The April 7, 1923, issue of The Fort Wayne Sentinel said that excavation had begun for the Broadway Theatre. Local architect Henry W. Meyer had designed the project.
The November 4, 1923 (the day before opening) issue of the paper carried a full-page ad for the theater, boasting of its dual Powers projectors, its advanced heating and ventilation system, its gold fibre screen, and the Fotoplayer that would provide music and sound effects for the silent movies. The ad also described the Broadway’s seating accommodations
“The seats are placed on a terraced cycloid circular incline with each seat facing the exact center of the screen, and from which the patron has a clear View of the picture over the shoulders of the parties in front.”
A February 12, 1974 Brownwood Bulletin article about the closing of the Bowie Theatre, last of the town’s downtown movie houses, said that the Texas Theatre was in the 100 Block of N. Center Avenue. The Texas was one of five theaters to open in Brownwood during the early 1940s to serve the large population at the nearby Army base, Camp Bowie. The Texas was on the west side of the street, so it has been demolished.
The February 12, 1974, issue of the Brownwood Bulletin said that the Bowie Theatre would present its last show that night. Interstate Theatres would continue to operate the Cinema Twins and two drive-ins. The final movie at the Bowie was “Billy Jack”. The house had opened on March 28, 1941 with “The Strawberry Blonde” starring Rita Hayworth and James Cagney.
As far as I know neither Raymond Kennedy, chief architect of the Chinese Theatre, nor Donald Wilkinson, head architect of the firm of Meyer & Holler, with whom Kennedy worked closely on the project, ever visited China, but I’m sure Kennedy would have done some study of Chinese design for the project.
Although the theater’s details are Chinese, the building’s form is more European Renaissance, particularly the forecourt. A forecourt is not characteristic of Chinese design. Both Kennedy and Wilkinson were classically trained, and Kennedy was awarded a Diploma as a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he studied for three years.
Architect William Clayton Meador was active from around 1909. I’ve been unable to find out anything about his parter, except that his surname was Wolfe, not Wolf. The partnership does not appear to have lasted long in any case. I’ve found references to several projects attributed to Meador alone, from the 1910s, the 1920s, and the 1930s, but the Grand Theatre and a 1919 church in Archer City are the only projects I can find attributed to the firm by any source available on the Internet.
It does look as though the library might have mislabeled that photo. The wall against which the poster behind Ms. Miller is leaning is also too wide for the Quincy.
The Lyric Theatre building has been demolished. Historic aerial photos show the building that probably once housed the Lyric still standing just south of the Grand Theatre as late as 1966, but the next aerial available is from 1998, and the site had become a parking lot by then.
The Fox Kettering was one of a pair of almost identical houses opened by National General in December, 1966, the first having been the Fox Valley Circle Theatre in San Diego,opened on December 23.
These theaters were designed by Harold W. Levitt & Associates, with William H. Farwell and Ernest W. LeDuc, and at least two more were later built on the same plan: the Fox Northwest Plaza in Dayton, Ohio, opened in December, 1967, and the Mark Twain Theatre, Sunset Hills, Missouri, opened in August, 1968.
The Davison Theatre, having been opened in 1911, must have been the project at Beaver Dam noted in the July 2, 1910, issue of The American Contractor. This was to be a two-story theater, 46x100 feet. It was being designed by architects Ellerbe & Round of St Paul. Beaver Dam’s only other old theater, the Odeon, was already in existence as the Opera House by 1900.
Histories of Ellerbe Architects say that Olin Round joined Franklin Ellerbe’s firm in 1911, but this item indicates that the partnership began at least a year earlier. Round left the firm in 1915.
The grass-covered site of the Grand Theatre is roughly across the street from the building currently occupied by Byrd Watson Medical Equipment, which is at 123 N. Locust. The Grand’s address was probably about 124 N.Locust.
The Broadway Theatre probably opened before the end of 1910. The September 17 issue of The American Contractor said that the contracts had been let for gas and plumbing, electrical work, plastering, painting, and roofing had been let. The project at Broadway and St. Charles Street for the St. Charles Amusement Company was one of two Duggan & Huff-designed houses under way in St.Louis in the summer of 1910, the other being the Union Theatre.
The August, 1911, issue of Motography had this item:
“The E. H. Pipe Realty Company, which is erecting a moving picture theater on Olive street, between Vandeventer avenue and Sarah street, has leased the same to the Olive Theater Company for twenty-five years at $2,000 a year.”
The September 3, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that the theater to be built at Olive and Sarah Streets in St. Louis was being designed by architects Clymer & Drischler.
I see that one of the courtesy ads in the newspaper rivest266 uploaded is from architect Frank L. Sutter, though it says only “Supt. of the New Ideal Theater” and the article text says that “[t]he architectural work was in charge of Horace B. Sutter.”
The Internet provides many references to Frank L. Sutter, who had practiced architecture in Dayton for decades. Horace B. was presumably a younger relative, as Frank Sutter was born in 1832 and would have been at least 80 years old when the Ideal was built. I can’t find any other references to Horace B. Sutter, so if he was an architect too his career must have been very short.
This vintage photo gives a glimpse of the State’s marquee on the left. This is the 100 block of East Broadway, and I believe the most likely address of the State is 117. The building just east of it at 119 is now occupied by The Entourage Salon. The building at (probably) 117 doesn’t have the number on it, or any signage, and it’s impossible to tell what might be in it, assuming it isn’t vacant. It has a very plain, modernized front, and might or not be the same building the State was in.
The Royal has not been demolished, but the theater is surely dismantled. It looks like the building has been used for offices. In the current Google street view there’s a “For Sale by Owner” sign on the front.
The Capitol Theatre first appears in the 1927 FDY with 750 seats. It is possible that the Capitol was a project noted in the April 11, 1925, issue of The Moving Picture World. The planned house was a bit smaller than the Capitol, but a decision to expand the project might account for some delay in its construction, resulting in an opening too late for its inclusion in the 1926 FDY:
“Giesecke & Harris, architects, are erecting a new theatre at New Braunsfels, Texas, seating 600.”
The Capitol must have been in operation at least as late as 1969. That year the April 17 issue of the New Braunfels Herald published a map and list of public fallout shelters in the city, one of them being the Capitol Theatre, 351 Plaza.
I do not believe the Capitol Theatre has been demolished. If you zoom in on Google’s satellite view you can see the building near the west end of the south side of the plaza, with its tall brick stage house still recognizable. In street view you can zoom in on the front and and make out the name “Capitol Plaza” above the entrance doors. The building appears to be in use as retail and office space.
The Palace of Pictures appears to have been replaced by a new, larger house called simply the Palace Theatre. This page from a virtual walking tour of New Braunfels says the Palace opened December 23, 1924, and closed in 1932.
This item from the March 14, 1925 issue of The Moving Picture World gives the address of the theater underway in Berwyn as 6330-44 Roosevelt Road, but I’m guessing that either that was a mistake or that the odd and even numbers were later switched from one side of the street to the other, as the project description otherwise fits the Ritz quite well, and the timingis right. One other oddity is that the projected name of the new house was the Oakwyn, a name that was later used for a different Berwyn house.
“Work has started on a $500,000 theatre block in Berwyn at 6330-44 Roosevelt road, between Cuyler and Ridgeland, just across the boundary line from Oak Park. It will be called the Oakwyn and will have a 2,250-seat movie with complete stage. There will also be six stores and eleven apartments. Hooper & Janusch are the architects. James I. Biba and John J. Lynch, who took title to the 161x125 site, will operate the Oakwyn.
William T. Hooper and Fred W. Janusch were the principals of the fairly well-known firm of Hooper & Janusch. Though best known for several high rise apartment blocks, the firm designed at least three other theaters, but as far as I’ve been able to determine, of those three only the Manor Theatre in Chicago was actually completed.
The April 7, 1923, issue of The Fort Wayne Sentinel said that excavation had begun for the Broadway Theatre. Local architect Henry W. Meyer had designed the project.
The November 4, 1923 (the day before opening) issue of the paper carried a full-page ad for the theater, boasting of its dual Powers projectors, its advanced heating and ventilation system, its gold fibre screen, and the Fotoplayer that would provide music and sound effects for the silent movies. The ad also described the Broadway’s seating accommodations
A February 12, 1974 Brownwood Bulletin article about the closing of the Bowie Theatre, last of the town’s downtown movie houses, said that the Texas Theatre was in the 100 Block of N. Center Avenue. The Texas was one of five theaters to open in Brownwood during the early 1940s to serve the large population at the nearby Army base, Camp Bowie. The Texas was on the west side of the street, so it has been demolished.
The February 12, 1974, issue of the Brownwood Bulletin said that the Bowie Theatre would present its last show that night. Interstate Theatres would continue to operate the Cinema Twins and two drive-ins. The final movie at the Bowie was “Billy Jack”. The house had opened on March 28, 1941 with “The Strawberry Blonde” starring Rita Hayworth and James Cagney.
A 1938 city directory lists the Gem at 313 Center. The Queen Theatre was at 203 Center.
The Queen was advertising through 1958, and I’ve seen an ad for it as late as the January 11, 1959, issue of the Brownwood Bulletin.
A 1938 city directory gives the address of the Queen as 203 Center.
As far as I know neither Raymond Kennedy, chief architect of the Chinese Theatre, nor Donald Wilkinson, head architect of the firm of Meyer & Holler, with whom Kennedy worked closely on the project, ever visited China, but I’m sure Kennedy would have done some study of Chinese design for the project.
Although the theater’s details are Chinese, the building’s form is more European Renaissance, particularly the forecourt. A forecourt is not characteristic of Chinese design. Both Kennedy and Wilkinson were classically trained, and Kennedy was awarded a Diploma as a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he studied for three years.
Architect William Clayton Meador was active from around 1909. I’ve been unable to find out anything about his parter, except that his surname was Wolfe, not Wolf. The partnership does not appear to have lasted long in any case. I’ve found references to several projects attributed to Meador alone, from the 1910s, the 1920s, and the 1930s, but the Grand Theatre and a 1919 church in Archer City are the only projects I can find attributed to the firm by any source available on the Internet.
It does look as though the library might have mislabeled that photo. The wall against which the poster behind Ms. Miller is leaning is also too wide for the Quincy.
The Lyric Theatre building has been demolished. Historic aerial photos show the building that probably once housed the Lyric still standing just south of the Grand Theatre as late as 1966, but the next aerial available is from 1998, and the site had become a parking lot by then.
Thanks, Mike. I’ll note that in a comment on the Kettering Cinemas page.
The Fox Kettering was one of a pair of almost identical houses opened by National General in December, 1966, the first having been the Fox Valley Circle Theatre in San Diego,opened on December 23.
These theaters were designed by Harold W. Levitt & Associates, with William H. Farwell and Ernest W. LeDuc, and at least two more were later built on the same plan: the Fox Northwest Plaza in Dayton, Ohio, opened in December, 1967, and the Mark Twain Theatre, Sunset Hills, Missouri, opened in August, 1968.
The July 23, 1910, issue of The American Contractor carried this item:
The Davison Theatre, having been opened in 1911, must have been the project at Beaver Dam noted in the July 2, 1910, issue of The American Contractor. This was to be a two-story theater, 46x100 feet. It was being designed by architects Ellerbe & Round of St Paul. Beaver Dam’s only other old theater, the Odeon, was already in existence as the Opera House by 1900.
Histories of Ellerbe Architects say that Olin Round joined Franklin Ellerbe’s firm in 1911, but this item indicates that the partnership began at least a year earlier. Round left the firm in 1915.
The grass-covered site of the Grand Theatre is roughly across the street from the building currently occupied by Byrd Watson Medical Equipment, which is at 123 N. Locust. The Grand’s address was probably about 124 N.Locust.
The Broadway Theatre probably opened before the end of 1910. The September 17 issue of The American Contractor said that the contracts had been let for gas and plumbing, electrical work, plastering, painting, and roofing had been let. The project at Broadway and St. Charles Street for the St. Charles Amusement Company was one of two Duggan & Huff-designed houses under way in St.Louis in the summer of 1910, the other being the Union Theatre.
The August, 1911, issue of Motography had this item:
The September 3, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that the theater to be built at Olive and Sarah Streets in St. Louis was being designed by architects Clymer & Drischler.Harry Pruitt, Centralia exhibitor, was mentioned in the November 4, 1922, issue of Motion Picture News.
I see that one of the courtesy ads in the newspaper rivest266 uploaded is from architect Frank L. Sutter, though it says only “Supt. of the New Ideal Theater” and the article text says that “[t]he architectural work was in charge of Horace B. Sutter.”
The Internet provides many references to Frank L. Sutter, who had practiced architecture in Dayton for decades. Horace B. was presumably a younger relative, as Frank Sutter was born in 1832 and would have been at least 80 years old when the Ideal was built. I can’t find any other references to Horace B. Sutter, so if he was an architect too his career must have been very short.
This vintage photo gives a glimpse of the State’s marquee on the left. This is the 100 block of East Broadway, and I believe the most likely address of the State is 117. The building just east of it at 119 is now occupied by The Entourage Salon. The building at (probably) 117 doesn’t have the number on it, or any signage, and it’s impossible to tell what might be in it, assuming it isn’t vacant. It has a very plain, modernized front, and might or not be the same building the State was in.
Konrad Schiecke’s Historic Movie Theatres in Illinois says that the Illinois Theatre opened in 1921.
From 1929 into the early 1940s, the Centralia Evening Sentinel usually refers to the house as the Fox Illinois Theatre.
The Royal has not been demolished, but the theater is surely dismantled. It looks like the building has been used for offices. In the current Google street view there’s a “For Sale by Owner” sign on the front.
The Capitol Theatre first appears in the 1927 FDY with 750 seats. It is possible that the Capitol was a project noted in the April 11, 1925, issue of The Moving Picture World. The planned house was a bit smaller than the Capitol, but a decision to expand the project might account for some delay in its construction, resulting in an opening too late for its inclusion in the 1926 FDY:
The Capitol must have been in operation at least as late as 1969. That year the April 17 issue of the New Braunfels Herald published a map and list of public fallout shelters in the city, one of them being the Capitol Theatre, 351 Plaza.I do not believe the Capitol Theatre has been demolished. If you zoom in on Google’s satellite view you can see the building near the west end of the south side of the plaza, with its tall brick stage house still recognizable. In street view you can zoom in on the front and and make out the name “Capitol Plaza” above the entrance doors. The building appears to be in use as retail and office space.
The Palace of Pictures appears to have been replaced by a new, larger house called simply the Palace Theatre. This page from a virtual walking tour of New Braunfels says the Palace opened December 23, 1924, and closed in 1932.
This item from the March 14, 1925 issue of The Moving Picture World gives the address of the theater underway in Berwyn as 6330-44 Roosevelt Road, but I’m guessing that either that was a mistake or that the odd and even numbers were later switched from one side of the street to the other, as the project description otherwise fits the Ritz quite well, and the timingis right. One other oddity is that the projected name of the new house was the Oakwyn, a name that was later used for a different Berwyn house.
William T. Hooper and Fred W. Janusch were the principals of the fairly well-known firm of Hooper & Janusch. Though best known for several high rise apartment blocks, the firm designed at least three other theaters, but as far as I’ve been able to determine, of those three only the Manor Theatre in Chicago was actually completed.AutoZone is actually a chain auto parts and accessories retailer, not a repair shop.