During the 1930s, several modern cinemas operated in Zaliakalnis. One of these was the 800-seat "Ausra" cinema building, designed in 1938 and built in 1939. It was designed by civil engineer Kazimieras Sienkevicius. The two-story building has an irregular, curved plan. The exterior of the building is quite simple and modern. It is divided by vertical, in some places paired, window openings and wide planes of smooth walls between them. The first floor is more decorative than the rest of the volume, with horizontal articulation given by narrow decorative lines and a small, slightly rounded canopy over the main entrance. The laconic appearance of the building is diversified by the rounded central part, which has vertical articulation - vertical window openings and decorative pillars, between which there are decorative circles at the top. This cinema started operating on December 31st, 1939. Its repertoire was dominated by American, French, and Russian films, a number which were shown with subtitles. It was a modern, cheap, and popular cinema, which had all the conditions for the comfort of the audience (aesthetic environment, automatic air ventilation, good heating). The cinema also had an original interior design. Unfortunately, it has not been preserved to this day. Currently, the Kaunas Squash Club operates in the building.
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