Stockton Empire Theatre
1825 Pacific Avenue,
Stockton,
CA
95204
1825 Pacific Avenue,
Stockton,
CA
95204
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 16 comments
I Recently Found This Exactly Not Too Long Ago That The Stockton Empire Theatre Just Got Destroyed By A Fire On May 19, 2021. The Historic Marquee, Sign, And The Front Part Of The Building Were All Survived From The Fire, But The Rest Was Devastated With Damage And The Entire Back Of The Building Was Demolished. It’s Not The Only Fire The Stockton Empire Theatre Was Involved In, Multiple Scenes Were Surrounded By The Stockton Empire Theatre In 2018 But Not Affected The Theater.
Anyone looking for historical pics and info on theaters in Stockton CA should visit historical Stockton on Facebook. Gene Wright has an archive that is superb and complete. That’s right Wright has them all
A 2011 photo can be seen here.
OK, thanks.
Ken mc: The State Theater of the photos was located in the 300 block of main street. It was remodeled and renamed the Esquire Theater in 1954.
Ken
Here is a weblog post by the late Bob Wilkins with several photos of the Stockton Empire both before and after its renovation.
From the LA Times in February 1980:
Fire of undetermined origin caused an estimated $175,000 damage to a Stockton theater. There were no injuries. Authorities say the flames gutted much of the interior of the Stockton Royal’s main theater. There was also extensive smoke damage to three adjoining theaters, recently added in a remodeling project at the Royal.
Construction of the theater was authorized by the Federal Goverment despite wartime restriction on private construction. The Harvey Brothers (Rodda W. Harvey Sr. and H.V. “Rotus” Harvey) argued that the theater was needed for the morale of the local port workers who were critical to the war effort. Probably Mr. H. V. Harvey’s extensive work as chairman of the theater exhibitor’s war bond effort played a large role.
It looks like most of the bookings are for private parties. The San Joaquin film festival will be held at the Stockton in May 2009.
The theatre is open now and is some kind of coffeeshop/arthousecinema/bar/music venue. here is the website: www.stocktonempiretheatre.com
They painted over the DECO?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I used to go to the theatre when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, back in the “Stockton Royal” years. I remember at least one of the auditoriums had a gorgeous side wall with all sorts of art deco/archaic greek plasterwork. There was a stag, and perhaps archers too…I can’t remember, but it was all very Artemis/Apollo allusiony. It was gorgeous. I also remember that the lobby had at least one depression glass chandelier. A family friend, who was a glass collector and just happened to live right across the street from the Royal (on Walnut), freaked when we saw the fixture had been replaced by some cheesy 80s looking thing.
Sigh. I miss this place. I think the last film I saw there was “Ghost.”
ken mc: I thought I’d replied to your question about the State Theatre long ago, but I must have hit the “preview” button instead of the “Post” button. D'OH!
Anyway- The Stockton Empire was in a fairly suburban location some distance north of downtown Stockton. The pictures of the State show it being in a dense, urban area, with a tall building next door, so it must not be the same theatre.
Stockton was a fairly large city by the time movies were invented and, until the recent burgeoning of Bakersfield, was long the third largest city in the central valley. I’d be very surprised if the city had not had at least a dozen movie theatres over the years. Unfortunately, Stockton’s old center was largely wiped out by urban renewal projects beginning in the 1960’s, so it’s unlikely that many of the buildings containing those theatres survived. I only ever visited downtown Stockton three or four times, and that in the 1970’s when demolition was already well advanced.
Incidentally, the web page listing Robert Lippert Theatres (the company owned two in Stockton; the Liberty and the Lincoln) has expired, ints domain name not having been renewed. For the time being you can still see the Google cache of the page here.
I worked at the Stockton Royal for two years and have photos of the Art Deco. I think that it is sad that the new owner had it painted over during the remodeled.
I don’t see any other theaters listed for Stockton. Is this a different theater?
http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/006/11/i0061101.jpg
http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/006/11/i0061102.jpg
Glad to hear this theatre is at least still standing. I remember seeing a photo of it many years ago in a book called, “Stockton’s Theatres of Yesterday.” I THINK I’ve got the title right. Much has been said about the Fox (Bob Hope) California (rightly so) and I remember seeing the now-gutted or demolished Ritz in its last days in the mid-1980s, but its nice to hear Stockton still has yet another cinema treasure surviving. Hopefully much of its integrity will be respected.