4026 MacArthur Avenue
Adolph O. Budina
1937
MacArthur Avenue, in Northside’s Bellevue neighborhood, has become something of a destination for eating out with a number of intimate fine dining options joining a popular comfort food destination, Dot’s Back Inn, and the Stir Crazy coffee house. But the landmark on the street, albeit disfigured, is the art deco Samis Grotto Temple, a men’s Masonic lodge. The building was originally the Bellevue Theater, a so-called neighborhood theater that showed films some weeks after their first run at the larger and often flashier downtown movie palaces.
The 651-seat Bellevue was opened in 1937 to serve the Bellevue, Laburnum and Ginter Park areas by locally-owned Neighborhood Theaters Inc. (a subsidiary of the Morton G. Thalhimer real estate company). The complete, if understated art deco façade in red brick and sandstone, is a study in stripped-down classicism: The order is Ionic, there is a podium (or base) and an engaged temple front that rises through the attic level to reach the rooftop.
The architect was Adolph O. Budina, a graduate of the University of Illinois who apprenticed under the great Louis Sullivan in Chicago and collaborated on other designs for theaters nationwide with John Eberson (architect of the Carpenter Theatre at CenterStage and the Central National Bank here).
The large, original marquee still hangs across the front, but its decorative graphics are obscured by a covering of flat wooden panels. Inside, the once gentle rake of auditorium floor has been leveled and most of the architectural detailing of the walls removed. However, the public areas and upstairs lounge still hint at 1930s geometric designs.
The leadership of the temple respects the structure and its potential and is currently considering how it might proceed to restore the dignity and architectural integrity of the landmark.
E.S.
5 Comments
Do you know how the sloped floor was raided/ leveled?
Ms. Goodwin, thank you for your comment. I am not certain, but I believe it was filled in with concrete.
This property recently was for sale. Do you know its current status?
I’m afraid I do not. Please let us know in these comments if you find out. Thank you -Don O’Keefe
This comment may be long but please take a moment and read as I have a really great idea and see a huge money maker out of this property due to the historical potential of this building. I think the history of this building is extremely deeply important and I no longer believe it’s current use is very appropriate for a building with such a past filled with rich history for what the richmond area was back in its original time. I think it’s very deeply critical that someone buy this building and restore it back to its original condition as it once was in the 1930s. I used to live in an apartment on the same street as a child growing up in the early 2000s so that’s probably another reason it means so much to me that it gets restored. It could be a walking time capsule like a museum or be restored as it once was and reused as a theater with the same technology they used back in those days. Wouldn’t that be both interesting and educational? School field trips where they show the students how things looked and worked in the 30s, families getting together and visiting the place for a night out to watch a good flick and just think about how much money the city / investers could make. I see a giant money maker in this building to those who can afford to buy it and fix it up. It stands right now in very poor shape not being properly taken care of, it truly is an eye sore that has old washed up paint stains running down the front right side, the overhead signage it warn out and they obviously cant afford to make the building look nice. Of course its just my opinion but I feel the building isn’t even being used properly for what it was intended to be and that just makes me sad at the property looks run down and ghetto. Please please please I beg someone to please buy this place and restore it for its proper use. Aren’t there laws that protect old historical buildings? This building should strictly be used only for what it was originally intended and nothing else other than that and also be made a historical landmark intended for entertainment and educational use instead of being destroyed and poorly modernized to pretty much look like garbage. Strict laws need to be put in place to protect this gem, it’s sad the current condition of this place.
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Bellevue • civic • MacArthur Avenue • Masonic • North Side • red brick • Theater • TheatreMap