The Parkway Theatre started its life as an early example of movie exhibition showing monographs and Vitographs. An associate working for Henry Webb of The Parkway Amusement Co visited The West End Theatre in London and was impressed by its size and design that he sent photographs to Webb of the theatre. Webb immediately hired local architect Oliver Birkhead Wight to design the theatre patterned after The West End Theatre. The Auditorium which was done in an egg-shaped design contained 1,100 seats, two royal box loges, a 1915 moller organ and a beautiful dome with a sunburst suspended from the dome. The lobby had two marble staircases leading to the upper level which contained a tearoom with furniture, carpeting, chandeliers that were replicated from chandeliers from Versailles and Fountainbleau, and a fireplace with three windows overlooking North Avenue. The theatre called The Parkway Theatre opened to the public on the evening of October 23rd 1915 with the feature Zaza starring Pauline Frederick. In 1926 Loew's Theatre purchased both The Century (another well known baltimore theatre) and parkway and had both royal box loges removed, seating capacity reduced and the moller organ replaced by a Wurlitzer organ. The tearoom was divided in half for the installment of a bathroom. In 1952 the parkway was threatened when Morris Mechanic bought it and wanted it to be turned into office space, but the plan fell through and instead it was used for live performance space when it was leased to The Hilltop Players and in turned was called The Hilltop Theatre Parkway, but it only lasted for about 2 years until it was abandoned until 1956 when it became The 5 West Theatre with seats for roughly 460 people. The 5 West named after its own address showed foreign art films and other classics until 1977 when the decline of North Avenue put the 5 West out of business. In the 1980s a korean business group opened a small mini mart in the front foyer of the parkway and had a wall close off the stage and balcony area. The mart vacated in the late 1990s and much water damage and vandalizers wasn't kind to the empty theatre, but in 2015 the Maryland Film Festival purchased the theatre from the city and revitalized it as a Film Center called The Stavros Niachos Foundation Parkway Film Center which will reopen it doors on May 3rd 2017. Inside patrons will see a partial restorated lobby that shows new paint and original 1915 paint as well as new paint and old paint on the ceiling in the main auditorium. Next door was once a 19th century pharmacy and restaurant up until 2016 when it was torn down to make way for a new building that houses two smaller theatres and a bar. The Stavros Niachos Foundation Parkway Film Center will now be the new permanent home of The Maryland Film Festival. Don't miss out on May 3rd at 8pm when the parkway opens its doors and celebrates the 19th Annual Maryland Film Festival along with the grand reopening of The SNF Parkway Film Center. Film For Everyone, Every Day.
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