intact above a false ceiling. Renovations to the exterior were being carried out in May 2021.

Contributed by Chuck Van Bibber

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

Ken Roe on January 8, 2005 at 7:27 pm

According to the book “Exit” – A History of movies in Baltimore; by Robert Kirk Headley Jnr (1974) this was the 2nd Belnord Theatre on the site.

‘The original Belnord may have been opened by Louis Kolb and Charles Bender sometime between the summer of 1911 and 1913.

A new theatre was built on the site in 1921. The Belnord opened on 14th May 1921 with Katherine MacDonald starring in “The Beauty Market”. The architect was William O. Sparklin and it was built upon Greek lines. Seating was given as between 1,700 and 2,000. It closed in the fall of 1969'.

The Film Daily Yearbook, 1941 gives a seating capacity of 1,750. In the FDY, 1950 a seating capacity is given as 1,577.

Headers for this listing need to be changed:
Status; Closed
Style: Greek

Ken Roe on January 8, 2005 at 9:02 pm

From the 1937 photo I have of the exterior, I would say the style was Restrained Classical. (I wish we could get the add-a-photo back up and working on the site)

MarkA on December 5, 2005 at 5:03 pm

Lost Memory: The Free State Theater Organ Society (in Catonsville, Maryland) owns what’s left of the pipework from the organ. The console was a “straight” type console (like a Church organ) and not the “horseshoe” design.

kencmcintyre on October 29, 2008 at 3:06 am

It looks like the building was being used for music shows last year, but that place has now closed. It was called The Local Highrise.
http://tinyurl.com/6p8qk8

kencmcintyre on October 29, 2008 at 4:02 am

I would think so, since the article mentioned that 2706 used to be the Belnord Theater.

kencmcintyre on March 22, 2010 at 4:24 am

A monograph on Baltimore theaters that I found in the LA library has a photo of the Belnord circa 1937:
http://tinyurl.com/yfg9v6t