I ran the Royal in the early 70s, as well as the Drive-In down the road (now a WalMart of course). Milford is another small tourist town close by, and they probably did have their own theater way back. The Royal was owned by March Bros Theaters at that time, out of Wayne, NE, and also LeMars, IA (my home town). A Darrel Steen ran the Spirit Lake Royal for many years before me. The owners wanted me to buy this one, but everything was really old and decrepit and held together with baling wire. Huge crowds in the summer (tourist season), NObody in the winter, It ended as a combo theater/VHS rental oulet, then who knows? As I said, the drive-in (overlooking a nice homey cemetery) became a WalMART parking lot at some point.
Chuck, wondering what your interest is/was with this theater, and do you know more?
I ran the Royal in the early 70s, as well as the Drive-In down the road (now a WalMart of course). Milford is another small tourist town close by, and they probably did have their own theater way back. The Royal was owned by March Bros Theaters at that time, out of Wayne, NE, and also LeMars, IA (my home town). A Darrel Steen ran the Spirit Lake Royal for many years before me. The owners wanted me to buy this one, but everything was really old and decrepit and held together with baling wire. Huge crowds in the summer (tourist season), NObody in the winter, It ended as a combo theater/VHS rental oulet, then who knows? As I said, the drive-in (overlooking a nice homey cemetery) became a WalMART parking lot at some point.
Chuck, wondering what your interest is/was with this theater, and do you know more?