Patterson Theater

The patterson Theatre is located at 3136 Eastern Ave..

Part of the restoration of the Patterson was to dismantle the marquee and restore it. The detail on this marquee was incredible and would light up Eastern Avenue. When the marquee was dismantled and taken down it was found to be damaged and unrepairable. Also another note on the Patterson, during the 1970's it was divided down the middle to form "Twin Theatres". Unfortunately nobody ever bothered to rearrange the sets, so in each of the twin theatres you got to sit at a 30 degree angle to see the screen.

The Patterson is no longer closed. It re-opened on May 16th, 2003, as an arts center and theater operated by Creative Alliance

Their web site describes the facility as providing two galleries, a 250 seat flexible theater, a classroom, media lab, offices, and live/work studios for artists. The address is now given as 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore MD 21224, and the telephone number as 410-276-1651. Their e-mail address is staff@creativealliance.org

The web site's brief history of the theater says that there was an earlier Patterson Theater built at the same location in 1910, which was demolished in 1929. The current building was opened in September, 1930, twinned in 1975, and closed in 1995. When opened in 1929, the Patterson was operated by the Grand Theater Company, an affiliate of Durkee Enterprises. The history page also mentions the marquee and the art deco sign, lighted by "a plethora of bulbs," but it appears to be referring to the blade sign only. At least that feature was able to be saved and restored.

This theatre's marquee can be seen with other Baltimore cinemas in John Waters' "Cecil B. Demented" - the marquee advertises "Karate Marathon: All Action All The Time Admission One Dollar".

Marquee:
http://www.mass-dist.com/DME/pictures/marquee/patterson%20theater.jpg

Here are some photos of the Patterson Theater.

This is a recent photo of the Patterson Theater.

Here is a website for the Creative Alliance.

This is a recent night view of the Patterson Theater.

Here is a 1949 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/8e5oqj

Here is a March 2009 article from the Baltimore Sun:
http://tinyurl.com/c82jna

LM, how you are able to come up with all the great photos never ceases to amaze me.

1985 photo of the Patterson Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c20%2c3%2c216&catpageindex=9&ProductID=28051

1985 night photo of the Pastterson Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c20%2c3%2c216&catpageindex=10&ProductID=28055

This theater was a twin at one time. Here is a 1984 photo.

Here is a photo from the 1987 movie "TIN MEN", The Patterson Theatre was used in this movie, set in 1963.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24391992@N00/4040088999/