You are here

Iowa » Mississippi River—East » Burlington » Capitol Theater

Capitol Theater

-A A +A
1937, Wetherell and Harrison. 213 N. 3rd St.
  • Capitol Theater (David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim)

This shimmering gold, orange, and black glazed terracotta motion picture theater asserts its presence on the street with great force. The use of such brilliant colors and reflective surfaces meant, of course, that the 1930s facade and marquee would grip one's attention as firmly during the day as they would at night when everything was lighted by neon and incandescent lights. The design theme of this Streamline Moderne theater is established by the play between the narrow, emphatically vertical banding of the terracotta facade against the horizontality of the wedge-shaped marquee. The Des Moines firm of Wetherell and Harrison designed a number of theater buildings during the 1930s in Iowa.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
×

Data

What's Nearby

Hedges Block
First Congregational Church
Burlington City Hall
YWCA Building
Memorial Auditorium

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Capitol Theater", [Burlington, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-ME023.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,