Vul. Lychakivska, 131 – cinema (no longer in operation) ID: 1786

A movie theater operated in the building at what is now vul. Lychakivska 131 under changing names and ownership: the "Y. Halan Movie Theater" (1955–early 1990s) and the "I. Mykolaichuk Movie Theater" (1990s). Today (as of 2012), the theater building houses a book depository for the Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Lviv.

Story

The Y. Halan Movie Theater was constructed according to a standard design in the so-called Stalinist Empire style. The theater's auditorium had a seating capacity of 300.

The cinema officially opened on August 25, 1955, with a screening of the film Knyazhna Meri  (1955, Gorky Film Studio).

The building also featured a reading room and a concession stand for visitors. In 1966, the theater employed 30 people, making it one of the largest cinemas in the city at the time. However, its profits remained modest. For instance, an explanatory note concerning a budget shortfall in 1966 pointed out that the Y. Halan theater's repertoire included many artistically weak films, while high-grossing box office hits were only screened there after completing their runs across all other centralized downtown theaters (such as the "Lviv", "Suputnyk", and "Kyiv" cinemas). According to 1989 statistics, the Y. Halan theater drew an annual attendance of 263,889 viewers. In the 1990s, the theater was renamed in honor of Ivan Mykolaichuk.

Today (as of 2012), the former theater premises serve as a book depository for the Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Lviv.

Architecture

The building features a roughly rectangular footprint and stands detached on its plot. The main façade is symmetrical, dominated by a portico with two Ionic columns that support an entablature and an overlying pediment. In the center of the pediment is an arched opening, encircled by the inscription "Mykolaichuk Movie Theater".

On both sides of the entrance portico, the walls are decorated with paired pilasters featuring Ionic capitals. Rectangular recesses are set into the walls between the pilasters, designed to display movie posters.

On the square in front of the theater, several elements of the original landscaping have survived — a plaster flower vase dating back to the 1950s (coinciding with the theater's construction) and flowerbeds from the 1970s, the period when the square was likely paved with standard reinforced concrete slabs.

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