Akdar Theatre
227 W. Fourth Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74103
227 W. Fourth Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74103
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 29 comments
opened on February 2nd, 1925
If you’d like to see a rare color snapshot of the Akdar Theatre, then go to site below and type in “akdar"
View link
To see a clear color picture postcard view of the Akadar Theatre go to match all words on below site and type in “akdar"
View link
Roadside Oklahoma provides an antique picture postcard view of the Akdar Theatre, Tulsa.
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/736
On this site Gene Kelly presents a tour of historic movie palaces –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5FZ6Ung6Ac
http://schehrer2.homestead.com/Population.html
Tulsa had a population of only 72,000 in 1922, yet it had four first class theatres, the Akdar being one of them!
This photo is entitled “Tulsa Schools, Theatres, and Eateries of the 1930’s”,
View link
Construction shot of the Akdar going up on the Western edge of downtown -
View link
A 1930 view illustrating how the theatre was twice as long as it was wide -
View link
Many downtown buildings, including the Akdar Theatre, came down to make way for a new Civic Center. At the time this complex was considered bold, inovative, and modernistic. These days it just looks like a relic of a bygone era. See for yourself,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/G0642.jpg
Elaborate auditorium decoration can be studied in these scenes from a production that played the Akdar stage way back in 1952…
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6893.jpg – http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6897.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6892.jpg – http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6895.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6891.jpg – http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/C0130.jpg
Oops! Thanks to CWChicago it has been pointed out that it was the NORSHORE I was refering to, not Nortown.
http://www.photoeye.com
Rapp & Rapp gave Chicago’s (1931) Nortown Theatre the same multi-color “basket weave” pattern marble floor as they had installed inside the Akdar.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B5573.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B5574.jpg
Akdar balcony theatre seats
In the bottom right hand corner of this picture can be seen the Akdar Theatre. This 1930 shot illustrates just how large the stagehouse actually was.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A0617.jpg
These two 1953 images of the Akdar lobby are from the Tulsa Library/Beryl Ford Collection.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D1401.jpg
This New Year’s Eve shot shows that the ceiling had been lowered covering over mezanine levels.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B9638.jpg
Shown below are 1954 shots of the Akdar after it had been made over into a popular ballroom. Clear detail of ornate plasterwork can be studied in these views.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D1583.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2821.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2822.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2824.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2825.jpg
Excellent c1950 shots of the Akdar auditorium after renovation into the Cimmaron Ballroom,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0650.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0649.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0648.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0651.jpg
Long ago I once saw 1940s snapshots of the Akdar Ballroom, located in the basement of the Akdar Theatre Building. This image looks very much like that ballroom, and I am almost certain this is one of those pictures.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0704.jpg
Look at this unusual (photo right) angle of the Akdar Theatre, c1957,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B0624.jpg
Various period exterior images -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A0111.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A1715.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A0240.jpg
After converstion to Cimmaron Ballroom soundboards covered over beautiful frescos, and sloped orchestra section was made level with a rock maple dance floor -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B5940.jpg
While on Tulsa Public Library/BFC link be sure to check out the 1920 Central High School (not the 1905 Central High) images to see pictures of a mammoth 1927, Kilgen 4-manual, 45-rank pipe organ. When installed this was reputed to be one of the largest pipe organ ever built.
Below link also has recent images of this fine organ, along with the 1927, 3-manual Robert-Morton theatre pipe organ that originally was installed inside the Capitol Theatre, Steubenville, OH.
http://members.aol.com/SoonerStateATOS/
The correct image to view should be the one labled ‘looking southeast at downtown tulsa, 1930,’ currently on page 28.
Look at the “Downtown Tulsa, 1929” image, lower right corner, to see an aerial view of the Akdar Theatre. Beryl Ford Photo Collection index is now listed in alphabetical order for easier navigation.
Be advised that the Beryl Ford Photo Collection constantly change image numbers. This week Akdar images are 47,48,& 49. Tomorrow these numbers could be different, so you may want to just browse around a bit.
Early day Akdar Theatre pictures can be seen on this link, BROWSE COLLECTION- pages 45, 46, 47, 260;
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/BFC/index.htm