If it were possible, we should find every ‘contribution’ by this user and trash them. They are the worst. Every entry has made up streets, the wrong building, bad dates, etc.
I suppose this could have later become the Lyric, but there are other candidates. It would be nice if the 1923 map was available online. Should be by now, but the LoC hasn’t scanned it.
Address is wrong, there is no 160. Correct address is 128, although historically the address was 126, with 124 and 128 being small stores beside the entry.
Now a Mexican restaurant, with a tacky fake antique dryvit facade. The building is very old, appearing on the first map of town, from 1886. Still a restaurant on the 1940 map.
This may have been damaged by a tornado in May of ‘24. If anyone can confirm the building is still standing, it would be appreciated.
SethG
commented about
Theatreon
Sep 6, 2024 at 1:24 pm
I do not think this was the opera house. There was one on the second floor of a building in downtown, and still operating on the 1914 map. I will add that.
By the way, the name is wrong. The APT performs at the Victory, but the name is still simply Victory. Here’s a better link, which includes some better history than the listing supplies. https://www.thevictorytheater.com/
The information in the listing is obviously bogus. There were numerous theaters in NWA before 1927, and there were at least two in Rogers before this one. The theater is currently closed for repairs due to tornado damage, and the theater company is performing elsewhere for the time being.
Not sure about the address. There is an old building at 310, and it doesn’t look like a theater. The 1914 map is the latest available, and it shows the southern half of the block as it is today. The vacant lot in the middle of the block was a large dealership. The area where 308 and 310 are today is vacant on that map. There was a large hotel on the corner where the cruddy metal shed is. 310 looks like it was cheaply built sometime before 1930 out of concrete blocks. It certainly could have fit 275 people, so it might have been converted into a small theater.
Obviously not a white brick building, but yellow, and there’s no marble. Sometime in the last 8 years or so the marquee has been replaced. I assume it’s a reproduction. The facade, which was looking pretty shabby, has been retouched, although it seems that they ‘replaced’ the missing vitrolite panels by painting the gaps black.
I think this whole listing needs to be junked, or at the very least, all of the pictures deleted and the correct address found. There are absolutely no theaters on Dickinson until the U-Ark appears on the 1948 map. If the Park ever existed, it must have been somewhere else.
The information here is incorrect, and very muddled. First, nothing can be ‘5 buildings north’ of the U-Ark on a street that runs E-W. 644 is across the street, and a bit to the east of the U-Ark. Second, this building was not built in 1930, and it was probably never a theater. The 1948 map is the first it appears on, and shows it as a bowling alley and dance hall built in 1947. The layout is identical to today’s, save for the tacky fake retro fill in the center. If there ever was a Park, it either opened much later, or it was somewhere else.
The information about the site is wrong. The sad little park is next door to the theater. It’s hard to tell under the ugly dryvit remodel, but the front of the theater building is likely still there. It’s a pizza place.
Function should be changed. This is office suites. The building was built between 1914 and 1922 as a garage, and still has that function on the 1936 map. Sometime between 1936 and 1948, St. Nicholas Ave was renamed to Broadway. The street to the south, which had already changed from Iron to 8th to 9th, became Central.
Needs to be listed as demolished. Was probably destroyed in the fire. The little store there now has sills at the very top that match the second story in the photo.
The only thing on Spring that looks remotely ‘new’ is the Roxy at 95. 43-47 are the remains of an old stone building, heavily modified. Might have been there as well.
If it were possible, we should find every ‘contribution’ by this user and trash them. They are the worst. Every entry has made up streets, the wrong building, bad dates, etc.
I suppose this could have later become the Lyric, but there are other candidates. It would be nice if the 1923 map was available online. Should be by now, but the LoC hasn’t scanned it.
That repulsive wood siding was removed around 2018, and a tile front was either revealed or applied.
Address is wrong, there is no 160. Correct address is 128, although historically the address was 126, with 124 and 128 being small stores beside the entry.
Now a Mexican restaurant, with a tacky fake antique dryvit facade. The building is very old, appearing on the first map of town, from 1886. Still a restaurant on the 1940 map.
I’ve added a photo from my visit years ago.
This may have been damaged by a tornado in May of ‘24. If anyone can confirm the building is still standing, it would be appreciated.
I do not think this was the opera house. There was one on the second floor of a building in downtown, and still operating on the 1914 map. I will add that.
Has suffered a disgusting dryvit remodel.
By the way, the name is wrong. The APT performs at the Victory, but the name is still simply Victory. Here’s a better link, which includes some better history than the listing supplies. https://www.thevictorytheater.com/
The theater is owned by the city.
The information in the listing is obviously bogus. There were numerous theaters in NWA before 1927, and there were at least two in Rogers before this one. The theater is currently closed for repairs due to tornado damage, and the theater company is performing elsewhere for the time being.
Not sure about the address. There is an old building at 310, and it doesn’t look like a theater. The 1914 map is the latest available, and it shows the southern half of the block as it is today. The vacant lot in the middle of the block was a large dealership. The area where 308 and 310 are today is vacant on that map. There was a large hotel on the corner where the cruddy metal shed is. 310 looks like it was cheaply built sometime before 1930 out of concrete blocks. It certainly could have fit 275 people, so it might have been converted into a small theater.
Note that there does not appear to be an older Lyric for this to be a ‘New’ version of.
Obviously not a white brick building, but yellow, and there’s no marble. Sometime in the last 8 years or so the marquee has been replaced. I assume it’s a reproduction. The facade, which was looking pretty shabby, has been retouched, although it seems that they ‘replaced’ the missing vitrolite panels by painting the gaps black.
I think this whole listing needs to be junked, or at the very least, all of the pictures deleted and the correct address found. There are absolutely no theaters on Dickinson until the U-Ark appears on the 1948 map. If the Park ever existed, it must have been somewhere else.
The information here is incorrect, and very muddled. First, nothing can be ‘5 buildings north’ of the U-Ark on a street that runs E-W. 644 is across the street, and a bit to the east of the U-Ark. Second, this building was not built in 1930, and it was probably never a theater. The 1948 map is the first it appears on, and shows it as a bowling alley and dance hall built in 1947. The layout is identical to today’s, save for the tacky fake retro fill in the center. If there ever was a Park, it either opened much later, or it was somewhere else.
The information about the site is wrong. The sad little park is next door to the theater. It’s hard to tell under the ugly dryvit remodel, but the front of the theater building is likely still there. It’s a pizza place.
The theater was built in 1905. The front was always offices. The auditorium has been demolished, and this has suffered a nasty dryvit remodel.
The opera house was constructed before 1892. See that listing.
Thanks for the IDs!
Function should be changed. This is office suites. The building was built between 1914 and 1922 as a garage, and still has that function on the 1936 map. Sometime between 1936 and 1948, St. Nicholas Ave was renamed to Broadway. The street to the south, which had already changed from Iron to 8th to 9th, became Central.
The historical address was 1004 St. Nicholas Ave. That changed to the current scheme between 1936 and 1948.
Needs to be listed as demolished. Was probably destroyed in the fire. The little store there now has sills at the very top that match the second story in the photo.
I am pretty sure the opening date is wrong. The plaque on the building reads ‘Teague Newman Phillips 1947’.
The only thing on Spring that looks remotely ‘new’ is the Roxy at 95. 43-47 are the remains of an old stone building, heavily modified. Might have been there as well.