Overview

The Uptown Theater is an example of an Art Moderne theater. 

• Location: 2900 Hennepin Avenue
• Neighborhood: East Isles

Guidelines

See design guidelines

Historic profile

The Uptown Theater is an example of an Art Moderne theater. It opened as the Lagoon Theatre and was renamed in 1929. The original Renaissance Revival building was damaged in a fire. Well-known theater architects Liebenberg and Kaplan repaired and modernized it in 1939.

The exterior is pink and buff Kasota sandstone with horizontal banding. Kasota sandstone was often used in Art Deco/Moderne buildings in Minnesota. There is a large round carving on each of the principal elevations. One shows dancing ballerinas and the other shows various movie themes.

A large marquee is located on the Hennepin Avenue side. Rising up from the marquee, there is a three-sided, 60-foot-tall vertical tower. The tower has the theater's name on each side and a flashing beacon on the top. It was the first three-sided tower on a movie theater in the U.S.

In the 1990s, the owners restored the lobby and the second-floor lounge area using the 1939 plans. This included re-creating two murals in the auditorium. The murals were originally created by local artist Gustav Krollman. They were carved from Acousti-Celotex, a material created from sugar cane that absorbs sound. One mural depicts early inhabitants gazing upon the future of Minneapolis. The other shows the Father of the Waters presiding over a group of water sprites. It symbolizes the lakes of Minneapolis.

The theater closed in 2020. It reopened in 2023 as a live event venue.