Arlington Theater
The Arlington Theatre became a popular location for community events, and in 1940 hosted then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for a charity Christmas Party held by the Kiwanis Club.
On August 16, 1940, the Arlington Sun reported the opening the new Arlington Theatre. Located at the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Fillmore Street, the building had a popular Art Deco style façade and could seat over 600 moviegoers at a time. The new theater was part of a boom in cinema construction around the county, and in Arlington Theatre it joined the Wilson, Ashton, and Buckingham Theatres.
The Arlington Theatre was a part of a larger building called the Arlington Recreation Center, which included commercial storefronts, a pharmacy, and a 24-lane bowling alley on the second and third floors. The bowling alley featured “modern, high speed” alleys and acoustical soundproofing.
According to the Center for Local History, the Arlington Theatre drew major media attention for its inaugural night. Its opening was covered in a special section of the August 16, 1940, edition of The Sun, where it was featured alongside pieces on the broader growth and development around the Columbia Pike area.
The Arlington Theatre became a popular location for community events, and in 1940 hosted then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for a charity Christmas Party held by the Kiwanis Club. During World War II, the theater was a place to buy bonds and defense stamps to support the troops.
In 1985, the building transitioned to its modern iteration as the Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse, which still operates today. It stands as one of the last operational cinema buildings from the heyday of the 1930s and 1940s construction and includes the Arlington Theatre’s original theater behind its movie screen with lighting, storage, and a green room. The Cinema seats up to 275 guests and features both movie screenings and live entertainment.
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