Valencia Theatre

The Valencia Theatre (formerly the Loew's Valencia Theatre) is a church and former theater at 165-11 Jamaica Avenue in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Designed by John Eberson as a movie palace, it opened on January 11, 1929, as one of five Loew's Wonder Theatres in the New York City area. The theater has been occupied by the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People since 1977. It is a New York City designated landmark.

The Valencia Theatre occupies an L-shaped site and is divided into two sections: the lobby section and the auditorium. The lobby section, decorated in a Spanish and Mexican Baroque style, has an elaborate brick-and-terracotta facade with a marquee and ornate finials. The entrance leads to a lobby and foyer, which are also decorated in Spanish styles. The auditorium has 3,500 seats on two levels, with an elaborately decorated proscenium arch, walls, and ceilings. Like the other Wonder Theaters, the Valencia Theatre featured a "Wonder Morton" theater pipe organ manufactured by the Robert Morton Organ Company, though the organ has since been removed.

In December 1926, the builder Ralph Riccardo acquired the site and leased it to Paramount-Publix. Allied Owners Inc. took over the theater site and developed it starting in 1928, leasing the venue to Loew's Theatres. The Valencia Theatre originally presented films and live shows, and it had a regional monopoly on the first runs of films. The live shows were discontinued within five years of the theater's opening. The theater slowly declined after World War II, and it closed in June 1977 due to high costs and low attendance. The Tabernacle of Prayer took over the theater for a nominal fee and spent $250,000 on renovations, moving into the theater in October 1977. Since then, the Valencia has functioned as a church. Over the years, the theater has been praised for its architecture.