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The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway, or simply the Parkway, is a
movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
located at 5 West North Avenue in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...
. The Parkway is open as of May 3, 2017, and is the new permanent home of MdFF. The
Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...
, a 5-day annual festival created and operated by MdFF, is housed in and around the Parkway and throughout the Station North Arts and Entertainment District. According to Jed Dietz, founding director of Maryland Film Festival, the Parkway was one of the original movie palaces on the east coast and from the day it opened on October 23, 1915 till the day it closed in 1978 it served the community beautifully. It was built in 1915 and was originally intended for
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
, and has also been used for a live radio broadcast program named "Nocturne" with Roland Nuttrell playing the Wurlitzer Organ and Charles Purcell reading poetry from 1937-1957. It closed in 1978 but is to be renovated as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Film Center, scheduled to open on May 3, 2017. The theater is located in the North Central Historic District of Baltimore, which was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in December 2002, as well as the
Station North Arts and Entertainment District The Station North Arts and Entertainment District (often referred to as just Station North) is an area and official arts and entertainment district in the U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland. The neighborhood is marked by a combination of artistic ...
. In August 2012, the Parkway was considered for city landmark status.Edward Gunts
"Parkway Theatre considered for landmark designation"
''
Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', August 13, 2012, accessed December 13, 2014.


History


1915–1970s

The Parkway Theatre was designed by Oliver Birkhead Wight, a native of Baltimore County who designed other theaters in the city, including The New Theater, The McHenry Theater, and the Howard Theater.Elise Hoffman
"Parkway Theatre"
Explore Baltimore Heritage, accessed December 13th, 2014.
Its design was "closely modeled on London's West End Theater, later known as the Rialto, with shared features like the interior's rich ornamental plaster work in a Louis XIV style.""Business Plus Beauty: Aesthetic Performances Make Baltimore's Parkway Success", ''Motography'', October 7th, 1916, pp.&nbs
803
ndas
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The Parkway contains
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
and Beaux-Arts architectural elements.Thomas
"Parkway Theatre"
Cinema Treasures, accessed December 14th, 2014.
The exterior is
terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
and beige brick; the auditorium was originally oval or egg shaped, as in the London model, with "royal boxes" and additional loges on either side, and had a marble lobby, a tea-room decorated in grey with old rose hangings, and chandeliers modeled on those at
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
and
Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissemen ...
. The theater cost about $120,000 to build, and was "originally envisioned by owner Henry Webb's Northern Amusement Company as a 1100-seat vaudeville house." Opening night on October 23, 1915, featured a screening of ''
Zaza Zaza may refer to: Ethnic group * Zazas, a group of people in eastern Anatolia (southeastern Turkey) * Zaza–Gorani languages, Indo-Iranian languages ** Zaza language, spoken by the Zazas People Given name * Zaza Sor. Aree (born 1993), Thai kic ...
'' starring
Pauline Frederick Pauline Frederick (born Pauline Beatrice Libbey, August 12, 1883 – September 19, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey (later changed to Libby) in Boston in 1883 (some sources stat ...
. In 1926, the Parkway was purchased by Loew's Theaters Incorporated, who had it remodeled by local architect John Eberson who also designed the Valencia Theatre above the century theatre on 18 West Lexington Street in 1926 and replaced the 1915 Moller
organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...
with a 2 manual 8 rank Wurlitzer opus #1421 style F, and had both "Royal Boxes" removed (even though the cupolas underneath both remained), seating capacity was reduced. In addition to films and vaudeville, the theater was used for live radio; in the late 1940s and early 1950s at 12:00am Roland Nuttrell and Charles Purcell produced a nightly live WCAO radio program at the Parkway entitled ''Nocturne'', featuring poetry readings in a deep baritone voice by Charles Purcell, interspersed with melodic lullaby selections on the 2/8 Wurlitzer organ by Roland Nuttrell that were far more effective at putting a person to sleep than taking sleeping pills. John Kilduff of Baltimore was a talented artist and saxophonist of The Red Devils (a Baltimore Jazz Band), he sketched and designed mostly all of the advertisements and coming attraction displays for the parkway and other Loew's Theatres such as The Century/Valencia Theatres, and Keith's Garden Theatre (Where he worked for years). Local theater operator Morris Mechanic purchased the Parkway and closed the doors in 1952 and suggested that it be turned into offices. However, under a succession of later owners, it was briefly used for live theater (Hilltop Theatre Parkway) and then under the new name of Five West Art Theatre in 1956 for classic and foreign films and performances until it closed in 1978. After that, the lobby and foyer space became a Korean grocery store in the 1980s, and the owner simply walled off the screen and theater seating, so much of that is still intact.Mark Reutter
"Deteriorating 'jewel' of Station North Arts District to be rebid"
''Baltimore Brew'', December 2, 2011.


Neglect (1970s–2012)

The theater closed its doors for good in 1978, due to poor attendance and urban decline.Lydia Woolever
"The Parkway Theatre to Reopen in 2016"
''Baltimore Magazine'', October 20, 2014, accessed December 13, 2014.
It changed hands several times and there were attempts to find a new use for the building. At one point it was the headquarters of an association of Korean business owners. It has been vacant since 1998. In 2004 it was opened for one evening as part of an event called "Gotta Have Art" and the ''
Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
''s Jacques Kelly described it as "a jewel-box design" and judged the plaster work only "about 10 percent damaged by neglect". The City of Baltimore included it in the Charles North Vision Plan and in 2009 contracted with developer Samuel Polakoff to convert it into a performance space at a cost of $12 million, but withdrew the rights in 2011. In the early 2000s, local engineer, theatre organ aficionado and player piano restoration technician, John R. Grant, attempted to raise consciousness about the plight of the Parkway in an effort to return it to its original splendor, to include original Wurlitzer theatre organ opus #1419, a virtual twin to opus #1421 (which was installed during the 1926 remodeling), and removed and dispersed in the 1960s. Prior to this removal, the organ was an integral feature of the popular midnight radio program “Nocturne” (detailed above). However, unable to find enthusiasm or vision for including that salient and emblematic feature of classical movie houses in the current interpretation, this proposal would have to be abandoned.


Restoration and re-opening (2016)

On October 20, 2014,
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
announced that the theater would be reopening in mid-2017. This announcement was prompted by a five million dollar donation from the international philanthropic organization, the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) was established in 1996 to honor Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos (1909–1996). Niarchos was one of the world's largest transporters of oil and owned the largest supertanker fleet of his time. Orga ...
.Mary Carole McCauley
"Stavros Niarchos Foundation donates $5 million to transform Parkway Theater"
''Baltimore Sun'', October 20, 2014.
Renovations on the Parkway Theatre began in early 2012, but this recent donation has greatly assisted the process. The theater will be renamed the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Film Centre and will contain three screens, six hundred twenty seats, and a live performance area, the main auditorium will have a seating capacity of 420 seats and the new building next door will contain two smaller 100-seat theatres bringing the total number of seats to 620. The center will not only be dedicated to exhibiting films; it will also be a space for education. It will aid both (JHU) Johns Hopkins University and the
MICA Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
’s film programs by allowing them to study the production of filmmaking and documentation .Brennen Jensen
"Bringing back the Parkway Theatre"
Johns Hopkins University ''Gazette'', February 2013, accessed December 20, 2014.
It is also envisioned as a site of the
Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...
. Updates to the center will include new projection, sound, and movie viewing technology also including heating and air conditioning ventilation systems. Although there will be modern additions to the center, the goal of the renovation is to maintain the theater’s historical integrity, as Jed Dietz puts it "we're not exactly Restoring it, It's more about Rescuing it". Current construction updates are as follows: The old flooring of the lobby, orchestra and stage areas have been removed and new flooring has been laid, the old deteriorated stage curtain has been removed and will be replaced with a brand new one after construction is completed, all the old seats on the balcony level have been removed and will be replaced with new wider comfortable seats that will have cup holders to accommodate patrons, the platforms on the balcony level has been deepened to create more legroom and better walking space between rows, the tea room on the second floor has been expanded twice its regular size to include a bar and lounge area, the building at 1 West North Avenue which formerly housed a pharmacy store and restaurant will be demolished and replaced by a new building which will house two smaller-sized 100-seat theatres and a small lounge in the foyer area which will be connected with the SNF Parkway.. The design phase of the project was completed in January 2015. The Parkway celebrated its 100th birthday on October 23, 2015 marking the 100th anniversary of its grand opening on October 23, 1915 with the showing of Pauline Frederick in Zaza. The Parkway is expected to have its Grand reopening in mid-2017, Station North is aiming to attract as many patrons for its Inaugural Grand Reopening. The estimated total cost of the renovation is $18.2 million. The current status of the construction phase is nearly complete, the corner building that formerly housed a pharmacy and restaurant has been demolished and the new structure that will house the 2 smaller 100-seat theatres along with the lounge is nearing completion, the interior of the Parkway has been partially restored (new paint as well as the original paint can be seen on the walls and ceiling surrounding the dome), as well as the addition of a replicated 1915 marquee with a nicely clean facade illuminated by replicated light bulbs on top above the original name PARKWAY THEATRE carved into the building.


Programming by Maryland Film Festival (2017-present)

The Parkway restoration project was completed in the Spring of 2017 and the theater opened on May 3, 2017, with the opening night of the 19th Annual Maryland Film Festival The band
Beach House Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 t ...
shot the music video for their song "Chariots" in the historic auditorium of the Parkway in April, 2017 prior to the theater's public opening. The first public screening in The Parkway was the Opening Night Shorts Program of the 2017 Maryland Film Festival on May 3, 2017, hosted by
Josephine Decker Josephine Decker (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress, filmmaker, and performance artist. As of 2020 she has directed four experimental feature films: the psychological thriller '' Butter on the Latch'' (2013), the erotic thriller '' Thou ...
and
Kris Swanberg Kris Swanberg (born Kristin Williams, November 11, 1980) is an American businesswoman, filmmaker, actress and former high school teacher living in Chicago, Illinois. She has been credited at various times as Kris Williams, Kris Swanberg and Kris ...
and the directors of each short film presented. The first short presented, and therefore the first film to screen in The Parkway in decades, was
Jessica Kingdon Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese American director and producer. She was nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for directing the documentary ''Ascension''. Career Kingdon received her BA from Columbia University in 2009 ...
's ''Commodity City''. The other shorts presented that evening were
Terence Nance Terence Nance (born February 10, 1982) is an American filmmaker, writer, director, actor and musician from Dallas, Texas. He is best known for his directing debut '' An Oversimplification of Her Beauty'', and as the creator of the avant-garde TV ...
's ''They Charge For the Sun'', Jeannie Donohoe's ''Game'', Matthew Salton's ''Richard Twice'', and
Nathan Truesdell Nathan Truesdell is an Academy Award nominated independent filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the documentary films ''Balloonfest'', ''Ascension'', and ''The Water Slide''. Life and career Truesdell comes from Clark, Missouri where he ...
's ''Balloonfest''. The first feature film screened in the Parkway was
Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...
's television film ''
The Wizard of Lies ''The Wizard of Lies'' is a 2017 American television biopic film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Sam Levinson, Sam Baum, and John Burnham Schwartz, based on the 2011 non-fiction book of the same name by Diana B. Henriques. The film sta ...
'' on the afternoon of Thursday, May 4, 2017. The first theatrical film screened in the Parkway was Theo Anthony's ''Rat Film'' the same evening. The first 35mm film screened in the Parkway was
Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter, photographer, and artist. Her pioneering work was central to the development of the widely influential French New Wave film ...
's '' Vagabond'', guest-curated and hosted by the band
Beach House Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 t ...
, on the evening of Saturday, May 6, 2017. The first live music performance in the restored Parkway was
Alloy Orchestra The Alloy Orchestra was a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, that performed its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era. Performing on an unusual collection of found objects ( horseshoes, plu ...
's live score for the German silent film
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
on Sunday, May 7. These screenings all took place within Maryland Film Festival 2017. The Parkway opened for year-round business on the evening of Friday, May 12. The first feature film screened in the Parkway in a non-festival setting was
John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
' ''
Female Trouble ''Female Trouble'' is a 1974 American dark comedy film co-composed, photographed, co-edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters and starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Michael Potter, Cook ...
''. Other films screened that evening included
David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
's ''
Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
'', Jenny Gage's ''All This Panic'', and Kristopher Avedisian's '' Donald Cried''. The last two titles were the first films to have week-long theatrical runs at the restored Parkway. The first live music outside a festival setting was curated by members of the band
Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (musician), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin ( ...
in tribute to the late experimental musician
Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...
on the evenings of Friday, September 29 and Saturday September 30, 2017. The performers included Deakin and
Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
of Animal Collective,
Dan Deacon Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the pe ...
with Jessie Hughes and M. C. (Martin) Schmidt of
Matmos Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their per ...
, Asa Osborne of
Lungfish Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
and Zomes, Owen Gardner and Andrew Bernstein of Horse Lords, Steve Strohmeier, and Daniel Conrad. Longtime director of programming Eric Allen Hatch, who began working for MdFF in 2007, departed as lead programmer of The Parkway in February, 2018, citing creative differences detailed in a ''
Filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
'' article concerning the need for greater risk-taking and attention to diversity in independent-film festivals and alternative venues. Eric Allen Hatch
"Why I Am Hopeful: Programmer Eric Allen Hatch on the Future of Arthouse Programming"
''Filmmaker Magazine'', June 11, 2018


References


External links

* *John Grant'
www.parkwaytheatre.com
archived at the
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
on September 5, 2008 *Parkway Theater i
MOTOGRAPHY, 1916
archived at openlibrary.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkway Theatre, Baltimore Buildings and structures in Baltimore Cinemas and movie theaters in Maryland Theatres completed in 1915 1915 establishments in Maryland John Eberson buildings Baltimore City Landmarks