Texas Theatre

I stopped by this theatre early this afternoon. The only thing that’s been done since the last time I was there is that the vertical “Texas” sign is now gone. The only way to tell that this is a theatre is because of the box office. Where did that $1.2 million left over after the purchase of the buidling disappear to? I doubt that we’ll ever know who stole it. I doubt there’s anyone with enough guts to investigate the matter.

“This Spanish Eclectic Theater was part of a chain of theaters once owned by Howard Hughes.”

Now where in the world did that come from ? The theater might have been part of the Robb-Rowley chain (see below)?

A tour of the Texas Theater was made recently March 24, 2007 by a few members of the regular “Message Board Posters” of the Dallas Historical Society. (Unfortunately the Message Board has experienced some difficulties and is no longer in operation on the DHS website, dallashistory.org.) Work was progressing rather slowly…it seems to be on a bit of a shoestring as far as actual work goes . Plans are to restore the interior to the original 1931 appearance and the exterior to the 1963 appearance (a concession to the Lee Harvey Oswald capture connection). The stage has been enlarged and plans are for reconstruction of the balcony to provide better sight lines
for stage productions is part of the restoration program. The Dallas Summer Musicals plans to stage its productions in the Texas Theater
in the future.

Oh, I had the corruption and theft thing figured out a long time back. It was verified, in my mind, by that preposterous little puff piece at the Oak Cliff website claiming that the 1.2 million left over after the initial purchase was spent on a “bare bones” restoration. That may fool laymen, but not anyone who’s been in the movie theatre industry as long as I was. I’m sure that someone now has that new home addition they’d been thinking of, someone else added that new family room they’d been talking about, someone else dug that swimming pool they’d been dreaming of and etc., etc. There should be a complete and thorough investigation made (that is if anyone has the moral backbone for it).

Correct me if I am wrong. Didn’t Howard Hughes build this theater when he owned RKO studio’s? Or was it another theater he built?

The Texas Theatre was an atmospheric designed inside. It had sillouettes of Spanish looking buildings all around the sides and a “sky” above. When you first went in, the “sky” would begin to darken, then turn to twilight then dark. Stars would appear and a machine called a Brenograph would project clouds across the sky. When the theatre first opened, a 2 keyboard/6 rank (72 pipes in each rank) Barton Theatre Pipe organ was installed in 1931 from the Midway Theatre down the street. The organ was finally taken out and sold to a individual and is now gone. More than 10,000 theatre organs were in theatres just in the United States alone. Now only about 200 are left in the US and most not in a theatre. Also still on the roof of the Texas is the #1 Hughes air conditioning system. It was manufactured by Howard Hughes' father’s company. Weldon Flanagan, the Palace Theatre organist for 20 years, also played the Barton in the Texas in the 1950s some. He showed the present owners where the “Spanish village” buildings were behind the stuccoed walls on the sides of the theatre. It still isn’t restored and there are more money problems. Doubtful if it will ever be a movie theatre, mostly it will be a community theatre setting, so I’ve been told.
Nettie in Dallas.

Here is another photo of the Texas:
http://tinyurl.com/23lkce

A purchased photo of the TEXAS THEATER probalby taken around Christmas 1932.

www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/353318620

A theatre with much infamous Oswald history!

My photographs of the TEXAS and TEXAS sign www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/224125426/
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/224127947/ before the classic neon and what was almost certainly porcelain enamel covered steel marquee was done away with. Also note the same irreverant treatment fot the stars in TEXAS sign, neon gone and paint over wonderful artwork and colors. This is Dallas at its best. If there aint money in it, they aint in to it. Dallas is much more into paving than preservation. See another good example, CASA LINDA THEATER.

And by the way if anyone out there beleives that the picture from one of the previous postings is of the actual theater seat that Lee Oswald sat in, please get in touch with me I have some of his stuff for sale.

I was in the movie theatre business for twenty-nine years. I looked in the doors of this theatre and I’m pretty sure that nowhere near $1.6 million worth of work has been done in, on or to this theatre.

After the June 5th photos I can’t believe that the City of Dallas wouldn’t have saved this theatre and at the very least made it into a museum/theatre.

I was by this theatre just this past Monday (26JUN06). It still isn’t open. I wonder what happened to all the money?

The vintage photo shows a beautiful marquee and vertical TEXAS sign which was sadly changed!