704 East Broad Street
The National Theater is located outside of the Broad Street Historic District. It features an Italian Renassaince Revival exterior with Adamesque interior. The architect of the theater was C.K. Howell. The interior plaster work was done by Ferruccio Legnaioli. Vaudeville, silent movies and talkies have all been showcased at the National. The National was one of three theaters on this block. One was demolished and the facade of the other was incorporated into a modern office building. Historic Richmond Foundation and Preservation Virginia purchased the building and saved it from demolition in 1989. Twenty years later it was bought and restored into a concert venue for the city of Richmond.
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{Photo Credits: Exterior and Interior shots, Richard Cheek for Historic Richmond Foundation}