The Showboat Theatre opened its doors on June 6, 1942 with Abbott and Costello in “Rio Rita” along with a few unnamed short subjects (listed in the wrong position on its grand opening ad) alongside a musical performance by the Freeport High School band on stage and a dedication speech afterward.
The entire theater took an estimate three months to construct, and was named after the first Showboat Theatre in nearby Texas City, which the neighboring city itself possibly had two theaters being named the Showboat in the 1940s.
I’m very sure that there are two Showboat Theatres in Texas City, because there was one report saying that the first Showboat suffered destruction from a fire in October 1942, suffering an estimate $75,000 in damages.
Cinemark briefly operated the Grove Theater throughout its last ten days of operation from November 30 until December 6, 1998. This was followed by closure as a movie theater that same day when the Tinseltown opened nearby.
This indeed opened as the Tri-County Twin Cinema. A third screen was added during the late-1980s. The Tri-County Cinema was last operated by Cinemark and closed on December 6, 1998 when the chain opened their Tinseltown in Oak Ridge.
Its most likely that the Anchor Drive-In opened with Randolph Scott in “Man In The Saddle” along with an unnamed cartoon. The Anchor featured original installations of everything RCA, including RCA projection, RCA Brite Arc lamps, and RCA sound.
Martin Theatres took over the Anchor in October 1969. The Anchor Drive-In last operated independently and closed on November 10, 1985 with “The Terminator” and “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins”.
Advertisements for the Park Theatre disappeared from the Bradford County Telegraph during the CinemaScope era, which meant that it either closed in the late-1950s or stopped advertising by then. Also to note is that the Park Theatre never had a grand opening advertisement.
There’s another short-lived theater in Albia called the Lyric Theatre, which opened in the Spring of 1913 with both movies and live vaudeville, featuring a radium gold drapery in the auditorium. The Lyric closed in 1916.
The Ritz Theatre opened in the early-1930s, but I cannot find its grand opening information at all. However, there is a clue on a November 1931 article that had the term “New Ritz Theatre” on it. So I’m very sure that this may’ve opened in or around 1931. It was already operating in 1933.
Edited from my October 13, 2022 (9:53 AM) comment:
The 301 Drive-In opened its gates on May 13, 1965 with Red Buttons in “Your Cheatin' Heart” and Jerry Lewis in “The Disorderly Orderly”. It was still open in 1991, but was demolished in 1996.
The Florida Theatre opened its doors on October 4, 1941 with Betty Grable in “A Yank In The R.A.F” and Claude Pepper in “International Affairs” along with an unnamed Pete Smith Specialty and an unnamed cartoon. It originally housed 700 seats as a single-screener, with 500 seats in the auditorium and 200 seats in the balcony, and its original projection featured Simplex projection with Cyclex lamps and Simplex sound.
Unlike most small town movie theaters in Florida, the Florida Theatre has its own water supply with a wall measuring 80ft and when the air conditioning was used at capacity, the system will consume 40 gallons of water a minute, which was “enough to supply half of the town’s population”. The system had a capacity of 35 tons of ice and temperature in the theater was controllable. The original auditorium featured deeply-cushioned seats with a wine color, harmonizing with both tan and green schemes for the interior.
The Florida Theatre was remodeled in 1972 and again on June 14, 1984 when it reopened as a twin theater. The twinning downsized the capacity to 310 seats, with 104 seats in Screen 1 and 206 seats in Screen 2, as well as an updated projection room and concession stand. The work of its 1984 remodeling which took two months between April 26 and June 13 of that year was done only on days the theater is closed or in the daytime when there’s no shows, but the work was halted whenever a show starts in the evenings, meaning that the theater was still operating during construction of its second screen at the time.
There was an article stating that another theater, the Comet Theatre, from a 1922 article from the Albia Union saying that the Comet was located on North Main Street as well. The Comet operated from December 1909 until early 1923 and the Rex operated from early 1923 until 1927, and both theaters are in separate locations due to showtimes stating that both the Comet and the Rex were operating at the same time before the Comet’s closure.
Archives of the Lake City Gazette have officially confirmed that this was the original 750-seat Lake Theatre, which opened in the early-1940s as part of the Robert Cannon Theatres chain, before being rebuilt for four to six weeks after Thanksgiving 1966. The former Lake Theatre reopened as the Gateway Theatre on January 5, 1967 with Walt Disney’s “LT. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.” and the Gateway operated as a 500-seat first-run theater until its closure in 1980. The Gateway then sat abandoned for more than a decade.
This was never known as the Columbia Theatre, which that likely belongs to the 261 North Marion Avenue location that opened in early 1947. And one more note, this did NOT open in 1930. There are two theaters in Lake City during the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s, which were the Desoto Theatre (opened in Spring 1927) and the Grand Theatre (opened in the 1910s), and both theaters were operated by Martin Theatres during its later years.
Archives of the Lake City Gazette have officially confirmed that the Lake Theatre was still open in 1964 despite being sold that November, and the Lake Theatre was renamed the Gateway Theatre following major remodeling causing a 4-to-6 week closure after Thanksgiving 1966. The theater officially reopened as the Gateway Theatre on January 5, 1967 with Walt Disney’s “LT. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.” and the Gateway operated until its closure in 1980. The Gateway then sat abandoned for more than a decade. Its most likely that the Lake Theatre’s building was rebuilt and became the Gateway Theatre.
The reopening of the Columbia Theatre probably didn’t last long at all, as it likely closed after a few months.
The Swan Theatre opened on April 20, 1936 as a replacement of the Ritz Theatre (formerly the Royal Theatre), and was taken over by Robert Cannon in February 1956, who also operated theaters in Lake City and Live Oak at the time. Unfortunately the Swan Theatre either closed later in 1956 or stopped advertising on newspapers.
The Showboat Theatre opened its doors on June 6, 1942 with Abbott and Costello in “Rio Rita” along with a few unnamed short subjects (listed in the wrong position on its grand opening ad) alongside a musical performance by the Freeport High School band on stage and a dedication speech afterward.
The entire theater took an estimate three months to construct, and was named after the first Showboat Theatre in nearby Texas City, which the neighboring city itself possibly had two theaters being named the Showboat in the 1940s.
I’m very sure that there are two Showboat Theatres in Texas City, because there was one report saying that the first Showboat suffered destruction from a fire in October 1942, suffering an estimate $75,000 in damages.
Cinemark briefly operated the Grove Theater throughout its last ten days of operation from November 30 until December 6, 1998. This was followed by closure as a movie theater that same day when the Tinseltown opened nearby.
This indeed opened as the Tri-County Twin Cinema. A third screen was added during the late-1980s. The Tri-County Cinema was last operated by Cinemark and closed on December 6, 1998 when the chain opened their Tinseltown in Oak Ridge.
Unlike most Cobb theaters, the Brookwood last operated as an art house and foreign theater.
Opened on July 1, 2014.
Closed with “Fresh Horses”.
It originally showed first-run films for decades, but went towards second-run before its 2008 closure.
Correction: It’s just “Limbo” not “Women In Limbo”. It does sound confusing because of its poster, but the actual title is just “Limbo”.
Opened with “Limbo” and closed with “The Last of the Mohicans”. The actual address is 4343 Everhard Rd NW, Canton, OH 44718.
This opened as the Electric Theatre during World War I, and was renamed the Coyle Theatre in 1939.
Closed on February 12, 1981 with “The Warriors”.
It most likely closed after the 1983 season.
Its most likely that the Anchor Drive-In opened with Randolph Scott in “Man In The Saddle” along with an unnamed cartoon. The Anchor featured original installations of everything RCA, including RCA projection, RCA Brite Arc lamps, and RCA sound.
Martin Theatres took over the Anchor in October 1969. The Anchor Drive-In last operated independently and closed on November 10, 1985 with “The Terminator” and “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins”.
Advertisements for the Park Theatre disappeared from the Bradford County Telegraph during the CinemaScope era, which meant that it either closed in the late-1950s or stopped advertising by then. Also to note is that the Park Theatre never had a grand opening advertisement.
There’s another short-lived theater in Albia called the Lyric Theatre, which opened in the Spring of 1913 with both movies and live vaudeville, featuring a radium gold drapery in the auditorium. The Lyric closed in 1916.
The Ritz Theatre opened in the early-1930s, but I cannot find its grand opening information at all. However, there is a clue on a November 1931 article that had the term “New Ritz Theatre” on it. So I’m very sure that this may’ve opened in or around 1931. It was already operating in 1933.
Once known as the Keystone Drive-In.
Edited from my October 13, 2022 (9:53 AM) comment:
The 301 Drive-In opened its gates on May 13, 1965 with Red Buttons in “Your Cheatin' Heart” and Jerry Lewis in “The Disorderly Orderly”. It was still open in 1991, but was demolished in 1996.
This link may help you. Besides, I used it for other theaters across Iowa.
The Florida Theatre opened its doors on October 4, 1941 with Betty Grable in “A Yank In The R.A.F” and Claude Pepper in “International Affairs” along with an unnamed Pete Smith Specialty and an unnamed cartoon. It originally housed 700 seats as a single-screener, with 500 seats in the auditorium and 200 seats in the balcony, and its original projection featured Simplex projection with Cyclex lamps and Simplex sound.
Unlike most small town movie theaters in Florida, the Florida Theatre has its own water supply with a wall measuring 80ft and when the air conditioning was used at capacity, the system will consume 40 gallons of water a minute, which was “enough to supply half of the town’s population”. The system had a capacity of 35 tons of ice and temperature in the theater was controllable. The original auditorium featured deeply-cushioned seats with a wine color, harmonizing with both tan and green schemes for the interior.
The Florida Theatre was remodeled in 1972 and again on June 14, 1984 when it reopened as a twin theater. The twinning downsized the capacity to 310 seats, with 104 seats in Screen 1 and 206 seats in Screen 2, as well as an updated projection room and concession stand. The work of its 1984 remodeling which took two months between April 26 and June 13 of that year was done only on days the theater is closed or in the daytime when there’s no shows, but the work was halted whenever a show starts in the evenings, meaning that the theater was still operating during construction of its second screen at the time.
There was an article stating that another theater, the Comet Theatre, from a 1922 article from the Albia Union saying that the Comet was located on North Main Street as well. The Comet operated from December 1909 until early 1923 and the Rex operated from early 1923 until 1927, and both theaters are in separate locations due to showtimes stating that both the Comet and the Rex were operating at the same time before the Comet’s closure.
Archives of the Lake City Gazette have officially confirmed that this was the original 750-seat Lake Theatre, which opened in the early-1940s as part of the Robert Cannon Theatres chain, before being rebuilt for four to six weeks after Thanksgiving 1966. The former Lake Theatre reopened as the Gateway Theatre on January 5, 1967 with Walt Disney’s “LT. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.” and the Gateway operated as a 500-seat first-run theater until its closure in 1980. The Gateway then sat abandoned for more than a decade.
This was never known as the Columbia Theatre, which that likely belongs to the 261 North Marion Avenue location that opened in early 1947. And one more note, this did NOT open in 1930. There are two theaters in Lake City during the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s, which were the Desoto Theatre (opened in Spring 1927) and the Grand Theatre (opened in the 1910s), and both theaters were operated by Martin Theatres during its later years.
Archives of the Lake City Gazette have officially confirmed that the Lake Theatre was still open in 1964 despite being sold that November, and the Lake Theatre was renamed the Gateway Theatre following major remodeling causing a 4-to-6 week closure after Thanksgiving 1966. The theater officially reopened as the Gateway Theatre on January 5, 1967 with Walt Disney’s “LT. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.” and the Gateway operated until its closure in 1980. The Gateway then sat abandoned for more than a decade. Its most likely that the Lake Theatre’s building was rebuilt and became the Gateway Theatre.
The reopening of the Columbia Theatre probably didn’t last long at all, as it likely closed after a few months.
The Swan Theatre opened on April 20, 1936 as a replacement of the Ritz Theatre (formerly the Royal Theatre), and was taken over by Robert Cannon in February 1956, who also operated theaters in Lake City and Live Oak at the time. Unfortunately the Swan Theatre either closed later in 1956 or stopped advertising on newspapers.