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The McDonald Theatre opened in 1925 as the grandest
theater in Eugene. The community theatre currently takes up nearly
half of the structure's ground-floor space. The building is on the
National Register of Historic Places and is a Eugene historic landmark.
The
McDonald Theatre was once considered the jewel in the crown of downtown
Eugene movie houses. Today, it is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places.
The venue hosted everything from traveling vaudeville
companies to major theatre productions.
But once, the theater anchored "the gut,"
the town's vital, bustling center. If you stood before the McDonald
-- with its huge, blaring vertical sign -- you could see the competing
Rex Theater, not half a block away, with the old Heilig Theater
at Willamette and 6th Street.
Converted to a movie house after the explosion of
popularity in motion pictures, the venue today supports live music,
plays, and other vibrant community gatherings.

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