Up-town at the Uptown

The long and excruciating slide into oblivion of the 1937 art deco Uptown Theater in Napa has been halted. By 1990 this movie palace had been converted to a discount second-run 4-plex movie house with sticky floors, vestiges of the old interior poking out in unexpected places, no air-conditioning, and broken seats.

I stopped by the theater on the afternoon before the grand-reopening, and found about 20 construction trucks lining the curbs and people furiously working to satisfy the building inspectors' temporary occupancy permit inspection.



A few days ago there were still plywood panels instead of doors in the entrance openings. It looked like the building inspector required the door panic hardware and closers be installed before the public could come in. With all the action, the mood was still upbeat and excited.



After the show by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy the crowd lingered under the restored marquee and canopy sparkling with neon and incandescent lights.

Check out the line up for the next few months at the Uptown Theater website.