The October 4, 1952, Boxoffice article about the construction of the Cinema is now online here, at the magazine’s own web site.
In a comment near the top of this page, dwodeyla said that the walls of the Cinema were built of “…panels of a straw and clay mixture…” The Boxoffice article says that “…the exterior of the theatre is no more than a thin skin of asbestos board held in place by thin aluminum strips.” The clay-like substance was probably some form of gypsum, and would have been used to hold the asbestos fibres in place. I hope dwodeyla didn’t discover the fibrous nature of the material by scraping at it.
Theater designer Benjamin Schlanger would not be the one who chose to use the asbestos panels in this building. That would have been Ketchum, Gina & Sharp, the architectural firm that designed the structure itself.
wolfgirl500: The sources I’ve found on the Internet provide very little information about early theaters in Youngstown. Various issues of The Moving Picture World from the 1900s and 1910s have brief notices that one exhibitor or another is planning to open a new theater somewhere in town, but the theater names are rarely mentioned. A typical example is this item from the issue of October 24, 1908: “Youngstown, O.â€"James McFarlin and E. B. Blott have leased a room in the Hartzell Block to open up a moving picture house.”
Another example is this one from November 7 the same year: “Youngstown, Ohio.â€"A new moving picture show is rapidly being constructed in the building on Liberty street by Thomas Dempsey.”
However, I did manage to find the Royal mentioned in The Motion Picture World of August 21, 1915, and the item even gave the address of the house as 224 E. Federal, and gave the manager’s name as G.M. Westley.
I have come across a few other theater names for Youngstown. The Moving Picture World of August 19, 1913, had this item: “Peter G. Atsalas, owner of the Orpheum Theater, at Youngstown, Ohio, was a recent visitor in Philadelphia, looking after some big features for his theater. He claims that the censorship law in Ohio makes it impossible for exhibitors to get any kind of high class features, and that most of them must send to other cities out of that state for their supply.”
The December 13, 1913, issue of the same publication mentions a Princess Theatre in Youngstown, and the August 7, 1915, issue mentions a South Side Theatre, managed by Max Shagrin. A 1916 issue mentions a Colonial Theatre, but I couldn’t read the item as it was in one of the issues for which Google inexplicably displays only snippet views, despite it being in the public domain.
A snippet view of the 1921 edition of Wid’s Year Book lists the Bijou and the Rex, and also lists a theater called the Victory. A snippet of the 1930 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Astor, Cameo and Dome. Those lists are both incomplete due to the snippeting.
So far, Boxoffice has posted online only its issues from 1936 on, and I’ve been unable to find in those any of the Youngstown theater names you listed.
I recall reading in a biography of the Warner brothers that they chose to go to New Castle to open their first theater in 1907 because Youngstown already had so many movie houses in operation. I also recall a paper citing a Moving Picture World item that said Youngstown had twenty movie theaters operating in 1908. Many of them probably lasted less than a year, though, and most likely didn’t even get listed in the annual city directory. Movie theaters were like mayflies in those days.
Architect Herman F. Kling was the subject of one of the thumbnail biographies in volume 2 of Joseph Green Butler’s 1921 work “History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.” It doesn’t mention the Dome, but does say that Kling & Zenk designed the Grand Opera House at Sharon, Pennsylvania.
There was an article about opening of the Dome in a 1912 issue of trade journal The Moving Picture World:[quote]“The Dome Theater… is owned by Messrs. Renner & Deibel, men who can see big returns from a first-class picture house. The place is managed by C. W. Deibel, who opened it on the evening of Saturday, December 21, 1912. From its opening date to this day, the business of this expensive picture house has been more than the proprietors anticipated.
“The auditorium, which provides opera chairs for 800 persons, is finished along lines that combine simplicity with a magnitude of size and space which are seldom to be found in the average picture theater. From any seat on the sloping floors, one can obtain a full view of the screen and stage.
“Patrons are enabled to enter and leave any part of the auditorium at any time without inconveniencing in the least degree those seated about them. The exits on the Hazel Street side are large double doors that open directly to the street; the west side exits, which are of the same commodious character, lead to a fireproof foyer which furnishes an unobstructed passage to Federal Street, parallel with the main entrance. There is a handsome marquee extending for some distance over the sidewalk of the Federal Street entrance.
“Brilliant with electric lights, it heralds a welcome to the palatial foyer and lobby. The sides of the lobby are covered with polished marble, which half way to the top meets a series of mural panels that shade in quiet tints with the ceiling which is studded with inverted lights casting their radiance towards the ceiling. The floor of the lobby is done in mosaic style.
“The operating room is constructed of fireproof material and has three operating machines in constant use. The picture is projected upon a mirror screen which the manager says is the ‘largest in the State. The ventilation of the theater has been made the subject of careful study by the proprietors which resulted in a system almost incomparable.
“Music is furnished by a nine-piece orchestra.”[/quote]The Moving Picture World had another item about the Dome in its issue of August 7, 1915:
“The Dome theater, at Youngstown, which has been undergoing repairs for some time, including the installation of a roomy balcony, which will add largely to its seating capacity, was reopened last Thursday with a special program to commemorate the occasion. A large orchestra was among the special features provided.”
The September 3, 1936 entry in the dairy of Youngstown attorney Benjamin Roth, parts of which were published last year (Google Books preview) noted that new stores were opening up all over town, and included the line: “Even the old Dome Theater is being converted into a store room.”
A list of theater openings in the August 27, 1949, issue of Boxoffice included the following item: “Northport, L.I.— Joe Mirosola to open new Larkfield Theatre, 600 seats, $175,000, August 30.”
The Little Theatre originally seated 300 when it opened in 1929 but, according to the official web site, the four additional auditoriums that have since been added to the house bring the current seating capacity to 940.
Here is a fresh link to the August 5, 1950, Boxoffice article about the Mercury Theatre. It continues on the subsequent page (click their “next page” link.)
The scan is a bit blurry, but the photo at the bottom of this page of Boxoffice, August 5, 1950, shows the Uptown when it was still sporting its 1930s moderne facade, complete with three porthole windows above the wedge-shaped marquee.
The report of theaters reopened in 1960, published in Boxoffice, January 30, 1961, included an unnamed theater at Dill City, reopened by R. R. Powers. Dill City being so small, the Dill Theatre was probably the only house in town. That is the only mention of Dill City I’ve been able to find in Boxoffice.
Regis, you will be pleased to see this three-page article about the Empire Theatre, from Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. There are several photos of the theater, and a small floor plan and cross section. Click on the “next page” links to see the subsequent pages.
Although the Boxoffice article gives the impression that the Empire’s reverse theater design was an innovation by Liebenberg & Kaplan, there had in fact already been a dozen or more reverse theaters operating in the United States and England, some of them dating back to the early years of the century.
A three-page article about this drive-in starts on this page of Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. There are several photos, most of them depicting the unusual projection equipment.
The Buffalo Autoscope had 122 44-inch wide screens on its five acre plot, and the theater could be operated by three people. The article mentions the Smith brothers' smaller prototype Autoscope operation in Urbana, opened the previous year and accommodating a mere fifty cars.
Boxoffice of October 23, 1954, had a few before-and-after photos of the front and lobby of the State Theatre, which had been remodeled that year. Plans for the remodeling were by E.H. Geissler. Geissler was later one of the co-developers of the Ultra-Vision projection system that was installed in a number of Wilby-Kincey theaters starting in 1969.
There are photos of the front and the auditorium of the Fox Theatre in Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. Fox Intermountain’s in-house architect of the time, Mel C. Glatz, designed the theater.
A photo of the lobby of the Nortown Theatre appears in the lower left corner of this page of Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. The architect of the theater was A.G. Facey.
An additional photo is at lower right of this page of the same issue, and depicts the boxoffice and entrance to the theater.
The October 23, 1954, issue of Boxoffice featured a multi-page article about the remodeling of the Tivoli, beginning on this page. The entrance lobby was given a fairly sleek streamline modern style, but the other spaces retained much of the more traditional decor from the 1920s. Much of the Italian Renaissance detailing was stripped from the auditorium, but its basic outlines remained intact.
My impression from the photos is that the foyer and auditorium looked a bit cheesy after the remodeling, and the house would have been better served by a more thoughtful restoration of the original design, except for that spiffy moderne entrance lobby, which was quite an improvement. It’s too bad the entrance was in the part of the building that has been demolished.
The Vogue Theatre is sort of open. There doesn’t appear to be any web site for the theater yet, and I can’t find any events scheduled, but this article published in the local Daily Record on November 6, 2010, announced that the reopening of the house would take place on November 13. There’s an interior photo. The space looks pretty raw, as the complete renovation has been put on hold until the economy improves.
Another item in the Daily Record announced a December 4 appearance at the Vogue of the regionally popular country music group, the Dave Rawlinson Band. YouTube has a couple of videos from that performance. As far as I can find, there have been no events at the Vogue since then.
Carmike Theatres took over the Video Independent circuit in 1983, according to the Gale Directory of Company Histories. The Altus Times article I cited says that the Spears Trust and Griffith Realty each retained a half interest in the Plaza Theatre building until 1991. Carmike must have operated the house under a lease.
Poblocki & Sons bought the run-down Plaza Theatre in 1953 and renovated it the following year to demonstrate Ben and Barney Poblocki’s contention that declining theater attendance was often the result of operators' failure to update their houses. As the Plaza is still open, perhaps there was something to their belief in the power of modernization.
This article in Boxoffice of October 2, 1954, has before and after photos of the Plaza’s front. The entire project, including design, was carried out in house by Poblocki & Sons.
I’m glad the Poblocki’s only modernized the lower part of the facade, and kept that delightful Gothic detail on the upper story.
Skirball Brothers Theatres had the interior of the Pantheon completely rebuilt in 1961. There are three photos of the completed project on this page of the October 2 issue of Boxoffice. The seating capacity was reduced to 808.
I think there might be information missing from the Glazer collection and this theater’s Philadelphia Buildings page regarding the original name of the house. The Moving Picture World of July 12, 1913, in an article about Philadelphia theater operator Marcus A. Benn says there was a Benn Theatre then operating at Woodland and 64th:[quote]“Marcus A. Benn, of Philadelphia, went into his first theatrical venture in 1908, after having been a manager of a sewing machine company for over fourteen years. Since that time he has built and promoted more than twelve theaters, all of which are now being operated successfully. He is the sole owner of the Benn Theater, at Sixty-fourth Street and Woodland Avenue, and is a stockholder in, and secretary-treasurer of, the A. B. C. Theater.
“At Eighty-fourth Street and Eastwich Avenue, Mr. Benn has a picture theater under way, and there is no doubt but that he will create quite a stir among motion picture men in Philadelphia when he announces the exact spot on Market Street, east of Broad, for the location of another enterprise.
“Mr. Benn has an eye for beauty as well as for architectural construction. This fact is particularly noticeable in his A. B. C. and the Benn Theaters. Between August 29 and September 18, 1913, a delegation of experts from all parts of the world will hold a convention at the A. B. C. Theater to discuss matters pertaining to the advancement of the motion picture industry.”[/quote]A biography of W. C. Fields says that his family home at 6320 (or 6328) Woodland was torn down in 1922 to make way for the Benn Theatre, so the Benn Theatre mentioned in the article was not demolished to make way for the Benn Theatre that still stands down the block. It seems most likely to me that the Benn Theatre of 1913 was the house that later became the Benson. Possibly it was renamed the Bell Theatre when the new Benn opened in 1923. The name Bell certainly would have easily fit on signage that formerly read Benn.
The Chronology page for the Bell Theatre at Philadelphia Buildings gives the construction date of 1912-1914 for the building, and names the architects as Anderson & Haupt (Julius J. Anderson, architect, and Max Haupt, engineer.) If the firm planned alterations the building after the theater opened, this house could have been in operation as early as 1912, rather than 1914. If it was indeed the original Benn Theatre, it was certainly in operation by July, 1913.
Here’s an item about the Crescent from The Moving Picture World, July 12, 1913:
“Wilson L. Augustine has opened a moving picture theater in the residential section of East Decatur, Ill. The building represents an investment of $6,000, and has a seating capacity of 500. Brick and concrete material were used in the construction, making the house fireproof. The name of the theater is the ‘Crescent.’”
The Plaza Theatre has been converted into a church by the Altus Christian Fellowship. Their web site says that the building is used primarily as their worship center, but is still equipped as a functional theater and is available for a variety of events. An exhibit of theater memorabilia is on display in the lobby.
The Plaza Theatre was in operation as recently as 2005, when the June issue of Boxoffice cited a letter from operator Richard Day. The Plaza was then charging a top admission price of two dollars, which was also the top price at the concession stand, but the business was still struggling.
I haven’t found the Plaza mentioned in any later issues of Boxoffice, so I don’t know exactly how long it remained open after that, but an Altus Times article, apparently from 2007 (the paper doesn’t give dates for its archived articles, but only a generic “…years ago” heading) says that Janice and Richard Day had sold the building to the church group in August that year. The article notes that the Days had bought the Plaza in 2002 and had reopened it on May 7, 2004, after it had been dark for twelve years.
An earlier Times article, apparently from early 2004, gave some of the theater’s history. The house was built in 1928, and opened as the New Empire Theatre. Beginning in 1931, it was operated under a lease by W.T. Spears' Consolidated Theatres. By 1936, Spears was operating the house in partnership with Griffith Theatres (succeeded by Video Independent Theatres in 1949.) In 1948, Spears and the Griffith Realty Company purchased the theater building, and he and Video Independent operated the house in partnership until Spears died in 1968.
Video Independent retained its half interest in the building until selling it in 1991. The house was operated by Jimmie C. Wiley during parts of 1991 and 1992. It apparently closed that year, and in 1993 the property was deeded to the local redevelopment agency, which owned the building until the Days bought it in 2002.
I would imagine that the Moderne remodeling of the theater was done in 1948 or shortly after that, after the building had been purchased from its original owner by Spears and Griffith. I have no clue when the name was changed from New Empire to Plaza. The earliest mention of the Plaza I’ve found in Boxoffice is from 1954, but I haven’t found either an Empire or a New Empire Theatre in Altus mentioned at all.
Boxoffice of March 20, 1954, reported that the Delta Theatre in Altus had been leveled by fire on the morning of Sunday, March 14. An adjacent drug store, where the fire had started, was also destroyed. Operator Video Independent Theatres reopened its State Theatre to show the first run films which had been programmed at the Delta. Video also operated the Plaza Theatre, the town’s “A” house.
The Boxoffice item said that plans to rebuild the Delta were tentative. I haven’t found any evidence that the house was ever rebuilt, though. As far as I can find, the Delta Theatre was never mentioned in Boxoffice again.
The State Theatre was closed for a time in the early 1950s. As reported in Boxoffice of March 20, 1954, the State was reopened as a first run house by Video Independent Theatres following the destruction by fire of the circuit’s Delta Theatre on March 14.
I haven’t found the State mentioned in any later Boxoffice items, so I don’t know how long its reprieve lasted. I’ve found no evidence that the Delta was ever rebuilt, either.
The October 4, 1952, Boxoffice article about the construction of the Cinema is now online here, at the magazine’s own web site.
In a comment near the top of this page, dwodeyla said that the walls of the Cinema were built of “…panels of a straw and clay mixture…” The Boxoffice article says that “…the exterior of the theatre is no more than a thin skin of asbestos board held in place by thin aluminum strips.” The clay-like substance was probably some form of gypsum, and would have been used to hold the asbestos fibres in place. I hope dwodeyla didn’t discover the fibrous nature of the material by scraping at it.
Theater designer Benjamin Schlanger would not be the one who chose to use the asbestos panels in this building. That would have been Ketchum, Gina & Sharp, the architectural firm that designed the structure itself.
wolfgirl500: The sources I’ve found on the Internet provide very little information about early theaters in Youngstown. Various issues of The Moving Picture World from the 1900s and 1910s have brief notices that one exhibitor or another is planning to open a new theater somewhere in town, but the theater names are rarely mentioned. A typical example is this item from the issue of October 24, 1908: “Youngstown, O.â€"James McFarlin and E. B. Blott have leased a room in the Hartzell Block to open up a moving picture house.”
Another example is this one from November 7 the same year: “Youngstown, Ohio.â€"A new moving picture show is rapidly being constructed in the building on Liberty street by Thomas Dempsey.”
However, I did manage to find the Royal mentioned in The Motion Picture World of August 21, 1915, and the item even gave the address of the house as 224 E. Federal, and gave the manager’s name as G.M. Westley.
I have come across a few other theater names for Youngstown. The Moving Picture World of August 19, 1913, had this item: “Peter G. Atsalas, owner of the Orpheum Theater, at Youngstown, Ohio, was a recent visitor in Philadelphia, looking after some big features for his theater. He claims that the censorship law in Ohio makes it impossible for exhibitors to get any kind of high class features, and that most of them must send to other cities out of that state for their supply.”
The December 13, 1913, issue of the same publication mentions a Princess Theatre in Youngstown, and the August 7, 1915, issue mentions a South Side Theatre, managed by Max Shagrin. A 1916 issue mentions a Colonial Theatre, but I couldn’t read the item as it was in one of the issues for which Google inexplicably displays only snippet views, despite it being in the public domain.
A snippet view of the 1921 edition of Wid’s Year Book lists the Bijou and the Rex, and also lists a theater called the Victory. A snippet of the 1930 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Astor, Cameo and Dome. Those lists are both incomplete due to the snippeting.
So far, Boxoffice has posted online only its issues from 1936 on, and I’ve been unable to find in those any of the Youngstown theater names you listed.
I recall reading in a biography of the Warner brothers that they chose to go to New Castle to open their first theater in 1907 because Youngstown already had so many movie houses in operation. I also recall a paper citing a Moving Picture World item that said Youngstown had twenty movie theaters operating in 1908. Many of them probably lasted less than a year, though, and most likely didn’t even get listed in the annual city directory. Movie theaters were like mayflies in those days.
Architect Herman F. Kling was the subject of one of the thumbnail biographies in volume 2 of Joseph Green Butler’s 1921 work “History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.” It doesn’t mention the Dome, but does say that Kling & Zenk designed the Grand Opera House at Sharon, Pennsylvania.
There was an article about opening of the Dome in a 1912 issue of trade journal The Moving Picture World:[quote]“The Dome Theater… is owned by Messrs. Renner & Deibel, men who can see big returns from a first-class picture house. The place is managed by C. W. Deibel, who opened it on the evening of Saturday, December 21, 1912. From its opening date to this day, the business of this expensive picture house has been more than the proprietors anticipated.
“The auditorium, which provides opera chairs for 800 persons, is finished along lines that combine simplicity with a magnitude of size and space which are seldom to be found in the average picture theater. From any seat on the sloping floors, one can obtain a full view of the screen and stage.
“Patrons are enabled to enter and leave any part of the auditorium at any time without inconveniencing in the least degree those seated about them. The exits on the Hazel Street side are large double doors that open directly to the street; the west side exits, which are of the same commodious character, lead to a fireproof foyer which furnishes an unobstructed passage to Federal Street, parallel with the main entrance. There is a handsome marquee extending for some distance over the sidewalk of the Federal Street entrance.
“Brilliant with electric lights, it heralds a welcome to the palatial foyer and lobby. The sides of the lobby are covered with polished marble, which half way to the top meets a series of mural panels that shade in quiet tints with the ceiling which is studded with inverted lights casting their radiance towards the ceiling. The floor of the lobby is done in mosaic style.
“The operating room is constructed of fireproof material and has three operating machines in constant use. The picture is projected upon a mirror screen which the manager says is the ‘largest in the State. The ventilation of the theater has been made the subject of careful study by the proprietors which resulted in a system almost incomparable.
“Music is furnished by a nine-piece orchestra.”[/quote]The Moving Picture World had another item about the Dome in its issue of August 7, 1915:
The September 3, 1936 entry in the dairy of Youngstown attorney Benjamin Roth, parts of which were published last year (Google Books preview) noted that new stores were opening up all over town, and included the line: “Even the old Dome Theater is being converted into a store room.”A list of theater openings in the August 27, 1949, issue of Boxoffice included the following item: “Northport, L.I.— Joe Mirosola to open new Larkfield Theatre, 600 seats, $175,000, August 30.”
The Little Theatre originally seated 300 when it opened in 1929 but, according to the official web site, the four additional auditoriums that have since been added to the house bring the current seating capacity to 940.
Here is a fresh link to the August 5, 1950, Boxoffice article about the Mercury Theatre. It continues on the subsequent page (click their “next page” link.)
Photos of Youngstown’s Uptown Theatre before and after its 1956 remodeling were featured on the cover of Boxoffice, May 1, 1967.
The scan is a bit blurry, but the photo at the bottom of this page of Boxoffice, August 5, 1950, shows the Uptown when it was still sporting its 1930s moderne facade, complete with three porthole windows above the wedge-shaped marquee.
The report of theaters reopened in 1960, published in Boxoffice, January 30, 1961, included an unnamed theater at Dill City, reopened by R. R. Powers. Dill City being so small, the Dill Theatre was probably the only house in town. That is the only mention of Dill City I’ve been able to find in Boxoffice.
Regis, you will be pleased to see this three-page article about the Empire Theatre, from Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. There are several photos of the theater, and a small floor plan and cross section. Click on the “next page” links to see the subsequent pages.
Although the Boxoffice article gives the impression that the Empire’s reverse theater design was an innovation by Liebenberg & Kaplan, there had in fact already been a dozen or more reverse theaters operating in the United States and England, some of them dating back to the early years of the century.
A three-page article about this drive-in starts on this page of Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. There are several photos, most of them depicting the unusual projection equipment.
The Buffalo Autoscope had 122 44-inch wide screens on its five acre plot, and the theater could be operated by three people. The article mentions the Smith brothers' smaller prototype Autoscope operation in Urbana, opened the previous year and accommodating a mere fifty cars.
Boxoffice of October 23, 1954, had a few before-and-after photos of the front and lobby of the State Theatre, which had been remodeled that year. Plans for the remodeling were by E.H. Geissler. Geissler was later one of the co-developers of the Ultra-Vision projection system that was installed in a number of Wilby-Kincey theaters starting in 1969.
There are photos of the front and the auditorium of the Fox Theatre in Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. Fox Intermountain’s in-house architect of the time, Mel C. Glatz, designed the theater.
A photo of the lobby of the Nortown Theatre appears in the lower left corner of this page of Boxoffice, October 23, 1954. The architect of the theater was A.G. Facey.
An additional photo is at lower right of this page of the same issue, and depicts the boxoffice and entrance to the theater.
The October 23, 1954, issue of Boxoffice featured a multi-page article about the remodeling of the Tivoli, beginning on this page. The entrance lobby was given a fairly sleek streamline modern style, but the other spaces retained much of the more traditional decor from the 1920s. Much of the Italian Renaissance detailing was stripped from the auditorium, but its basic outlines remained intact.
My impression from the photos is that the foyer and auditorium looked a bit cheesy after the remodeling, and the house would have been better served by a more thoughtful restoration of the original design, except for that spiffy moderne entrance lobby, which was quite an improvement. It’s too bad the entrance was in the part of the building that has been demolished.
The Vogue Theatre is sort of open. There doesn’t appear to be any web site for the theater yet, and I can’t find any events scheduled, but this article published in the local Daily Record on November 6, 2010, announced that the reopening of the house would take place on November 13. There’s an interior photo. The space looks pretty raw, as the complete renovation has been put on hold until the economy improves.
Another item in the Daily Record announced a December 4 appearance at the Vogue of the regionally popular country music group, the Dave Rawlinson Band. YouTube has a couple of videos from that performance. As far as I can find, there have been no events at the Vogue since then.
Carmike Theatres took over the Video Independent circuit in 1983, according to the Gale Directory of Company Histories. The Altus Times article I cited says that the Spears Trust and Griffith Realty each retained a half interest in the Plaza Theatre building until 1991. Carmike must have operated the house under a lease.
A photo of the entrance lobby of the Tivoli made the cover of Boxoffice, October 2, 1954.
Poblocki & Sons bought the run-down Plaza Theatre in 1953 and renovated it the following year to demonstrate Ben and Barney Poblocki’s contention that declining theater attendance was often the result of operators' failure to update their houses. As the Plaza is still open, perhaps there was something to their belief in the power of modernization.
This article in Boxoffice of October 2, 1954, has before and after photos of the Plaza’s front. The entire project, including design, was carried out in house by Poblocki & Sons.
I’m glad the Poblocki’s only modernized the lower part of the facade, and kept that delightful Gothic detail on the upper story.
Skirball Brothers Theatres had the interior of the Pantheon completely rebuilt in 1961. There are three photos of the completed project on this page of the October 2 issue of Boxoffice. The seating capacity was reduced to 808.
I think there might be information missing from the Glazer collection and this theater’s Philadelphia Buildings page regarding the original name of the house. The Moving Picture World of July 12, 1913, in an article about Philadelphia theater operator Marcus A. Benn says there was a Benn Theatre then operating at Woodland and 64th:[quote]“Marcus A. Benn, of Philadelphia, went into his first theatrical venture in 1908, after having been a manager of a sewing machine company for over fourteen years. Since that time he has built and promoted more than twelve theaters, all of which are now being operated successfully. He is the sole owner of the Benn Theater, at Sixty-fourth Street and Woodland Avenue, and is a stockholder in, and secretary-treasurer of, the A. B. C. Theater.
“At Eighty-fourth Street and Eastwich Avenue, Mr. Benn has a picture theater under way, and there is no doubt but that he will create quite a stir among motion picture men in Philadelphia when he announces the exact spot on Market Street, east of Broad, for the location of another enterprise.
“Mr. Benn has an eye for beauty as well as for architectural construction. This fact is particularly noticeable in his A. B. C. and the Benn Theaters. Between August 29 and September 18, 1913, a delegation of experts from all parts of the world will hold a convention at the A. B. C. Theater to discuss matters pertaining to the advancement of the motion picture industry.”[/quote]A biography of W. C. Fields says that his family home at 6320 (or 6328) Woodland was torn down in 1922 to make way for the Benn Theatre, so the Benn Theatre mentioned in the article was not demolished to make way for the Benn Theatre that still stands down the block. It seems most likely to me that the Benn Theatre of 1913 was the house that later became the Benson. Possibly it was renamed the Bell Theatre when the new Benn opened in 1923. The name Bell certainly would have easily fit on signage that formerly read Benn.
The Chronology page for the Bell Theatre at Philadelphia Buildings gives the construction date of 1912-1914 for the building, and names the architects as Anderson & Haupt (Julius J. Anderson, architect, and Max Haupt, engineer.) If the firm planned alterations the building after the theater opened, this house could have been in operation as early as 1912, rather than 1914. If it was indeed the original Benn Theatre, it was certainly in operation by July, 1913.
Here’s an item about the Crescent from The Moving Picture World, July 12, 1913:
The Plaza Theatre has been converted into a church by the Altus Christian Fellowship. Their web site says that the building is used primarily as their worship center, but is still equipped as a functional theater and is available for a variety of events. An exhibit of theater memorabilia is on display in the lobby.
The Plaza Theatre was in operation as recently as 2005, when the June issue of Boxoffice cited a letter from operator Richard Day. The Plaza was then charging a top admission price of two dollars, which was also the top price at the concession stand, but the business was still struggling.
I haven’t found the Plaza mentioned in any later issues of Boxoffice, so I don’t know exactly how long it remained open after that, but an Altus Times article, apparently from 2007 (the paper doesn’t give dates for its archived articles, but only a generic “…years ago” heading) says that Janice and Richard Day had sold the building to the church group in August that year. The article notes that the Days had bought the Plaza in 2002 and had reopened it on May 7, 2004, after it had been dark for twelve years.
An earlier Times article, apparently from early 2004, gave some of the theater’s history. The house was built in 1928, and opened as the New Empire Theatre. Beginning in 1931, it was operated under a lease by W.T. Spears' Consolidated Theatres. By 1936, Spears was operating the house in partnership with Griffith Theatres (succeeded by Video Independent Theatres in 1949.) In 1948, Spears and the Griffith Realty Company purchased the theater building, and he and Video Independent operated the house in partnership until Spears died in 1968.
Video Independent retained its half interest in the building until selling it in 1991. The house was operated by Jimmie C. Wiley during parts of 1991 and 1992. It apparently closed that year, and in 1993 the property was deeded to the local redevelopment agency, which owned the building until the Days bought it in 2002.
I would imagine that the Moderne remodeling of the theater was done in 1948 or shortly after that, after the building had been purchased from its original owner by Spears and Griffith. I have no clue when the name was changed from New Empire to Plaza. The earliest mention of the Plaza I’ve found in Boxoffice is from 1954, but I haven’t found either an Empire or a New Empire Theatre in Altus mentioned at all.
Boxoffice of March 20, 1954, reported that the Delta Theatre in Altus had been leveled by fire on the morning of Sunday, March 14. An adjacent drug store, where the fire had started, was also destroyed. Operator Video Independent Theatres reopened its State Theatre to show the first run films which had been programmed at the Delta. Video also operated the Plaza Theatre, the town’s “A” house.
The Boxoffice item said that plans to rebuild the Delta were tentative. I haven’t found any evidence that the house was ever rebuilt, though. As far as I can find, the Delta Theatre was never mentioned in Boxoffice again.
The State Theatre was closed for a time in the early 1950s. As reported in Boxoffice of March 20, 1954, the State was reopened as a first run house by Video Independent Theatres following the destruction by fire of the circuit’s Delta Theatre on March 14.
I haven’t found the State mentioned in any later Boxoffice items, so I don’t know how long its reprieve lasted. I’ve found no evidence that the Delta was ever rebuilt, either.