Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Egyptian

The Egyptian by William 74
The Egyptian, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The historic Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, Illinois. Opened in 1929 at the height of the public's fascination with Egyptian culture and at the beginning of the Depression, it's one of six similar theaters from this time period that are believed to still exist. Originally hosting silent films and vaudeville, the Egyptian eventually moved over to films full time, and remained a popular venue until the late sixties.

By the early 70's the theater was in some disrepair, with plaster flaking off the walls and fading paint on it's exterior terra cotta. The owner handed the building over to the city of DeKalb, and in 1978 a group of citizens banded together to save and restore the building. The theater's placement on the National Register of Historic Places helped this cause, and the Egyptian stands today as an excellent example of this style of movie house.

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