Buchanan Theatre

The Buchanan Theatre is a historic theater in Buchanan, Virginia. It was built in 1917 and underwent a 1949 renovation in the Moderne style. The brick building is two-storied, with apartments occupying the second floor. The theater closed in 1985 and sat empty until being purchased in 1999 and renovated over the next 18 months. It reopened as a movie house and community theater in 2002.

History
The theater was built in 1917 and opened as the Star Theatre; its name changed to the Buchanan Theatre in 1931. The business was purchased in 1946 by Jack and Homer Jackson, and three years later the brothers remodeled the theater in the Moderne style with elements of Art Deco. The theater's triangular neon marquee dates to this remodel, as do a pair of cast concrete plaques on the façade. The interior includes a knotty-pine paneled lobby and a concession stand in the Streamline style. The auditorium seats roughly 200 in Moderne-style chairs.

The Buchanan closed in the aftermath of the 1985 Election Day floods. It remained empty until 1999 when it was purchased by Dale and Gloria Carter, who spent the next 18 months renovating the building. The theater reopened on November 1, 2002, with a showing of The Majestic starring Jim Carrey. A DVD projection system was used until its replacement with a digital projector in 2012.

The theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. It is also a contributing structure to the Buchanan Historic District.