The Fairborn Theatre is a historic

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

in the city of

Fairborn Fairborn is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 34,620 at the 2020 census. Fairborn is a suburb of Dayton, and part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the only city in the world named Fairborn, a port ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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. Built soon after World War II in an Air Force community, it has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

because of its aviation-themed architecture.

Architecture

Architects Lloyd Zeller and Herman Hunter designed the theater,Fairborn Theatre, Fairborn
,

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2012. Accessed 2012-12-31. which is built of brick on a concrete foundation and covered with an

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roof. Built by the C.W. Fry Construction Company, it comprised a thousand-seat theater when it opened in 1948. Located near an

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

facility,

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

,Ohio Aids Fairborn Theater's $5.5 Million Upgrade
, ''

Dayton Business Journal Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

'', 2010-10-23. Accessed 2012-12-31. the theater features period aviation-related elements such as an interior painting of soldiers and aircraft of World War II.Local Structures Deemed Historic
, ''

'', 2005-08-22. As an example of

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

architecture, the theater includes elements such as streamlining and metal detailing. Its location along State Route 444 makes it an example of Fairborn's automobile-related commercial development.

Preservation

Chakeres Theatres operated the Fairborn Theatre from 1948 until the early 1970s, when it was temporarily closed to be remodelled into a two-screen operation. Following remodelling, the theater ran until January 2000, when Chakeres ceased operating it; the company retained ownership until 2002, when it donated the building to a Fairborn arts organization. Soon afterward, more than ten years of renovation began; carried on largely by volunteers with a small budget, renovations have included ridding the building of

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

, roof maintenance, and removing the wall separating the two theater rooms to restore them to their original one-room format.Crowe, Amanda.
The Future of the Fairborn Theatre
, '' Fairborn Daily Herald'', 2012-12-02. Accessed 2013-01-01. Some of the estimated $5.5 million cost of restoring the theater was paid by the Ohio Department of Development, which in 2010 granted $48,000

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

money to the arts organization. In 2005, the Fairborn Theatre was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, qualifying because of its historically significant architecture. It is one of three register-listed properties in Fairborn, along with the 1924 Bath Township Consolidated School and the 1799 Mercer Log House.

References

{{NRHP in Greene County, Ohio Theatres completed in 1948 Buildings and structures in Greene County, Ohio Fairborn, Ohio Streamline Moderne architecture in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Ohio Cinemas and movie theaters in Ohio