Houston: The Heights Theater

The Heights Theater has survived more twists and turns than almost any other music venue in Houston, and its current life as a live-music hall is only the latest chapter in a story stretching back nearly a century. Built and opened on May 14, 1929 as a single-screen movie house at 339 W 19th Street, the Mission Revival-style building was remodeled into Art Moderne style in 1935 and expanded from its original 750 seats to as many as 950.

The building’s fortunes turned sharply in the decades that followed: it became an adult cinema in 1966, was gutted by an arson fire in June 1969, and then sat vacant or used as antiques retail space for nearly two decades. Gus and Sharon Kopriva purchased the building in 1988 and reopened it in November 1989 as an art gallery and event space, later earning a 1993 Good Brick Award for the building’s façade restoration. In 2015, Edwin Cabaniss — owner of the Kessler Theater in Dallas — purchased the property, extensively renovated it, and reopened it as a live-music venue in November 2016, the same year it received Protected Landmark status from the city.

Today The Heights Theater holds roughly 700 fans for mostly seated, listening-room-style shows that lean heavily on Americana, indie, and singer-songwriter acts, a booking philosophy well suited to a building whose entire history has been about careful preservation and revival. Its 2016 reopening is frequently credited as a catalyst for the broader revitalization of the Heights neighborhood’s 19th Street commercial strip.

For more on Houston’s live music landscape, Texas Music Map’s page on The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion covers the region’s largest outdoor amphitheater. Few Houston venues carry as much sheer architectural history as this one, making it a genuine landmark as much as a concert stop. Its intimate scale and historic charm continue to draw touring songwriters who might otherwise skip Houston in favor of larger rooms elsewhere in Texas.

I’ve been here ♪

I’ve been here ♪