Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Princess entrance will be open for the festival!

This year, for the first time in many years, the Princess entrance of the Malco will be open and active. This is the historic entrance facing the Convention Center on Broadway. At this time I don't know whether the festival will accept credit cards at this entrance. Regardless, you can consider it your "secret" entrance when lines are long.


A little history on this entrance from the HSDFI Archives:

"The Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute and the Hot Springs Jazz Society held a celebration for the restoration of the Malco Theater's Princess entrance. The event took place on Saturday, June 21st from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Broadway Street Malco entrance. The original Princess Theater was built in 1910, and then purchased in 1927 by Mr. Sidney Nutt, a long-term Hot Springs resident. The Broadway Street Princess entrance was utilized from 1929 until 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was enacted."

"As one of only two such entrances known to still exist in the United States, the HSDFI board has mandated its preservation as a reminder of America's civil rights victories. The Princess Theater was destroyed by fire in December of 1935, and was rebuilt as the Malco."

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2 comments:

  1. donna casparianOctober 9, 2009 at 6:55 PM

    you need to be very clear WHY the Princess entrance is "historic" and preserved.... that is, it was the "colored entrance" to the theater... nothing to be proud of, but rather a reminder of life in Hot Springs' past.

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  2. Guy GallowayOctober 18, 2009 at 7:05 AM

    Thank you, Donna. That is correct. -G

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