Unless the Carroll 5 opened as a twin in 1973 and was later expanded to five screens. The Caroll 5 is at the same location as the twin theater discussed in ther articles.
This is a March 1974 follow up story which notes the demolition of the Carroll in summer 1973.
The new twin theater here, at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets, is expected to be opened by mid-April, theater owner Robert Fridley of Des Moines said. With the completion of the twin theater complex, Carroll will be one of the first towns in the state to have a newly constructed twin facility, Fridley said.
Plans now call for one of the two auditoriums to seat 370 persons, while the smaller of the two will have a seating capacity of 300. The former Carroll Theater building, located on Fifth Street between Main and Court Street, was razed last summer to make way for the new Carroll Civic Center. Because of this the city has been without an indoor theater since early summer.
This is from the Carroll Daily Times Herald in March 1973:
Earth moving operations have begun preparatory to putting in the footings on the site where a new twin theater complex will be constructed in the central business district urban renewal area on the west side of Main Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets. The exact final plans and specifications for the buildings have not been completed and construction contracts have not been awarded, according to Robert Fridley of Des Moines, owner of the Carroll Theater.
Present plans call for one of the theaters to have a capacity of 350 people while the second theater will have a capacity of 250. The entrance to the theater will be on the Main Street side of the structure, The present Carroll Theater building is among the buildings to be demolished in June to make way for the new Carroll Civic Center. Because of this, the city will be without an indoor theater at least until next fall, the earliest the new theater building could be ready for occupancy.
The Carroll drive-in theater is scheduled to open in the near future and will remain open throughout the summer and early fall. The present Carroll Theater building has a capacity of slightly over 500. It was formerly owned by Arthur A. and Charles Neu before being purchased by the city earlier this year.
The Carroll Theater has pioneered in entertainment innovations in Carroll and has brought numerous motion picture developments to the city over the years. The current manager, W. C. Arts Jr., Is following in the steps of his father who was in the theater business here for 30 years and was responsible for many film firsts in Carroll. The Carroll Theater was first with three-dimensional pictures, and was one of the first in Iowa with wide screen and CinemaScope pictures.
Carroll’s theater business dates back more than 80 years to the early opera houses that brought popular road shows to the city. The first film house was the Bijou, opened in, 1910 and located in the building now housing the G-Store on North Main Street.
According to Fridley, plans for the new theater include the installation of equipment representing the latest strides made in the motion picture industry. He said the equipment could make the new twin theater the most modern of any theater in a city the size of Carroll in the United States.
The Lions Theater will reopen Friday, April 26. The Lions Club committee has worked out a way to again have the show in operation and asks all area residents to attend as often as possible to give it the support it needs.
New admission charges are being made: adults, 60c and children, 25c. Advance tickets are now being sold at 10 adult tickets for $5.00. This is a saving of $1.00 and two children ‘will be admitted on one adult ticket. The tickets are good for any show night in the near future. The program starting April 26 will be in the next week’s Tribune.
An angry Lion writes to the Troy Tribune in March 1957:
The regular meeting of the Troy Lions Club was held in the basement of the Evangelical Church, March 5, 1957. A very good dinner was served, after which a very important business session was held.
The very first thing on the agenda was to officially install Mr. Elmer Eckert into the Lions Club as a member. Lion Shaffer had the honor of performing this installation. We welcome Elmer and we know he will be an asset to the club.
The last business on the agenda was the Lions' Theater. A problem now exists at the theater which concerns not only the Lions Club in Troy but the surrounding areas. Some time ago I included in the Lions News a plea for more attendance at the Lions Theater. Perhaps no one read it or maybe this article was overlooked. I do not know. It leads me to believe that no one cares if the Theater operates or not. I hope I am wrong.
Due to low attendance the Lions Theater is in financial difficulty which leads to no other alternative but to close the theater. So as of March 17, 1957 the Lions Theater will close its doors. The theater is very much in debt. It has been running in the red for the past six months and has a large insurance bill coming due, as well as the taxes in May which amount to over seven hundred dollars.
Although the doors are closed, we have faith that the people do not want to see this recreation spot closed and will have a reaction that will be overwhelming for the support of this theater.
We would like to ask this one question in summarizing this up, DO YOU WANT A SHOW IN TROY? If you do, would you please send a donation now to the Lions Theater, to put it on its feet again so it can be reopened in the very near future. If by any chance there is no response to this plea, the theater will immediately be sold or put up for lease. Don’t let this happen, I beg of you. Let’s get behind the theater. The future of the theater depends on what you the people want. Send all donations to Lions Theater, in care of Dale Kurtz, 102 West Henderson in Troy.
Going back to the Big Sky Drive-In site, it says LeGros bought the Vogue in 1971, so that should be corrected in the introduction, as opposed to opened in 1971. Not sure about the Front Street/Main Street issue, though. Maybe they were intersecting streets.
Here is an August 1954 article from the Winona Daily News:
ARCADIA, Wis. (Special) â€" Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Rolbiecki, owners of the Vogue Theater here for the past 13 years, have sold the theater to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Leland of Arcadia. The sale included the theater building, equipment and the residence adjoining the theater. The new owners will take possession September 15.
The Lelands will establish an insurance office at their residence next to the theater after taking possession. Rolbiecki will remain here a short time to instruct the Lelands in theater operations. He and his family plan an extended motor trip to the south to visit relatives on the west coast.
Rolbiecki came to Arcadia in 1941 from Winona after purchasing the Vogue Theater from Nels Anderson of Chippewa Falls. Ernest West operated the theater for a short time before Rolbiecki purchased it. Opening date was July 11, 1941 and he has operated the business since.
Rolbiecki retires after 41 years in the business. He and his father were associated in four Winona theaters until 1937. These were the Dream Theater on East 3rd street which was sold to the Winona Theater Co. in 1919; the Strand, in a building now occupied by Spurgeon’s Store; the Liberty, on East 5th street, and the Broadway on East Broadway which they built and operated for 18 years before selling to the Winona Theater Co. in June 1937.
Here is part of a December 1976 article in the Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise:
LEOMINSTER â€" Once a proud and nearly majestic theater, the Metropolitan Theater Building on Central Street is apparently facing the wrecking ball. Serious structural defects have been found in the building, including major cracks in the rear wall, by the building department. If the owner, John D. Latchis of Keene, N.H., does not move to make the necessary repairs, Mayor John B. McLaughlin said the city will attach a lien on the property and have the building razed.
The Metropolitan Theater closed a decade ago, the last of a number of downtown movie houses which served up a variety of shows for public consumption from the 1930s through the early 1960s. During the years of World War II, the theater often featured war movies which instilled patriotism among the youth of the city. In the depression years, the theater was the one major form of entertainment still affordable by the masses, and to make the buy even better, dishes were a frequent giveaway to patrons. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the theatre offered the favorite diet of the youth, horror movies and films with rock and roll stars in California beach themes.
Since its closing, several people made efforts to convert the theater to various uses, even at one time considering it as a possible site for an indoor mall, and at another as a possible drop-in center for the city’s youth. The building now is largely vacant, except for pigeons roosting inside broken windows, and few storefront businesses using only a minimum of the building’s room.
Mayor McLaughlin has hinted that even if Latchis should want to renovate the building, such action is unlikely. He said the defects would warrant removal of a portion of the rear of the building, renovations to the front of the building, and moving boilers used to heat the structure. All of that would be costly.
McLaughlin said that if demolition is decided as the alternative to repairs, federal Community Development Act funds will probably be used to raze the structure. If that happens, the city would put a lien against the property, either to be paid by Latchis or anyone seeking to purchase the land where the building once stood. Demolition of the property would place a major opening on Central Street in the heart of the central business district.
Here is a January 1946 article in the Fitchburg Sentinel:
LEOMINSTER, Jan. 10-The McEvoy Amusement Co. has leased the Plymouth theater and the Rialto theater to the P&R Theaters, Inc. The officers of the new corporation are Edward L. McEvoy, president, and William F. Yager, treasurer.
For the past several years the theaters were operated by the Leominster Allied Theater Corp. with Mr. Yager as manager. Of recent years the Rialto has been closed and the corporation operated only the Plymouth theater. The properties leased by the new corporation includes the Rialto on Main street, the Plymouth on Mechanic street and a large tract of land on Mechanic street where a gasoline station is located.
With the announcement of the new corporation the McEvoy family resumes operating control of the two theaters which were built by Mrs. Rosina M. McEvoy and her late husband, Thomas A. McEvoy. Mr. McEvoy, president of the P&R Theaters, Inc. is Mrs. McEvoy’s son and Mr. Yager is her son-in-law. Mr. Yager said today that while there were several possibilities under consideration relative to the reopening of the Rialto, plans were still in the indefinite stage.
Here is a September 1928 article from the Galveston Daily News:
The “sound” motion picture craze ushered in locally several months ago with Al Jolson in “The Jazz Singer,” and followed at infrequent intervals by “Tenderloin,” “Lion and the Mouseâ€, "Glorious Betsy,” “Warming Upâ€, “State Street Sadie,” “Women They Talk About” and “Caught in the Fog,” has now come to be a rather consistent policy at the Queen Theater, first theater to introduce Vitaphone and Movietone, stated Mr. Sowar, local manager.
This is gleaned from announcement just made of pictures booked for the opening of the fall season. Styled as “The Big Six” by the management, for three successive weeks and with two pictures a week every picture shown will be of the sight and sound variety. By placing six of the best pictures in these three weeks throughout their circuit, the booking offices of Publix Theaters Corporation, local owners of the Queen, feel that they will give the theater-going public a true picture of the type of productions they may expect for the coming fall and winter season.
Starting next Saturday Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will introduce their first picture In “sound,” “Excess Baggage,” with likeable, lovable William Haines In the leading role. The musical synchronization for this picture was prepared by the 125-piece Capitol Theater Orchestra, New York.
Unless the Carroll 5 opened as a twin in 1973 and was later expanded to five screens. The Caroll 5 is at the same location as the twin theater discussed in ther articles.
This is a March 1974 follow up story which notes the demolition of the Carroll in summer 1973.
The new twin theater here, at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets, is expected to be opened by mid-April, theater owner Robert Fridley of Des Moines said. With the completion of the twin theater complex, Carroll will be one of the first towns in the state to have a newly constructed twin facility, Fridley said.
Plans now call for one of the two auditoriums to seat 370 persons, while the smaller of the two will have a seating capacity of 300. The former Carroll Theater building, located on Fifth Street between Main and Court Street, was razed last summer to make way for the new Carroll Civic Center. Because of this the city has been without an indoor theater since early summer.
This is from the Carroll Daily Times Herald in March 1973:
Earth moving operations have begun preparatory to putting in the footings on the site where a new twin theater complex will be constructed in the central business district urban renewal area on the west side of Main Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets. The exact final plans and specifications for the buildings have not been completed and construction contracts have not been awarded, according to Robert Fridley of Des Moines, owner of the Carroll Theater.
Present plans call for one of the theaters to have a capacity of 350 people while the second theater will have a capacity of 250. The entrance to the theater will be on the Main Street side of the structure, The present Carroll Theater building is among the buildings to be demolished in June to make way for the new Carroll Civic Center. Because of this, the city will be without an indoor theater at least until next fall, the earliest the new theater building could be ready for occupancy.
The Carroll drive-in theater is scheduled to open in the near future and will remain open throughout the summer and early fall. The present Carroll Theater building has a capacity of slightly over 500. It was formerly owned by Arthur A. and Charles Neu before being purchased by the city earlier this year.
The Carroll Theater has pioneered in entertainment innovations in Carroll and has brought numerous motion picture developments to the city over the years. The current manager, W. C. Arts Jr., Is following in the steps of his father who was in the theater business here for 30 years and was responsible for many film firsts in Carroll. The Carroll Theater was first with three-dimensional pictures, and was one of the first in Iowa with wide screen and CinemaScope pictures.
Carroll’s theater business dates back more than 80 years to the early opera houses that brought popular road shows to the city. The first film house was the Bijou, opened in, 1910 and located in the building now housing the G-Store on North Main Street.
According to Fridley, plans for the new theater include the installation of equipment representing the latest strides made in the motion picture industry. He said the equipment could make the new twin theater the most modern of any theater in a city the size of Carroll in the United States.
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ksmhlj
Also from 1957:
The Lions Theater will reopen Friday, April 26. The Lions Club committee has worked out a way to again have the show in operation and asks all area residents to attend as often as possible to give it the support it needs.
New admission charges are being made: adults, 60c and children, 25c. Advance tickets are now being sold at 10 adult tickets for $5.00. This is a saving of $1.00 and two children ‘will be admitted on one adult ticket. The tickets are good for any show night in the near future. The program starting April 26 will be in the next week’s Tribune.
An angry Lion writes to the Troy Tribune in March 1957:
The regular meeting of the Troy Lions Club was held in the basement of the Evangelical Church, March 5, 1957. A very good dinner was served, after which a very important business session was held.
The very first thing on the agenda was to officially install Mr. Elmer Eckert into the Lions Club as a member. Lion Shaffer had the honor of performing this installation. We welcome Elmer and we know he will be an asset to the club.
The last business on the agenda was the Lions' Theater. A problem now exists at the theater which concerns not only the Lions Club in Troy but the surrounding areas. Some time ago I included in the Lions News a plea for more attendance at the Lions Theater. Perhaps no one read it or maybe this article was overlooked. I do not know. It leads me to believe that no one cares if the Theater operates or not. I hope I am wrong.
Due to low attendance the Lions Theater is in financial difficulty which leads to no other alternative but to close the theater. So as of March 17, 1957 the Lions Theater will close its doors. The theater is very much in debt. It has been running in the red for the past six months and has a large insurance bill coming due, as well as the taxes in May which amount to over seven hundred dollars.
Although the doors are closed, we have faith that the people do not want to see this recreation spot closed and will have a reaction that will be overwhelming for the support of this theater.
We would like to ask this one question in summarizing this up, DO YOU WANT A SHOW IN TROY? If you do, would you please send a donation now to the Lions Theater, to put it on its feet again so it can be reopened in the very near future. If by any chance there is no response to this plea, the theater will immediately be sold or put up for lease. Don’t let this happen, I beg of you. Let’s get behind the theater. The future of the theater depends on what you the people want. Send all donations to Lions Theater, in care of Dale Kurtz, 102 West Henderson in Troy.
Going back to the Big Sky Drive-In site, it says LeGros bought the Vogue in 1971, so that should be corrected in the introduction, as opposed to opened in 1971. Not sure about the Front Street/Main Street issue, though. Maybe they were intersecting streets.
I guess since we’re not their friends they make it more difficult.
Here is an August 1954 article from the Winona Daily News:
ARCADIA, Wis. (Special) â€" Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Rolbiecki, owners of the Vogue Theater here for the past 13 years, have sold the theater to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Leland of Arcadia. The sale included the theater building, equipment and the residence adjoining the theater. The new owners will take possession September 15.
The Lelands will establish an insurance office at their residence next to the theater after taking possession. Rolbiecki will remain here a short time to instruct the Lelands in theater operations. He and his family plan an extended motor trip to the south to visit relatives on the west coast.
Rolbiecki came to Arcadia in 1941 from Winona after purchasing the Vogue Theater from Nels Anderson of Chippewa Falls. Ernest West operated the theater for a short time before Rolbiecki purchased it. Opening date was July 11, 1941 and he has operated the business since.
Rolbiecki retires after 41 years in the business. He and his father were associated in four Winona theaters until 1937. These were the Dream Theater on East 3rd street which was sold to the Winona Theater Co. in 1919; the Strand, in a building now occupied by Spurgeon’s Store; the Liberty, on East 5th street, and the Broadway on East Broadway which they built and operated for 18 years before selling to the Winona Theater Co. in June 1937.
There is a reference to Arcadia’s Vogue Theater in the Winona (MN) Daily News in October 1957, which would make the 1971 opening date incorrect.
Here is an interior photo taken today:
http://tinyurl.com/lk2ouu
That one seems to work on and off. Here is the same photo:
http://tinyurl.com/l3et5n
Too dark-poor reproduction.
The Sentinel followed this story in March 1977 with several photos of the Metropolitan being demolished.
Here is part of a December 1976 article in the Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise:
LEOMINSTER â€" Once a proud and nearly majestic theater, the Metropolitan Theater Building on Central Street is apparently facing the wrecking ball. Serious structural defects have been found in the building, including major cracks in the rear wall, by the building department. If the owner, John D. Latchis of Keene, N.H., does not move to make the necessary repairs, Mayor John B. McLaughlin said the city will attach a lien on the property and have the building razed.
The Metropolitan Theater closed a decade ago, the last of a number of downtown movie houses which served up a variety of shows for public consumption from the 1930s through the early 1960s. During the years of World War II, the theater often featured war movies which instilled patriotism among the youth of the city. In the depression years, the theater was the one major form of entertainment still affordable by the masses, and to make the buy even better, dishes were a frequent giveaway to patrons. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the theatre offered the favorite diet of the youth, horror movies and films with rock and roll stars in California beach themes.
Since its closing, several people made efforts to convert the theater to various uses, even at one time considering it as a possible site for an indoor mall, and at another as a possible drop-in center for the city’s youth. The building now is largely vacant, except for pigeons roosting inside broken windows, and few storefront businesses using only a minimum of the building’s room.
Mayor McLaughlin has hinted that even if Latchis should want to renovate the building, such action is unlikely. He said the defects would warrant removal of a portion of the rear of the building, renovations to the front of the building, and moving boilers used to heat the structure. All of that would be costly.
McLaughlin said that if demolition is decided as the alternative to repairs, federal Community Development Act funds will probably be used to raze the structure. If that happens, the city would put a lien against the property, either to be paid by Latchis or anyone seeking to purchase the land where the building once stood. Demolition of the property would place a major opening on Central Street in the heart of the central business district.
Here is a January 1946 article in the Fitchburg Sentinel:
LEOMINSTER, Jan. 10-The McEvoy Amusement Co. has leased the Plymouth theater and the Rialto theater to the P&R Theaters, Inc. The officers of the new corporation are Edward L. McEvoy, president, and William F. Yager, treasurer.
For the past several years the theaters were operated by the Leominster Allied Theater Corp. with Mr. Yager as manager. Of recent years the Rialto has been closed and the corporation operated only the Plymouth theater. The properties leased by the new corporation includes the Rialto on Main street, the Plymouth on Mechanic street and a large tract of land on Mechanic street where a gasoline station is located.
With the announcement of the new corporation the McEvoy family resumes operating control of the two theaters which were built by Mrs. Rosina M. McEvoy and her late husband, Thomas A. McEvoy. Mr. McEvoy, president of the P&R Theaters, Inc. is Mrs. McEvoy’s son and Mr. Yager is her son-in-law. Mr. Yager said today that while there were several possibilities under consideration relative to the reopening of the Rialto, plans were still in the indefinite stage.
Here is a 2006 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/mbm4qa
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/m4lhtz
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lrrrva
Here is a night shot:
http://tinyurl.com/m5zc9d
I liked it.
Here is a sketch from June 2009:
http://tinyurl.com/nvgzl2
Here is a September 1928 article from the Galveston Daily News:
The “sound” motion picture craze ushered in locally several months ago with Al Jolson in “The Jazz Singer,” and followed at infrequent intervals by “Tenderloin,” “Lion and the Mouseâ€, "Glorious Betsy,” “Warming Upâ€, “State Street Sadie,” “Women They Talk About” and “Caught in the Fog,” has now come to be a rather consistent policy at the Queen Theater, first theater to introduce Vitaphone and Movietone, stated Mr. Sowar, local manager.
This is gleaned from announcement just made of pictures booked for the opening of the fall season. Styled as “The Big Six” by the management, for three successive weeks and with two pictures a week every picture shown will be of the sight and sound variety. By placing six of the best pictures in these three weeks throughout their circuit, the booking offices of Publix Theaters Corporation, local owners of the Queen, feel that they will give the theater-going public a true picture of the type of productions they may expect for the coming fall and winter season.
Starting next Saturday Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will introduce their first picture In “sound,” “Excess Baggage,” with likeable, lovable William Haines In the leading role. The musical synchronization for this picture was prepared by the 125-piece Capitol Theater Orchestra, New York.
Here is a night photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lym7cg
Here is another exterior photo. It seems like the name should be Ritz 5, which is how I searched for it initially.
http://tinyurl.com/nnfl2r