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New Development Threatens West Virginia’s Grandest Theatrical Showcase
posted by
TonyRutherford
on
January 5, 2004 at 5:58 am
HUNTINGTON, WV — The Keith-Albee, a Thomas Lamb designed movie palace, has operated continuously since the Depression. The theater still shows first run movies. In the 70s, it was delicately divided into a main auditorium and three small theaters.
Now, the Dept. of Transportation has funded an intermodal facility a block away that includes funding for a stadium seating multiplex theater. Derek Hyman, president of the Greater Huntington Theatre Corp., indicated that the Keith will close shortly after the federally underwritten replacement opens. No studies have been conducted (as required by federal law) on the impact upon the activities at the Keith-Albee.
Thus, as Rusty Marks writes in the Charleston Gazette: “Like a beautiful heroine tied to the railroad tracks in an old-fashioned movie, the curtain could soon be coming down on West Virginia’s Grand Old Lady of Cinema.” More info is available at http://www.savekeithalbee.us.
Comments (2)
A treaure of a theater – It must be saved.
Once the few remaining treasures like the Keith Albee are gone they can never be replaced. No multiplex can provide the true theater experience of viewing a movie in one of these grand old palaces. GOD SAVE THE KEITH ALBEE!