DeLuxe Theater

Significance

The DeLuxe Theater opened in April 1941 on Lyons Avenue in the heart of the Fifth Ward as a premier movie house for Black Houstonians, one of the few theaters open to them during segregation. The Streamline Moderne theater operated for 28 years until it closed in 1969, after the end of segregated movie theaters. In 1971 the empty theater housed the DeLuxe Show, one of the first racially integrated exhibitions of contemporary art, sponsored by the Menil Foundation. The building then sat vacant for decades. The Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation bought it in 1998, it was determined eligible for the National Register in 2008, and the City of Houston acquired it in 2009. Renovation began in 2014 through a partnership of the city, Texas Southern University, and the Fifth Ward CRC, and it reopened as a 125 seat performing arts theater.

Climate risks tracked

Fifth Ward streets drain toward Hunting and Buffalo bayous and flooded in storms such as Hurricane Harvey, so the theater's ground level lobby, stage, and equipment rooms need protection: raised electrical and sound systems, backflow valves, and a plan for temporary barriers at the storefront entrance. The Streamline Moderne facade and marquee are the theater's identity, and the marquee's sign structure must be securely anchored against hurricane wind. A large flat roofed auditorium absorbs intense summer heat, so a reflective roof membrane, which is invisible from Lyons Avenue, and efficient cooling help a community venue stay usable during heat waves.

Use the preservation assistant to talk through retrofit strategies for these specific threats.

Location

Nearby landmarks

• 1949 · Mid-Century community center

  Julia C. Hester House