CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - Downtown Theatre, Detroit MI

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120 W Adams Ave
Detroit MI

	Record #13267
Opened: September 26, 1927 Closed: 1950 Demolished: 1953	Capacity: 2950 seats Architect(s): Percival R Pereira Architectural Style(s): Atmospheric National Register: Current Organ: none
Also Known As: Oriental, RKO Downtown
Previously operated by: H&E Balaban Corporation

The Oriental, downtown Detroit's only atmospheric theater, opened on September 26, 1927, with the film "Blood Ship" and featured an orchestra led by Frank Musial. The theater was renamed the RKO Downtown in 1930. The Downtown saw legal troubles in 1933, denying a black couple seating on the "whites only" main floor. The theater closed in 1950 and was razed in 1953 to become a parking lot.

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Last featured 2002-12-27. Last edited 7/27/2022.

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