# Unique Theater

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thumb|Site of the Unique Theater just prior to its construction (1903)
The '''Unique Theater''' was an 830-seat [vaudeville](/source/vaudeville) theater, built in 1904 on [Hennepin Avenue](/source/Hennepin_Avenue) in downtown [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis), [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota). It was built in the [Renaissance Revival](/source/Renaissance_Revival) style, and situated between the [Hennepin Center for the Arts](/source/Hennepin_Center_for_the_Arts) and the [West Hotel](/source/West_Hotel).

The hotel catered to a family audience with daily performances priced at ten or twenty cents.<ref name=HCA>{{cite book|title=The History of Hennepin Center for the Arts|last=Balcom|first=Thomas|publisher=Mill City History Associates|year=1989|pages=5|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota}}</ref>

==History==
The theatre was used as a morgue after the West Hotel caught on fire next door.<ref name="demo"/>

[Charlie Chaplin](/source/Charlie_Chaplin) performed at the Unique very early in his career.<ref name=Treasure>{{cite web|url=https://cinematreasures.org/theater/4635/|title=Unique Theater|last=Krefft|first=Bryan|publisher=Cinema Treasures|access-date=2007-12-22}}</ref>

When vaudeville declined in the 1920s, however, the theater became a single-screen [movie theater](/source/movie_theater), built in the [Renaissance Revival](/source/Renaissance_Revival) style.<ref name=Treasure />

The theatre was torn down in 1943 after being called a "menace to the public" due to poor structural integrity.<ref name="demo">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/182693429/|title=It's the 'Last Curtain' for Unique Theater|first=Joe|last=McDermott|date=July 18, 1943|publisher=Minneapolis Star-Tribune}}</ref> Following demolition, the [lot](/source/lot_(real_estate)) it had  occupied was repurposed as a [parking lot](/source/parking_lot).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mndance.org/contact/map_directions.html|title=Map & Directions|publisher=Minnesota Dance Theatre & The Dance Institute|access-date=2007-12-22|archive-date=2008-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413105301/http://www.mndance.org/contact/map_directions.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
(This was planned to be occupied by part of a [Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center](/source/Minnesota_Shubert_Performing_Arts_and_Education_Center),<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.mnshubert.org/Release.html |title=Minnesota Shubert Center receives $11 million from Legislature |date=2007-05-22 |access-date=2007-12-23 |publisher=Minnesota Schubert Performing Arts and Education Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120180524/http://www.mnshubert.org/Release.html |archive-date=November 20, 2008 }}</ref> 
which was realized near the ''end'' of that century—though that eventual result entailed construction of a new building, which was—years later, without having opened to the public—raised from its foundation, and moved several blocks away, by extraordinary measures.<!-- I hope I've restated these extraordinary details faithfully, before saving, but I will have to come back and check, in order to be sure -->

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Movie theaters in Minneapolis}}
{{Coord|44|58|45.5|N|93|16|25|W|display=title}}

Category:Theatre in Minneapolis
Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in Minnesota
Category:Former cinemas and movie theaters in the United States
Category:Theatres completed in 1904
Category:Demolished theatres in the United States
Category:1904 establishments in Minnesota
Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1943
Category:1943 disestablishments in Minnesota
Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Minneapolis

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Unique Theater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_Theater) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_Theater?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.