A two-storey 1924 theatre on 5th Avenue that began life as a vaudeville and silent film house, was nearly demolished in the 1980s, and rescued by the Olympia Film Society — which still operates it as a year-round arthouse cinema, live music venue and festival space.
The interior is the appeal: pressed-tin ceiling, original projector booth, a balcony, an upright piano usually wheeled to the front for silent-film screenings. The annual Olympia Film Festival in November fills the theatre for a week of independent, documentary and experimental cinema.