Lee Theater

The Lee Theater in central Little Rock is an old abandoned movie theater that reflects accurately the time period in which it was built. The theater was built in 1940 in the Art Moderne style, which grew from the Art Deco style of the 1920s. But its construction also showcases another aspect of life in the South - segregation.



The theater was designed by Jack Corgan, who worked out of an architectural firm based in Dallas. The firm designed over 400 movie and drive-in theaters across several states. Corgan would also help design a terminal for Chicago's Love Field (which included the first ever moving walkway in an airport), and also the JFK Memorial in Dallas. The Art Moderne style became popular during the Great Depression, and it can be found in the Lee Theater's facade. The front of the building has a "large expanse of decorative tile and stucco on the front façade, patterned tile bands, streamlined awnings, neon lighting, round windows."

But the interior was designed for segregation. The Lee Theater had a seating capacity for 950 people on two floors, however the balcony was reserved for "Negro" use only. Besides the balcony, the theater also had a separate entrance and bathrooms. The goal of the separation was so that Black people "[would] not come in contact with white patrons in any way nor at any time,” which according to a news article from the time was a "wise precaution in the South." But theater balconies were not an ideal place to watch a movie, with it being farthest away from the screen and at an elevated angle that was not calibrated for the projector. The segregated balconies would become known derisively as the "peanut gallery," the "buzzard's roost" or the "crow's nest."

The Lee Theater showed movies until 1957, when it closed and the building was used by an electrical supply company. When that company relocated to a different building, the Lee Theater was left empty and vacant. It was about this time that segregation would officially end in Little Rock, thanks to a judge's order in 1963 that opened the city's movie theaters and Robinson Center to Black people on an equal basis with white people.

The Lee Theater never re-opened, and it sat empty for decades. A few years ago, part of the roof collapsed and also brought down the old balcony. It now sits in a tall pile of rubble in what would have been the lobby of the old theater. When I visited last week, the only one going through the narrow gap in the boarded-up door inside was this stray cat, who seemed to be living inside. 

On the side of the theater, trees and vines have grown up alongside the old building.





The Lee Theater was named one of the state's most endangered historic places in 2015 by Preserve Arkansas. Despite its condition, the Lee Theater stands as the only stand-alone movie theater built before World War II that is still standing in Little Rock. Although it is not sure how much longer the brick and stucco walls of this old place will withstand the forces of weather, gravity or the bulldozer.