State Theatre recognized as Va. landmark

For years it sat vacant, closed to the public, its movie projectors darkened and silent.

But like the proverbial phoenix, the Pitts/State Theatre on South Main Street is making a comeback one step at a time.

On March 20, the old vaudeville movie house took a leap towards historic legitimacy when the Virginia Department of Historic Resources approved it for listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

Its next step- An official place on the even more prestigious National Register of Historic Places.

But first, the 70-year-old State Theatre earned the coveted state listing in recognition of its architectural significance.

"It is huge for us," said Raven Yates, director of the State Theatre Foundation. "It is a huge milestone we have just passed."

What's it mean-

It means that its architecture is historical and important.

"The building is an example of Art Deco theatre construction in Virginia and is the only example of Art Deco architecture in the town of Culpeper," Kimble David, architectural historian with Hanbury, Evans, Wright & Vlattas - the Norfolk firm designing the estimated $10 million theater rehab and expansion - wrote in the nomination form.

"Many of these theatres were demolished in the late 20th century due to their obsolescence and the rise of multiple screen theatres. A proposed renovation of this building will place the building back into its original service."

The Culpeper movie house, which opened in 1938 as part of the Pitts Amusement Company, joined 22 other properties statewide in earning the Landmarks Register designation last month.

Inclusion on the state register means almost certain listing on the National Register of Historic Places - a process that will take up to another five months, said Randy Jones with the Virginia DHR.

"The main thing is that it is an honorary advantage to any property owner to be recognized in this way," he said.

In addition, listing on the state and national registers makes rehab projects - like the one slated to begin this spring at the State Theatre - eligible for funding with historic tax credits.

The State Theatre Foundation is seeking between $2 and $3 million in tax credits for the project, which, once complete by late 2009, will return the historic venue to its original look and purpose and add more than double the existing space.

Securing the tax credits will be an ongoing process, Yates said, and a very complicated one.

So much so, she added, that the foundation last year hired a tax credit specialist.

Being listed on the state and national registers does not place restrictions on what a property owner may choose to do with the property, Jones said.

However, stringent historic requirements are required in order to get the tax credits, a program managed by the National Park Service.
"All of their guidelines ensure that we are creating and restoring everything just like it was in 1938," Yates said.

Not a problem, she added.

That was the plan all along.

Documenting the theater's history for the historic register application adds to that process. It also serves as a looking glass into a different time and place.

Pitts/State
Properties gain listing by meeting one of four criteria: association with a significant person in state or national history; outstanding example of craftsmanship; association with a pattern of events from the Civil War to civil rights, for example, or architectural significance.

Though the State/Pitts Theatre earned its listing for architecture, a look at the nomination form shows significance in the other areas as well.

A good place to start then would be with its original name.
Construction of the Pitts Theatre began in 1937 and was completed the following year at a cost of $105,000.

Its first movie was "Sally, Irene and Mary" starring Jimmy Durante and Alice Faye.

The Culpeper theater was part of the Pitts chain of movie houses founded by Benjamin Pitts of Fredericksburg, a state senator from 1944-1958 representing Goochland, Louisa, Orange and Spotsylvania counties.

Nicholas Roney of Henrico County designed the theater in the Art Deco style and Keith Fletcher of Warrenton was the contractor, the nomination says.

Pitts ultimately operated 38 theatres and in 1929 had also acquired Culpeper's Fairfax Theatre on East Davis Street.

According to the nomination form, Pitts, born 1890, was also a real estate developer who began his political career on the Fredericksburg City Council. He died in 1964 in Richmond.

Seven years later, R.C. Theatres purchased Culpeper's Pitts Theatre, changing its name to the State and operating it as such until it closed in 1992.

Since it is most remembered as the State and because it held that name for nearly as long as it was a Pitts, the foundation board decided to stay with the State for its 21st century rebirth.

Civil War ties
Interestingly, the land on which the movie house was built adds another layer of history.

Pitts purchased the Main Street parcel and one adjacent piece for $600 from Anna Rixey, who had been willed the land from her husband R.P. Rixey, the nomination says.

Situated on the land were two buildings, including the Rixey house, "an antebellum residence…built by George Ficklin, a prominent and prosperous resident in the 1830s and 1840s.

"It was once the home of James Field, brigadier general in the Confederate Army."

In May 1937, the house was demolished to make way for the theater. Unfortunately, not everyone would have equal access.

African American history

At a time when black children and white children could not attend public school together, they couldn't sit together in the Pitts Theatre either.

In fact, "The plan of the theatre reflects a highly sophisticated patron circulation system," the nomination form says, in an effort to keep black and white patrons as separate as possible.

And so, the main lobby accessed the first floor auditorium only, an area reserved for white patrons.

Two parallel hallways flanking the lobby and leading to stairways to the balcony were for use by African-Americans only.

"The balcony was designed with a separate lobby and lavatories," the nomination form says. "During segregation, African-American and white patrons were separated within theatres.

"Traditionally, African Americans were relegated to balcony seating in churches and courthouses from the 18th to mid 20th centuries."

The same seating arrangement generally applied in theaters as well.

"In the Pitts Theatre, the circulation system to separate the entrance and exit of patrons of different race were further expanded creating separate entrances," it says in the nomination form.

"This enabled balcony patrons to come into minimal contact with the auditorium patrons."

The segregated entrances will be maintained for historical purposes as part of the theater rehab and expansion project.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .

New state landmarks
Properties approved by Department of Historic Resources March 20 for listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register:

Bechelbronn, a circa 1840s house in Lunenburg Co.;

Edgehill, an 1833 house in Amherst; E.L. Evans House, built 1892 in Halifax Co.;

Fifeville-Castle Hill Historic District in Charlottseville;

The Glebe in Amherst Co., one of only 10 surviving dwellings in the state associated with glebe lands;

Jackson Ward Historic District in Richmond;

Kenridge, built 1922 in Albemarle Co.;

Rosemont, built 1889 in Powhatan;

Aurora Highlands Historic District in Arlington Co.;

Graves Chapel and Cemetery built 1856 in Page Co.;

Pitts Theatre, built 1937-38 in town of Culpeper;

Covington High School;

Rocky Mount Historic District in Franklin County;

Salem Avenue/Roanoke Automobile Commercial District in Roanoke;

Arlington Archaeological Site in Northampton Co.;

Endview, a circa 1769 home in Newport News;

Mahones Tavern, circa 1796, in Southampton; Quest End, a home settled 1666 in Gloucester Co.;

Sandwich, an 18th century tobacco port residence in Middlesex Co. and Whitaker's Mill Archaeological Complex
in York.