Wanhua Theater

Originally known as Bangka Theater (艋舺戲園), the first theater in the area and only the second built by local Taiwanese residents after the project was initiated by district chief Huang Yinglin (黃應麟). The three-story building was completed in 1919, featured a reinforced brick façade, and had seating for 860 or more than a thousand according to different sources. Renamed when Bangka became Wanhua in 1920. It flourished through the post-war era but the 1970s Heping West Road widening forced it to cede land and reduce to a two-screen format; business further declined as commercial activity shifted east in the 1980s. Demolished in late 1993 for MRT construction and park development. Mengjia Park (艋舺公園) was completed in 2004; the former theater site is now the southeast entrance to the underground Longshan Shopping Center.