My Uncle Billy bought this theatre in the mid to late 1970s. I don’t remember the exact date. He did some basic maintanence to it but nothing major. He wanted to keep the old character.
Billy and his wife Dorothy also owned the dance studio/function hall/catering/soft serve facility nearby for many years before buying the theatre. Billy always said he bought the theatre because it was built the same year he was born —– 1914. I remember the date being carved in granite on the top of the theatre. My dad said that when Billy was a teenager he talked about buying the theatre someday.
Billy owned and managed the theatre, my great Aunt Geraldine ran the ticket booth until her death in 1980 and Dorothy ran the dance studio and dance productions. As a “family†member I saw free movies while my dad visited his brother and aunt. Got to sit in the balcony (closed to the public) with friends —nice old theatre details- and also could wander around behind the screen/curtain after the movie while waiting for my dad. There was a warren of little rooms and such that were used for Dorothy’s dance studio but which I assume were original to the building and vaudeville as everything was wooden, old and dark.
I believe it ceased to be a theatre when Billy retired and sold it in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Billy (William Kincade, Jr) died in the late 1990s. As far as I know Dorothy â€" who was born in 1922- is still alive and living in Winthrop.
My Uncle Billy bought this theatre in the mid to late 1970s. I don’t remember the exact date. He did some basic maintanence to it but nothing major. He wanted to keep the old character.
Billy and his wife Dorothy also owned the dance studio/function hall/catering/soft serve facility nearby for many years before buying the theatre. Billy always said he bought the theatre because it was built the same year he was born —– 1914. I remember the date being carved in granite on the top of the theatre. My dad said that when Billy was a teenager he talked about buying the theatre someday.
Billy owned and managed the theatre, my great Aunt Geraldine ran the ticket booth until her death in 1980 and Dorothy ran the dance studio and dance productions. As a “family†member I saw free movies while my dad visited his brother and aunt. Got to sit in the balcony (closed to the public) with friends —nice old theatre details- and also could wander around behind the screen/curtain after the movie while waiting for my dad. There was a warren of little rooms and such that were used for Dorothy’s dance studio but which I assume were original to the building and vaudeville as everything was wooden, old and dark.
I believe it ceased to be a theatre when Billy retired and sold it in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Billy (William Kincade, Jr) died in the late 1990s. As far as I know Dorothy â€" who was born in 1922- is still alive and living in Winthrop.