Atlas Performing Arts Center
- Architect
- John Jacob Zink
- Year
- 1938
- Style
- Streamline Moderne
- City
- Washington, DC
Built in 1938 by the Kogod-Burka movie chain and designed by John Jacob Zink, the Atlas Theatre was one of four movie houses on H Street NE until the 1968 riots devastated the corridor and the theater closed for good in 1976. The H Street Community Development Corporation bought the derelict building in 1985 and restored its Art Moderne facade in 1989, and a $22 million renovation begun in 2004 rebuilt it into the nearly 60,000-square-foot Atlas Performing Arts Center, which opened in March 2005.
the building
One theater, three buildings. The current Atlas Performing Arts Center was created by completely gutting the original 1938 movie house and combining it with three adjacent buildings under a single roof, part of the $22 million rebuild begun in 2004.
the style
Zink's original 1938 design was Streamline Moderne, the aerodynamic, horizontally banded style common to Depression-era movie houses; the facade was restored to that character in 1989 ahead of the larger 2004 rebuild.
More on Streamline Modernesignificance
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Old Engine Company No. 10
- Engine Company No. 10 (Truck House No. 13; Trindad Firehouse)
- H Street Playhouse
- East Capitol Street Car Barn (Metropolitan Railroad Company Car Barn)
- Langston Terrace Dwellings
- The Furies Collective house