Located in: Bellefontaine, Ohio
The Holland Theatre was built using a “Dutch Style” of architecture, to create an atmospheric theatre, placing patrons in a full-scale depiction of a 17th-century Dutch village.
Schine Enterprises, a family company that built and operated about 150 theatres in six states through the middle years of the 20th Century, built the Holland Theatre in downtown Bellefontaine in 1931. The Schine’s Holland Theatre is the only Dutch-style atmospheric theatre in the United States, and perhaps the only one existing in the world. The Holland Theatre not only represents a nostalgic part of Logan County’s past, but it also offers new opportunities for the county’s future.
The three-story structure has a stepped, Flemish-style gable that hints at what awaited movie-goers inside. While 1,400 patrons sat in air-conditioned comfort, their eyes told them they were outdoors. The auditorium interior was designed as a convincing representation of a 17th-century Dutch cityscape. Blooming tulips waved gently in window boxes as two working windmills quietly stirred the air. The brick and timber-framed facades were careful reproductions, nearly actual size, of known buildings – one of which was the family home of the Holland’s architect, Peter Hulsken. Windows in these facades were dimly lit from within, giving the impression that they interiors were illuminated by candlelight. The ceiling was painted a deep blue, and tiny lights simulated flickering stars. A cloud machine completed the effect. The largest movie screen in Ohio, 40-feet long, filled the stage.
The Holland was eventually converted to a five-screen multiplex. The theatre’s balcony was split in half and converted into two screens, and two additional screens were constructed in the rear of the cinema where the stage previously existed. These severe alterations profoundly altered the Dutch atmospherics.
The theatre was closed in 1998, but with grand efforts on the part of the community and theatre fans, the building was reopened as a community theatre, hosting both visual and performing arts events, while a preservation group worked to restore the theatre.
In 2016 the Holland received a $430,000 Capital Campaign Challenge Grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation to restore the atmospheric environment. In 2022 the theatre was awarded a second Jeffris challenge grant to recreate the blade sign and marquee that had once graced the street front. Today the Holland Theatre is a vital cultural asset and notable landmark in Bellefontaine.
Photo credits – All photos by The Photo Booth, except “Ext Aerial” which is courtesy of Lee’s Roofing.
