History

The Century 21 Theatre

A pencil drawing of a long, low building under a flat projecting canopy, with taller windowless walls rising behind it and the name FOX THEATRE at the right end of the front. — The architect’s rendering, published in Boxoffice in May 1966.
Architect’s rendering, Boxoffice, May 16, 1966. Courtesy moviejs1944 / Cinema Treasures.

Ben and Gary Antonoff built the Century 21 Theatre, and National General’s Fox Theatres opened it on December 22, 1966. It was a single-screen movie house with 1,065 seats at 1370 South Colorado Boulevard, designed by Crowther & Associates.

A black-and-white photograph from the street: a tall pylon topped with the number 21, and a marquee reading CENTURY 21 above Shirley MacLaine, Gambit and Michael Caine, in front of the building’s tall, windowless walls. — The Century 21 during its opening run of Gambit.
The Century 21 during the run of Gambit. Image: Chris1982 / Cinema Treasures, CC BY 3.0 (resized).

A newspaper advertisement headed Christmas Movie Treat at your Fox Theatres, with a drawing of Santa Claus. Its top box announces the new Century 21 at 1370 South Colorado Boulevard, showing Gambit with Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine; smaller boxes below list the chain’s other theatres. — The opening advertisement, December 23, 1966.
Fox Theatres advertisement, December 23, 1966. Courtesy rivest266 / Cinema Treasures (public domain).

A White Spot coffee shop sat beside it — one of the Denver chain William F. Clements started on South Broadway in 1947 and grew to twenty-nine restaurants.

A black-and-white photograph of a wide, open room: a long counter along the left wall, a round recess in the ceiling hung with small lights, an oval fixture beyond it, and a few slender standing posts on the bare floor. — The lobby and concession stand, as Boxoffice photographed them.
From Boxoffice. Image: DENNISMAHANEY1 / Cinema Treasures.

A black-and-white photograph from the back of the house: rows of upholstered seats divided by aisles, ribbed panels along the right-hand wall and a lit ceiling sweeping toward the front. — The auditorium, 1,065 seats.
From Boxoffice. Image: DENNISMAHANEY1 / Cinema Treasures, CC BY 3.0 (resized).

The Century 21 ran first-run pictures for twenty-six years, starting with Gambit, with Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. It was renovated as a THX house in the late 1980s, which made it a regular venue for the big action and science-fiction releases of the era. It closed in 1993, and the auditorium became a Soundtrack electronics store, later Ultimate Electronics.

The theatre came down in 2011 and 2012 to make way for the shopping center that carries its name.

Century 21 Plaza

Antonoff & Co. redeveloped the corner and completed Century 21 Plaza in 2013 — retail and restaurant space at the northeast corner of South Colorado Boulevard and East Arkansas Avenue. It won the Rocky Mountain Shopping Center Association’s inaugural STAR Award for New Construction over 20,000 square feet.

Although the beloved Century 21 Theatre building gave way to a high-visibility retail center, its iconic name endures on one of Denver’s busiest thoroughfares.