Church Answers Prayers for Capitol Hill Movie Theater

The original 1929 theater seats at historic Meader's Theater; photo courtesy of the National Community Church

If there are neighborhood residents who have hoped and prayed for a movie theater to open on Capitol Hill – your prayers may soon be answered.

That’s because an interdenominational church based on Capitol Hill is moving forward with plans to restore and operate the historic Meader’s Theater on Barracks Row.

Church leaders say a restored movie theater is on track to open as early as next year, and eventually the theater could show first-run, second-run or classic films, in addition to serving as a community and event premiere space for the Barracks Row community.

The church says it will operate the theater like any other business, except that ticket sales will support the mission and ministry work of the church– both locally and abroad.

For almost 50 years the space, located near Eighth and G Street Southeast, was operated by another church, the People’s Church. That was until March, when the building changed hands after a $3 million cash offer was made by the National Community Church (NCC), appropriately nicknamed “the theater church.”

NCC is a multi-site church group which also owns and operates Ebenezer Coffeehouse. The church says it will spend a half-million dollars to restore the movie theater back to its original neoclassical grandeur.

Before the building underwent its religious conversion, the space was a movie and arts house for more than half-a-century. Originally opened in 1909 as Meader’s Theater, it changed names and ownership several times throughout history. You can read more about the theater’s history from The Hill is Home’s ‘Lost Capitol Hill’ series.

The planned restoration by NCC will preserve the original 1929 theater seating; refurbish the lobby’s tile ceiling; and build a facade, which will recreate the 1930’s-era ticket window and marquee sign.

Before moving to Barracks Row, the church operated services for thirteen years in the Union Station movie theater, which, until its 2008 closing, was the only movie theater within walking distance of Capitol Hill.

“Movie theaters have always been a great space for our church,” said Pastor Mark Batterson. “We host services in a number of Washington area movie theaters because the spaces are dark on Sunday mornings; we get comfortable seating, big screens and the smell of popcorn.”

The church rented the space until the Union Station theater shutdown. It took NCC almost a year-and-a-half to find their current space on Eighth Street.

“It’s sort of ironic that we got our start at the Union Station movie theater, and now we are in a position to bring a theater back to Capitol Hill,” said Pastor Mark. He says the church is one of the few in the country to own and operate a movie theater, and he says the business will run similar to how the church manages Ebenezer Coffeehouse.

“The business operation will run as its own entity,” he said. “We are all about being in the marketplace to serve our community.  We started on Capitol Hill and most of our staff lives here. It’s really our base of operation.”

Renovations to the theater are pushing forward. Projects that do not require permits such as reopening the theater’s balcony and changing the stage layout are complete. Other projects, such as the facade work, depend on the speed of the permitting process. Pastor Mark says his church is working with Barracks Row Main Street, ANC6B leaders and historic preservation leaders to make sure that the community is involved.

Ultimately, the goal will be to show movies that interest the community he said.

“We know that there’s a growing population of families on Capitol Hill, so we would love to serve those families with films geared toward children. We also are willing to pay a premium for equipment that will allow the church to do first-run movies.”

It remains to be seen what types of movies will be shown on the single screen theater, but Pastor Mark said feedback on the restoration efforts have been positive so far.

“There’s not really anything quite like this on Capitol Hill right now, and we think it can provide a pretty unique amenity to the neighborhood.”

If you have questions, comments or input for the “theater church” renovations on Eighth Street, please post your comments in the feed below and Pastor Mark will respond directly to your post.