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Trojan Theater
513 Main Street
Landmark Designation: 1991
Construction Date: 1939
Architectural Style: Art-Deco
The Fox Theatre was built in 1939. The building is representative of the important role played by the movie theater on Main Street, not only in Longmont, but in communities across the country during the early and mid twentieth century. Theaters built during this era occupied prime downtown locations center to commerce and the community. They often provided continuous entertainment, generating a steady flow of pedestrian traffic which benefited merchants in the downtown retail area. Such theaters were an integral part of the commercial as well as the cultural and recreational fabric of the community.
Longmont's Fox Theatre was part of the entertainment enterprise of brothers Spyros and Charles Skouras of St. Louis. The Skouras brothers first worked with Warner Brothers and later headed the Fox Theatre empire which had theaters in communities across the nation. A trademark of the large chain was that each theater was operated on policy developed at the local level rather than under general corporate policy. This insured that each theater was responsive to the community in which it was located.
In 1960 Richard Klein purchased the property from the Fox Corporation and renamed it the Trojan Theater. During most of the next twenty-five years, although new theaters were built in other areas of town by Mr. Klein, the Trojan remained a solid commercial enterprise. In 1984, as retail business (and the movie trade) moved steadily out of the downtown area, the Trojan switched from a first run movie house to a theater which showed a variety of classic films. In July 1986, the theater closed for good, conceding to the modern realities of competition from mutiple-screen theaters located away from Main Street.
In 1990, using funds raised from donations and grants, the Longmont Theatre Company purchased he building and have converted the facility to a performing arts complex.
Reference
HPC 1991-1