ALEXANDRIA, VA—The storied Old Town Theater, which has been an entertainment venue for more than a century here, will be renovated and converted to retail use.
The Alexandria Planning Commission on Tuesday approved plans by locally-based PMA Properties to renovate the building on King Street for what will likely be retail or restaurant use. The Richmond Theater opened for business at the site in 1914, according to the Washington Business Journal.
"I think this property owner has down yeoman's work to preserve this," says Planning Commission Nathan Macek. "It's unfortunate the market isn't there for that use anymore."
The theater with its highly visible "OLD TOWN" marquis has operated over the years as a vaudeville venue, a dance hall and a movie theater.
PMA acquired the building in 2011 for $2 million and shuttered the theater in 2014 and put its contents up for auction. See story in the Washington Business Journal.
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