The wife and I spent some time this weekend in Richmond historic Jackson Ward. This is a shot of the constructions works renovating the Hippodrome Theater.

“Opened in 1914 as a mixed use vaudeville and movie theatre, the seating capacity was 1,050. It is located in the Jackson Ward district and attracted a mainly African-American audience from the locality.

In the 1930′s and 1940′s it attracted big stars who appeared on the stage, such as Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, Ethel Waters, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Moms Mably and James Brown. It was acquired by the Abe Lichtman circuit in c.1935 and the Hippodrome Theatre was listed as being a ‘Negro’ theatre in Film Daily Yearbooks for many years.

In 1945 the interior was gutted when the building caught fire and the building was extensively re-built in an Art Deco style with a slightly reduced seating capacity of 850, re-opening in 1946 when it became primarily a movie theatre.

The Hippodrome closed in 1967, re-opened again, then closed in 1970 to become a church. It re-opened briefly in 1982 but since then has remained little used and mainly shuttered. Renovation plans were proposed in November 2009.”

~cinematreasures.org

This weekend has given me some new inspiration. As Jackson Ward becomes revitalize I just might try to document this historic process with images like the one above. Stay tuned…more to come.

Order View of the reconstruction of the Hippodrome Theater in downtown Richmond's historic Jackson War.

Size 4x6 - Print + $15.00 5x5 - Print + $17.00 5x7 - Print + $17.00 6x9 - Print + $20.00 8x8 - Print + $30.00 8x10 - Print + $30.00 8x12 - Print + $35.00 9x12 - Print + $40.00 10x10 - Print + $40.00 10x13 - Print + $45.00 12x12 - Print + $45.00 10x15 - Print + $50.00 11x14 - Print + $50.00 12x18 - Print + $55.00 16x20 - Print + $60.00 16x24 - Print + $65.00 20x20 - Print + $65.00 20x24 - Print + $70.00 20x30 - Print + $75.00 16x16 - Acrylic + $170.00 16x23.5 - Acrylic + $185.00 19.5x19.5 - Acrylic + $200.00 19.5x23.5 - Acrylic + $215.00 16x16 - Metal + $170.00 16x23.5 - Metal + $185.00 19.5x19.5 - Metal + $200.00 19.5x23.5 - Metal + $215.00 - Qty:

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