The Coolidge Corner Theatre plays a starring role in its Brookline neighborhood, four miles west of downtown Boston. Initially a majestic Art Deco movie palace, the Coolidge has since emerged as a vibrant independent art house known for creative programming, such as themed film series and educational lectures, that draws cinephiles from throughout the Northeast. To further expand offerings and accommodate the growing audience’s needs, its leadership aspired to supplement the historic building with two new theaters, an event/community space, media library, and new lobby. They partnered with Boston-based firm Höweler + Yoon to preserve the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s distinctive character and prepare the spirited nonprofit institution for its next century of operation.
Situated along a low-rise commercial main street, the Coolidge commands attention, thanks to its soaring sunburst marquee and intricate Art Deco facade of cream-colored brick in patterned vertical bands. Prior to the addition, the theater’s entrance doors and exterior ticket window lacked such prominence, located around the corner in a side alley that leads to a rear parking lot. Whether blazing heatwave or snowy nor’easter, the Coolidge’s ticket line would stretch down this dim passageway, winding past a three-story steel fire escape scaled by the film-reel-lugging projectionist working the top-story projection booth. This precarious yet necessary climb, and other such idiosyncrasies, arose from the property’s ad hoc reconfigurations; originally constructed in 1906 as a Universalist church, in 1933 the space was transformed into a 1,500-seat movie house, and then later reworked into four smaller theaters with a cramped lobby.
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