The staff at the Clay Theatre have been informed that the house will close on January 26. The landlord is rumored to have plans that might include demolishing the venerable theater.
In its issue of August 24, 1964, Boxoffice reported that workers were busy renovating the Capitol Theatre in Augusta, Maine, in preparation for its reopening. The Capitol had closed its doors in August, 1954. I’ve been unable to find any followup articles saying that the house did in fact reopen for movies after a decade of darkness, but the house was definitely used for live performances by the Augusta Players, a local community theater group who performed on its stage from 1964 to 1974.
Boxoffice of August 24, 1964, said that the Northland Cinema in Columbus had held its public opening on August 13. Originally a single-screen house operated by Cincinnati Theatres Co., the Northland featured a screen 60x25 feet and planned to show first-run movies.
Boxoffice of August 24, 1964 reported that the State Theatre in Pittsburg, Texas, had recently been destroyed by a fire. The house was unoccupied at the time, as the fire took place on a Sunday afternoon and the theater only operated on weekdays.
The August 24, 1964 issue of Boxoffice said that the new Cobb Center Theatre was designed by Robert W. Kahn Associates, the firm that designed the shopping center itself.
The August 24, 1964 issue of Boxoffice had a brief item dateline Merrick which said “[t]he Merrick Theatre here will be celebrating its second anniversary on Tuesday (25) with a champagne party.”
Architect Harvey Nathaniel Johnson designed the Attucks Theatre in collaboration with his mentor, Charles Thaddeus Russell, the first African American to establish an architectural practice in Richmond. The theater was one of several projects on which Johnson and Russell collaborated.
The December 2, 1974 issue of Boxoffice reported that the new Spectrum Twin Theatre in Tulsa had opened on November 15th. The two 80-foot wide auditoriums each featured screens 22x44 feet. The Spectrum was the eleventh house in the local chain Family Theatres Inc., operated by Marjorie Snyder.
The recently opened St. Vincent 6 was American Multi Cinema’s first operation in the state of Louisiana, according to an item in the June 27, 1977 issue of Boxoffice.
Sterling Recreation Organization bought the Tacoma Mall Theatre in July, 1972. Boxoffice of December 2, 1974 reported that SRO had held the grand opening of the remodeled Tacoma Mall Twin on November 27.
The Kingsley Twin was opened by ABC-Florida State Theatres in December, 1976. It was designed by the Columbus, Georgia architectural firm Brookbank, Murphy & Shields.
The size of the building and the timing of its opening suggest that the Radium Theatre was this project noted in the April 30, 1921 issue of The American Contractor:
“Theatre (M. P.): $17,000. 2 sty. 40x 107. Cape Charles, Va. Archt. B. B. Spigel, 112 Main St.. Norfolk. Owner Frank Parsons, Cape Charles & Capeville. Brk., t. c. trim. Plans drawn. Archt. ready for bids on gen. contr.”
Architect Bernard B. Spigel was practicing in Norfok at least as early as 1909, and as late as 1970.
Slotnik Enterprises (Cinema National’s parent company) expected to open their new Westhill Theatre in August, 1967, according to an article in the July 4 issue of the Syracuse Post-Standard.
The Alamo was listed in the 1914-1916 American Motion Picture Directory, but it is possible that the building was demolished by 1918, the year a house originally called the Garden Theatre, later the Abbott Theatre, and finally the Mecca Theatre opened at the same address.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists 716 Main Street as the location of the Alamo Theatre. A brochure with a walking tour of downtown Stillwater has this brief history of the Mecca Theatre, but doesn’t mention the Alamo:
“716 South Main was the location of another downtown movie theatre. It began as the
Garden Theatre in 1918, and then changed to the Abbott Theatre in 1921. It was the Mecca from 1926-1954. While other theatres showed ‘class a’ movies, the Mecca was known for showing mysteries, science fiction, and westerns, and was popular with kids on Saturday afternoon.”
It’s possible that the Alamo was simply overlooked by the authors of the brochure, or it may be that the earlier theater’s building was replaced by a new structure in 1918. I’ve been unable to find confirmation of either surmise.
The “Selig Masterpiece” The Coming of Columbus was released in 1912. Major productions such as this sometimes circulated for years after their initial release, but it’s possible that the Fireboys Theatre, as a significant house in a good sized town, got it early in its run.
I’ve found a number of references to this house, and several others, as the Orphium Theatre, mostly in the 1907-1910 period. The references are too common and occur in to many different publications to have all been typos, so it looks like the spelling Orphium was actually used by quite a few theaters for a while. Most of the houses using the variant appear to have been part of Gus sun’s circuit. There might have been some legal conflict between Sun and Martin Beck’s Orpheum circuit over the use of the name.
The September 7, 1918 issue of The Moving Picture World noted a planned expansion of the Nemo Theatre: “L. W. Barclay, of the Grand Amusement Co., Johnstown, Pa., [says] that the Nemo will be shut down to permit a balcony to be built, adding materially to the capacity of this house, which already seats 1,000.”
I notice that the page uploaded by rivest266 includes a courtesy ad from Wooten & Wooten, the local architecture and engineering firm that designed the Belvedere Theatre. I’ve been unable to find anything about the firm, as there is now an auction house of the same name that dominates search results.
The Valley Theatre was on East Center Street, about half a block north of South Street. The building is still standing, minus its marquee, and looks to be in good condition. It says Valley Christian Center on the front, but I don’t think it’s in use as a church, as the Valley Christian Center’s church is on a different street about a block away. It might be offices, but I don’t know for sure.
This multiplex is slated for demolition in early January, 2020. According to this article from The Post and Courier of Dec 20, 2019, it will be replaced by a 300-unit apartment complex. Regal’s lease expires January 1, and demolition will begin January 6. It was a rather short life for so large a theater.
The staff at the Clay Theatre have been informed that the house will close on January 26. The landlord is rumored to have plans that might include demolishing the venerable theater.
In its issue of August 24, 1964, Boxoffice reported that workers were busy renovating the Capitol Theatre in Augusta, Maine, in preparation for its reopening. The Capitol had closed its doors in August, 1954. I’ve been unable to find any followup articles saying that the house did in fact reopen for movies after a decade of darkness, but the house was definitely used for live performances by the Augusta Players, a local community theater group who performed on its stage from 1964 to 1974.
Boxoffice of August 24, 1964, said that the Northland Cinema in Columbus had held its public opening on August 13. Originally a single-screen house operated by Cincinnati Theatres Co., the Northland featured a screen 60x25 feet and planned to show first-run movies.
Boxoffice of August 24, 1964 reported that the State Theatre in Pittsburg, Texas, had recently been destroyed by a fire. The house was unoccupied at the time, as the fire took place on a Sunday afternoon and the theater only operated on weekdays.
The August 24, 1964 issue of Boxoffice said that the new Cobb Center Theatre was designed by Robert W. Kahn Associates, the firm that designed the shopping center itself.
The August 24, 1964 issue of Boxoffice had a brief item dateline Merrick which said “[t]he Merrick Theatre here will be celebrating its second anniversary on Tuesday (25) with a champagne party.”
Architect Harvey Nathaniel Johnson designed the Attucks Theatre in collaboration with his mentor, Charles Thaddeus Russell, the first African American to establish an architectural practice in Richmond. The theater was one of several projects on which Johnson and Russell collaborated.
The December 2, 1974 issue of Boxoffice reported that the new Spectrum Twin Theatre in Tulsa had opened on November 15th. The two 80-foot wide auditoriums each featured screens 22x44 feet. The Spectrum was the eleventh house in the local chain Family Theatres Inc., operated by Marjorie Snyder.
Prior to its acquisition by Plitt Southern Theatres in 1978, the Terrace Theatre I and II was operated by ABC Southeastern Theatres.
The recently opened St. Vincent 6 was American Multi Cinema’s first operation in the state of Louisiana, according to an item in the June 27, 1977 issue of Boxoffice.
Sterling Recreation Organization bought the Tacoma Mall Theatre in July, 1972. Boxoffice of December 2, 1974 reported that SRO had held the grand opening of the remodeled Tacoma Mall Twin on November 27.
The Kingsley Twin was opened by ABC-Florida State Theatres in December, 1976. It was designed by the Columbus, Georgia architectural firm Brookbank, Murphy & Shields.
The size of the building and the timing of its opening suggest that the Radium Theatre was this project noted in the April 30, 1921 issue of The American Contractor:
Architect Bernard B. Spigel was practicing in Norfok at least as early as 1909, and as late as 1970.Slotnik Enterprises (Cinema National’s parent company) expected to open their new Westhill Theatre in August, 1967, according to an article in the July 4 issue of the Syracuse Post-Standard.
The Alamo was listed in the 1914-1916 American Motion Picture Directory, but it is possible that the building was demolished by 1918, the year a house originally called the Garden Theatre, later the Abbott Theatre, and finally the Mecca Theatre opened at the same address.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists 716 Main Street as the location of the Alamo Theatre. A brochure with a walking tour of downtown Stillwater has this brief history of the Mecca Theatre, but doesn’t mention the Alamo:
It’s possible that the Alamo was simply overlooked by the authors of the brochure, or it may be that the earlier theater’s building was replaced by a new structure in 1918. I’ve been unable to find confirmation of either surmise.Here is an updated link to the PDF of the Downtown Stillwater walking tour, which has information about the town’s theaters.
The “Selig Masterpiece” The Coming of Columbus was released in 1912. Major productions such as this sometimes circulated for years after their initial release, but it’s possible that the Fireboys Theatre, as a significant house in a good sized town, got it early in its run.
The Royal is one of the very early Lima movie houses mentioned in this article from The Lima News.
I’ve found a number of references to this house, and several others, as the Orphium Theatre, mostly in the 1907-1910 period. The references are too common and occur in to many different publications to have all been typos, so it looks like the spelling Orphium was actually used by quite a few theaters for a while. Most of the houses using the variant appear to have been part of Gus sun’s circuit. There might have been some legal conflict between Sun and Martin Beck’s Orpheum circuit over the use of the name.
The September 7, 1918 issue of The Moving Picture World noted a planned expansion of the Nemo Theatre: “L. W. Barclay, of the Grand Amusement Co., Johnstown, Pa., [says] that the Nemo will be shut down to permit a balcony to be built, adding materially to the capacity of this house, which already seats 1,000.”
I notice that the page uploaded by rivest266 includes a courtesy ad from Wooten & Wooten, the local architecture and engineering firm that designed the Belvedere Theatre. I’ve been unable to find anything about the firm, as there is now an auction house of the same name that dominates search results.
The Valley Theatre was on East Center Street, about half a block north of South Street. The building is still standing, minus its marquee, and looks to be in good condition. It says Valley Christian Center on the front, but I don’t think it’s in use as a church, as the Valley Christian Center’s church is on a different street about a block away. It might be offices, but I don’t know for sure.
This multiplex is slated for demolition in early January, 2020. According to this article from The Post and Courier of Dec 20, 2019, it will be replaced by a 300-unit apartment complex. Regal’s lease expires January 1, and demolition will begin January 6. It was a rather short life for so large a theater.
Forgot to add this: Here is the web site for the King Theatre.