Closure Imminent for Lincoln Theatre

The historic Lincoln Theatre is running out of operational funding, and the city, which owns the theater, says the current budget doesn't include money for the U Street landmark.

The theater, one of the District's most famous landmarks, may be forced to close.

"I don't know how the Lincoln's gonna survive another year," said Jim Graham, Ward 1 councilmember, who sits on the theater's board of directors.

Graham and the other Lincoln board members are holding an emergency meeting Wednesday evening to decide what comes next.

This isn't the first time the Lincoln has been on the brink of closure. Officials were set to announce the theater's closure this summer, but city leaders were able to inject $250,000 of funding at the last minute.

Lincoln Theatre first opened in 1922 to serve D.C.'s black community at a time when segregation kept them from visiting other vees. It was restored and reopened in 1994, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.