Century Theatre
249 North Sycamore Street,
Petersburg,
VA
23803
249 North Sycamore Street,
Petersburg,
VA
23803
1 person
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The Century Theatre operated from at least 1935 and into the early-1970’s. The building was demolished for a parking lot.
Contributed by
Chuck, Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
i came across a picture of the century while re searching buildings in petersburg at library of virginia.
in picture on front of the century theater is the year 1918
it shows the street,and even a traffic patrolman standing at his booth.
possibility that it was built 1918
i have a copy of the picture to submit.
thanks
The Century closed in the fall of 1970. Its last picture was “Good Morning and Goodbye”.
From the early-1940’s through it’s closing in 1970 it was operated by Neighborhood Theatres.
My wife wanted to comment that this is where she saw The Sound of Music in 1965. Her father was stationed at Ft. Lee. Her grandmother came from Tennessee to visit and they took her to see the movie. She remembers choking on a Milk Dud and afraid to make a sound (little ones were taught to be quiet in the theater in those days)! She was 8 years old and attending Bollingbrook Day School. While her father was in VietNam for his first tour, she moved to Woodmere Apartments. The Walnut Hill Shopping Center was under construction and a movie theater was built across the road. She says she spent some Sat afternoons in the matinee and they would stay all afternoon; no one told them to leave. On Google Maps, it looks as if the building that housed the theater is still there but the shopping center is pretty dead. She remembers the movie playing at the “new” theater was “Alfie”…her mother told her that she couldn’t see it as it was for adults only.
The new theatre was the Walnut Mall, which was built to replace the aging Century, but the Century soldiered on for about three more years and closed because they were afraid the roof would cave in if there was a heavy snow. The Walnut Mall Theatre was later twinned. Then after it closed, it became a church, which it is to this day.
I remember skipping school with some friends one day and going to the Century to see Russ Meyer’s VIXEN… a soft core porn film which would probably look pretty mild today. This was during the last years that the Century was open.