The KS Historical Society entry for this makes no mention of a Palm Garden (neither does the theater website), and says that the building, which originally contained a gym and basement swimming pool (which apparently still exists) was used as a community center for about 10 years. It was also used as a hospital during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918-19. The church apparently sold the building in 1920.
Both the KSHS and theater website agree that it was converted to the Isis in 1924, although the KSHS says conversion began in October 1923. The opening date seems to have been late May of 1924. There’s a note on the KSHS site that the theater was vacant in 1942, except two small stores on the sides. That apparently comes from a Sanborn which is not available online.
I think 50s was confused, and looking at an Isis and Palm Garden in some nearby town (possibly Atchison or Leavenworth?).
Elmer Boillot and Jesse Lauck were the original architects, and Boillot was the architect for the conversion. He apparently based this on an Isis theater in KC (KS or MO unclear) that he had designed.
The eastern building was also constructed in 1912, as a dealership. When it was taken over by the theater in the ‘80s for the expansion to three screens, the windows were bricked up.
Again, this description needs to be completely rewritten. The dates are wrong. The building was constructed by Union Thomas in 1904. I think the 1917 date may be when movies were first shown. The auditorium was used into the late ‘70s, but I think movies stopped sometime earlier.
The functions need to be removed. The ground floor retail spaces were in use recently, but the auditorium has been disused for years. It is still in decent shape, as shown by pictures from a visit by the KS Historical Society in 2023. Linking to this will not work, but going to: https://khri.kansasgis.org/ and putting ‘Alta Vista’ as the city in the Search tab will get you there.
I have added a picture of the building, which originally had a simple tin cornice with a triangular pediment in the center. This was removed many years ago.
The KS Historical Society entry on this building makes no mention of a New Isis. The description here makes it sound like it was known as New Isis after it closed? Anyway, it was remodeled again to turn it into the Rialto. An outside ticket booth was added, and some improvements were made inside.
The building itself dates to 1917. It was originally a bakery, and the upper stories were a rooming house. The ‘Modern Rooms’ script is still visible in the second floor windows. The J.C. Penney tenure was very brief, as their larger location next door was remodeled.
This theater is not shown on the September 1911 map, so it must have opened late in the year. The address is wrong. The building was on the SW corner, so it would have had a number something like 715. However, the entrance was on 8th St, so the proper address should be 209 N 8th. City hall is located there today.
The history is wrong, per Ken’s comment long ago. This was built in 1936. If anything was built here in 1921, it was the Majestic, which was replaced by this theater. Also, Chris’s link does not work due to formatting, but the older one from rivest does.
I suspect ‘Main Street’ was just lazy shorthand for downtown. I’ve definitely seen that used in listings here and other references. There never was such a street. The theater was roughly at 121 E 3rd St. The Kansas Film Commission took photos of downtown in 1990 and July 2001. In 1990 the theater is obviously closed, but still has the marquee and canopy. In 2001, it is derelict, and all the openings are covered with weathered plywood. The sign and canopy are gone.
I don’t think this was a direct replacement of the older theater, but I can’t be sure. The 1911 map shows a small row of shops here. There is a theater at the NW corner of the square, as well as an opera house on Commercial (now C St).
Was the entrance on the corner? I’m not sure what to call the style, but that blocky brick moderne-ish style with the green stone paneling is very common in Virginia, and sometimes seen in North Carolina.
The Photoplay was not open in either 1911 or 1918. If I had to guess, it might be the bar at 18 Public Sq, which was a grocery in 1911, and a Ford garage in 1918.
Okay, this has definitely been demolished. I found a picture from about 1970, and where the antique store is today was a bar. The building at 104 still existed then. That building was a wide one story stone building which had a tin front. It was also built between 1885 and 1893, and the 1911 map shows it as a drug store. It originally had a nice ornate pediment on the cornice, but the picture I found shows the roof cut flat, and possibly a plaster front above the old storefront. There is a very old vertical sign, which appears to have been painted black.
That building was torn down before 2008. The site is a little garden.
It’s hard to tell without a picture, but the antique store is in what I would assume is 102. However, rather than being 100, the building on the corner uses a 200 N Kansas address.
Assuming the theater building is not the empty lot to the west, it was built sometime between 1885 and 1893. Despite appearances, it’s a separate structure from the building on the corner, which is older. The 1911 map shows it as a general store.
This must have had a protracted construction. The foundation appears on the January 1892 map, but the date on the front of the building is 1895. The 1905 Cahn guide gives this a capacity of 1,000. I think the eagle on top is salvage from the Columbian Exposition (which I expect is where Rogers got the name). There are also two statues from the exposition in the city park.
Curiously, there was already a fairly large pre-1885 opera house at 5th and Elm, which is still there. The 1905 Cahn Guide calls it Leach’s, and gives a capacity of 500. It definitely contended with the Columbian early on, but the 1912 map shows it used for implement storage.
Address is wrong. 460 is either a house or a parking lot. 452 on the 2011 street view looks like it certainly could have been a small theater. It was gone by 2016.
There is no Westwego Arts Center. There is a Westwego Community Center at 177 Sala. It is home to the Westwego Performing Arts Theatre. It’s a bizarre dryvit fake retro thing, but the website claims it’s historic. Looks more like the front was demolished and the auditorium remodeled, rather than the other way around.
SethG
commented about
Cinemaon
Aug 5, 2024 at 7:33 am
The building is vacant and derelict, and seems to have been that way for at least a few years.
Should be listed as demolished. The space in the middle of the block where this must have been remained vacant up until the ‘40s. There’s now a little telephone building there.
I think the correct chronology is a 1928 opening as the Uptown, some later name change to Junction and then Dickenson (or is it Dickinson?). The postcard is from perhaps 1955-56, judging by the cars, and shows it as the Junction.
The theater is just barely visible on the right in the photo. I’ve added a map view. It’s a shame it’s such a grungy little lot now. There’s only room for about 6-8 cars. That block of downtown is otherwise well preserved.
The building was originally a livery stable, but had been a store for many years when converted. It looks like the entire front half of the building was replaced.
There is a problem with the dates. This building is still a two story store with offices above on the 1925 map.
Where was this? Sounds like the building is still there.
According to information provided by Ken Roe, this closed sometime between 1941 and 1943.
The 1905 Cahn guide gives a capacity of 500.
The KS Historical Society entry for this makes no mention of a Palm Garden (neither does the theater website), and says that the building, which originally contained a gym and basement swimming pool (which apparently still exists) was used as a community center for about 10 years. It was also used as a hospital during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918-19. The church apparently sold the building in 1920.
Both the KSHS and theater website agree that it was converted to the Isis in 1924, although the KSHS says conversion began in October 1923. The opening date seems to have been late May of 1924. There’s a note on the KSHS site that the theater was vacant in 1942, except two small stores on the sides. That apparently comes from a Sanborn which is not available online.
I think 50s was confused, and looking at an Isis and Palm Garden in some nearby town (possibly Atchison or Leavenworth?).
Elmer Boillot and Jesse Lauck were the original architects, and Boillot was the architect for the conversion. He apparently based this on an Isis theater in KC (KS or MO unclear) that he had designed.
The eastern building was also constructed in 1912, as a dealership. When it was taken over by the theater in the ‘80s for the expansion to three screens, the windows were bricked up.
Downtown was seriously damaged by a tornado in 1973. I am sure this has been demolished.
Again, this description needs to be completely rewritten. The dates are wrong. The building was constructed by Union Thomas in 1904. I think the 1917 date may be when movies were first shown. The auditorium was used into the late ‘70s, but I think movies stopped sometime earlier.
The functions need to be removed. The ground floor retail spaces were in use recently, but the auditorium has been disused for years. It is still in decent shape, as shown by pictures from a visit by the KS Historical Society in 2023. Linking to this will not work, but going to: https://khri.kansasgis.org/ and putting ‘Alta Vista’ as the city in the Search tab will get you there.
I have added a picture of the building, which originally had a simple tin cornice with a triangular pediment in the center. This was removed many years ago.
The KS Historical Society entry on this building makes no mention of a New Isis. The description here makes it sound like it was known as New Isis after it closed? Anyway, it was remodeled again to turn it into the Rialto. An outside ticket booth was added, and some improvements were made inside.
The building itself dates to 1917. It was originally a bakery, and the upper stories were a rooming house. The ‘Modern Rooms’ script is still visible in the second floor windows. The J.C. Penney tenure was very brief, as their larger location next door was remodeled.
This theater is not shown on the September 1911 map, so it must have opened late in the year. The address is wrong. The building was on the SW corner, so it would have had a number something like 715. However, the entrance was on 8th St, so the proper address should be 209 N 8th. City hall is located there today.
The history is wrong, per Ken’s comment long ago. This was built in 1936. If anything was built here in 1921, it was the Majestic, which was replaced by this theater. Also, Chris’s link does not work due to formatting, but the older one from rivest does.
I suspect ‘Main Street’ was just lazy shorthand for downtown. I’ve definitely seen that used in listings here and other references. There never was such a street. The theater was roughly at 121 E 3rd St. The Kansas Film Commission took photos of downtown in 1990 and July 2001. In 1990 the theater is obviously closed, but still has the marquee and canopy. In 2001, it is derelict, and all the openings are covered with weathered plywood. The sign and canopy are gone.
I don’t think this was a direct replacement of the older theater, but I can’t be sure. The 1911 map shows a small row of shops here. There is a theater at the NW corner of the square, as well as an opera house on Commercial (now C St).
Was the entrance on the corner? I’m not sure what to call the style, but that blocky brick moderne-ish style with the green stone paneling is very common in Virginia, and sometimes seen in North Carolina.
The Photoplay was not open in either 1911 or 1918. If I had to guess, it might be the bar at 18 Public Sq, which was a grocery in 1911, and a Ford garage in 1918.
Architect was John McPherson. I tried adding that, guess it didn’t take.
Okay, this has definitely been demolished. I found a picture from about 1970, and where the antique store is today was a bar. The building at 104 still existed then. That building was a wide one story stone building which had a tin front. It was also built between 1885 and 1893, and the 1911 map shows it as a drug store. It originally had a nice ornate pediment on the cornice, but the picture I found shows the roof cut flat, and possibly a plaster front above the old storefront. There is a very old vertical sign, which appears to have been painted black.
That building was torn down before 2008. The site is a little garden.
It’s hard to tell without a picture, but the antique store is in what I would assume is 102. However, rather than being 100, the building on the corner uses a 200 N Kansas address.
Assuming the theater building is not the empty lot to the west, it was built sometime between 1885 and 1893. Despite appearances, it’s a separate structure from the building on the corner, which is older. The 1911 map shows it as a general store.
The 1896 map shows the building to be a bit shallower, and only lists a hall on the second floor. The 1905 map shows the fly tower added.
This must have had a protracted construction. The foundation appears on the January 1892 map, but the date on the front of the building is 1895. The 1905 Cahn guide gives this a capacity of 1,000. I think the eagle on top is salvage from the Columbian Exposition (which I expect is where Rogers got the name). There are also two statues from the exposition in the city park.
Curiously, there was already a fairly large pre-1885 opera house at 5th and Elm, which is still there. The 1905 Cahn Guide calls it Leach’s, and gives a capacity of 500. It definitely contended with the Columbian early on, but the 1912 map shows it used for implement storage.
Address is wrong. 460 is either a house or a parking lot. 452 on the 2011 street view looks like it certainly could have been a small theater. It was gone by 2016.
There is no Westwego Arts Center. There is a Westwego Community Center at 177 Sala. It is home to the Westwego Performing Arts Theatre. It’s a bizarre dryvit fake retro thing, but the website claims it’s historic. Looks more like the front was demolished and the auditorium remodeled, rather than the other way around.
The building is vacant and derelict, and seems to have been that way for at least a few years.
Should be listed as demolished. The space in the middle of the block where this must have been remained vacant up until the ‘40s. There’s now a little telephone building there.
I’ve created a listing for the original Cozy. Could we switch the photo to the other one?
This theater was a remodel of a garage building constructed sometime between 1912 and 1925. The northern half was still a dealership in 1947.
I think the correct chronology is a 1928 opening as the Uptown, some later name change to Junction and then Dickenson (or is it Dickinson?). The postcard is from perhaps 1955-56, judging by the cars, and shows it as the Junction.
The theater is just barely visible on the right in the photo. I’ve added a map view. It’s a shame it’s such a grungy little lot now. There’s only room for about 6-8 cars. That block of downtown is otherwise well preserved.
The building was originally a livery stable, but had been a store for many years when converted. It looks like the entire front half of the building was replaced.
There is a problem with the dates. This building is still a two story store with offices above on the 1925 map.