Ahead at 35 Cottage Street, a projecting marquee juts out over the sidewalk of downtown Bar Harbor. Built in 1932 when Bar Harbor’s summer scene was at its height, this is one of only two Art Deco theaters in the state of Maine and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The building occupies 85 feet of Cottage Street frontage—your view includes the recessed entry and the projecting Art Deco marquee that reaches over the sidewalk.
The entrance sits between two storefronts; those flanking shops originally carried Art Deco details that have since been lost. The front portion you face is one story tall, while the rear—where the auditorium lives—is two stories and stretches back 154 feet. Inside, the lobby opens to the full width of the building behind those stores, and the theatre’s capacity is 877 seats across the main floor and balcony.
In recent years the theatre struggled for financial solvency but was purchased in 2014 by a nonprofit and, after a major renovation, reopened for business in May 2015. The projecting marquee still reaches over the sidewalk, and the two storefronts on either side hold the recessed entry between them along Cottage Street.