Uptown Theater
- Architect
- John Jacob Zink
- Year
- 1936
- City
- Washington, DC
The Uptown Theater opened on October 29, 1936, as the 14th movie house Warner Brothers built in Washington, D.C., designed by John Jacob Zink, whose firm turned out more than 200 theaters nationwide. Its curved, 70-by-40-foot screen in Cleveland Park hosted the world premieres of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Jurassic Park before the theater closed in March 2020, and outside the Smithsonian Institution it was the largest commercial movie screen in the DC area.
the building
Art Deco facade. The exterior mixes yellow and red brick with a facade partially faced in fluted limestone panels carved with Art Deco zigzags and floral reliefs, capped by a marquee wrapped in streamlined aluminum bands. Two one-story storefronts flank the theater's entrances beneath it.
The big screen. At 70 by 40 feet and gently curved, the Uptown's screen was the largest commercial movie screen in the Washington area outside the Smithsonian -- the reason it landed marquee premieres like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Jurassic Park.
the style
The 1936 design leans on Art Deco motifs -- zigzag patterns and floral reliefs carved into the limestone panels, and streamlined aluminum banding on the marquee -- typical of the movie-palace styling of the era.
the architect
John Jacob Zink's firm designed more than 200 theaters across the United States. The Uptown, opened in 1936, was the 14th theater he built for Warner Brothers in Washington, D.C.
significance
The Uptown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022, two years after it closed as a single-screen theater in March 2020.
nearby
- The Kennedy-Warren
- Tregaron Estate
- Sedgwick Gardens
- Cathedral Mansions
- Slayton, William L., House (and Interior)
- Intelsat headquarters