The information in the listing is obviously bogus. There were numerous theaters in NWA before 1927, and there were at least two in Rogers before this one. The theater is currently closed for repairs due to tornado damage, and the theater company is performing elsewhere for the time being.
Not sure about the address. There is an old building at 310, and it doesn’t look like a theater. The 1914 map is the latest available, and it shows the southern half of the block as it is today. The vacant lot in the middle of the block was a large dealership. The area where 308 and 310 are today is vacant on that map. There was a large hotel on the corner where the cruddy metal shed is. 310 looks like it was cheaply built sometime before 1930 out of concrete blocks. It certainly could have fit 275 people, so it might have been converted into a small theater.
Obviously not a white brick building, but yellow, and there’s no marble. Sometime in the last 8 years or so the marquee has been replaced. I assume it’s a reproduction. The facade, which was looking pretty shabby, has been retouched, although it seems that they ‘replaced’ the missing vitrolite panels by painting the gaps black.
I think this whole listing needs to be junked, or at the very least, all of the pictures deleted and the correct address found. There are absolutely no theaters on Dickinson until the U-Ark appears on the 1948 map. If the Park ever existed, it must have been somewhere else.
The information here is incorrect, and very muddled. First, nothing can be ‘5 buildings north’ of the U-Ark on a street that runs E-W. 644 is across the street, and a bit to the east of the U-Ark. Second, this building was not built in 1930, and it was probably never a theater. The 1948 map is the first it appears on, and shows it as a bowling alley and dance hall built in 1947. The layout is identical to today’s, save for the tacky fake retro fill in the center. If there ever was a Park, it either opened much later, or it was somewhere else.
The information about the site is wrong. The sad little park is next door to the theater. It’s hard to tell under the ugly dryvit remodel, but the front of the theater building is likely still there. It’s a pizza place.
Function should be changed. This is office suites. The building was built between 1914 and 1922 as a garage, and still has that function on the 1936 map. Sometime between 1936 and 1948, St. Nicholas Ave was renamed to Broadway. The street to the south, which had already changed from Iron to 8th to 9th, became Central.
Needs to be listed as demolished. Was probably destroyed in the fire. The little store there now has sills at the very top that match the second story in the photo.
The only thing on Spring that looks remotely ‘new’ is the Roxy at 95. 43-47 are the remains of an old stone building, heavily modified. Might have been there as well.
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.
The information in the listing is obviously bogus. There were numerous theaters in NWA before 1927, and there were at least two in Rogers before this one. The theater is currently closed for repairs due to tornado damage, and the theater company is performing elsewhere for the time being.
Not sure about the address. There is an old building at 310, and it doesn’t look like a theater. The 1914 map is the latest available, and it shows the southern half of the block as it is today. The vacant lot in the middle of the block was a large dealership. The area where 308 and 310 are today is vacant on that map. There was a large hotel on the corner where the cruddy metal shed is. 310 looks like it was cheaply built sometime before 1930 out of concrete blocks. It certainly could have fit 275 people, so it might have been converted into a small theater.
Note that there does not appear to be an older Lyric for this to be a ‘New’ version of.
Obviously not a white brick building, but yellow, and there’s no marble. Sometime in the last 8 years or so the marquee has been replaced. I assume it’s a reproduction. The facade, which was looking pretty shabby, has been retouched, although it seems that they ‘replaced’ the missing vitrolite panels by painting the gaps black.
I think this whole listing needs to be junked, or at the very least, all of the pictures deleted and the correct address found. There are absolutely no theaters on Dickinson until the U-Ark appears on the 1948 map. If the Park ever existed, it must have been somewhere else.
The information here is incorrect, and very muddled. First, nothing can be ‘5 buildings north’ of the U-Ark on a street that runs E-W. 644 is across the street, and a bit to the east of the U-Ark. Second, this building was not built in 1930, and it was probably never a theater. The 1948 map is the first it appears on, and shows it as a bowling alley and dance hall built in 1947. The layout is identical to today’s, save for the tacky fake retro fill in the center. If there ever was a Park, it either opened much later, or it was somewhere else.
The information about the site is wrong. The sad little park is next door to the theater. It’s hard to tell under the ugly dryvit remodel, but the front of the theater building is likely still there. It’s a pizza place.
The theater was built in 1905. The front was always offices. The auditorium has been demolished, and this has suffered a nasty dryvit remodel.
The opera house was constructed before 1892. See that listing.
Thanks for the IDs!
Function should be changed. This is office suites. The building was built between 1914 and 1922 as a garage, and still has that function on the 1936 map. Sometime between 1936 and 1948, St. Nicholas Ave was renamed to Broadway. The street to the south, which had already changed from Iron to 8th to 9th, became Central.
The historical address was 1004 St. Nicholas Ave. That changed to the current scheme between 1936 and 1948.
Needs to be listed as demolished. Was probably destroyed in the fire. The little store there now has sills at the very top that match the second story in the photo.
I am pretty sure the opening date is wrong. The plaque on the building reads ‘Teague Newman Phillips 1947’.
The only thing on Spring that looks remotely ‘new’ is the Roxy at 95. 43-47 are the remains of an old stone building, heavily modified. Might have been there as well.
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.