Palms Theatre
190 Clematis Street,
West Palm Beach,
FL
33401
190 Clematis Street,
West Palm Beach,
FL
33401
1 person
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Uploaded a 1916 photo of the Kettler showing The Foolish Virgin.
The architect’s name as given in the 1922 Manufacturers Record item I cited in my previous comment (Bruce Mitchell) was surely erroneous. One of the area’s noted architects during the period when the Palms was built was Bruce P. Kitchell. He was a master of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and designed at least one other West Palm Beach theater, the Stanley (later the Palace.) It was most likely Kitchell who designed the Palms.
December 24th, 1923, October 6th, 1935 and September 11th, 1949 grand opening ads in the photo section.
So many theatres in downtown WPB and the theatre in Palm Beach..all gone now..such a shame!
The June 1, 1922, issue of The Manufacturers Record had this item:
As the description does not fit the Kettler Theatre, the plans were obviously changed before construction began. it’s possible that a different architect was brought in to design the theater as actually built. I’ve been unable to find any other references to a Florida architect of the period named Bruce Mitchell.The Kettler Theatre was built on the southeast corner of Clematis Street and Narcissus Avenue in 1923. It might have opened as late as early 1924. The Kettler replaced an earlier theater owned by Carl Kettler on the same site, the Bijou, which was itself the second house of that name in West Palm Beach. There is a photo of the second Bijou dated July 30, 1923, on this page of the Palm Beach Post web site.
Carl Kettler’s intention to demolish the Bijou and build a new theater on its site is the subject of this article from the Palm Beach Post of October 22, 1922.
the Palms was my favorite theater on Clematis . It was so gorgeous with a large curving staircase up to the balcony . Across the street was the Florida . I saw the 10 Commandments and Ben-Hur at the Palms ,but was always mezmerized by the decor in the Palms .Red carpet and goldpainted woodwork . I really missed it when they demo-ed it for a parking lot. Everyone shopped on clematis and Burdines had valet parking . Clematis was so exiting especially at Christmas time .The streets were teeming with people . It was THE place to be. So nostaligic ,great memories .
And by-the-way, it was not uncommon, at that time, for road shows to play 4 shows a day. I went after school, and it was still daylight when we met him at the stage door after the show. He most likely had at least two more shows after the one we saw. In Vaudville, the performers did eight shows a day.
I remember The Palms well, and yes, Elvis did play there, saw him there. The new theatre across the street on the corner of Clematis and Narcissus, was The Florida. The Coral was up Clematis Street, next to,or near Burdines. The Surf was over on Datura, in the 300 block.
The Florida became The Stage Company, a concert house and was then remodeled (several million) into The Burt Reynolds Theatre. That went under, and Bob Cuillo purchased it, and ran it for about ten years as The Cuillo Theatre. Recently, the City of West Palm Beach bought it for the new home for a theatre, “Dramaworks”. That will open on 11-11-11, as a legitimate theatre. The City of West Palm Beach no lomger has any movie theatre(s) in the immediate downtown area. There is one with many tiny screens in City Place. Palm Beach has no movie theatre either. They destroyed the last movie palace in Palm Beach County when they destroyed The Paramount. Once they are gone, they will never be built again, and all of ours are gone in Palm Beach County. PROTECT YOURS if you are lucky enough to still have one.
There is a small picture of the Kettler/Palms theater here (the enlarge link does not seem to work): View link. According to the information below the picture, the theater at its opening sat 1,400. If that was the case, then a much better case could be made for the claim that it was once the largest theater south of Atlanta.
It is hard to believe that this was “the largest theater south of Atlanta” in 1922 with only 500 seats. The Strand in Tampa opened in 1917 with at least 850 seats; I am sure that there were other larger theaters in Miami and other cities prior to 1922.
From 1986, an editor with the Palm Beach Post recalls local theatres by then past:
View link
The theatre acros the street from the Palms was the Surf. I spent many a pleasant evening at one or the other in the early 1960s; saw “Ben Hur” at the Palms and “Spartacus” at the Surf. The interior of the Palms was seriously ornate, though it had grown shabby by the time of its closing and demolition.
The Kettler theatre was renamed Florida on October 5th, 1935 and renamed Palms in 1949. An new Florida theatre opened in December, 1949.
The City Directory for Palm Beach County lists two Kettler Theatres, one at 102 Narcissus Avenue South (1925-1930) and the other at 126 Myrtle St (1930-1935?). There is no listing for a Kettler on Celmatis Street.
The City Directory for Palm Beach County list the Palm Theatre’s address as 126 Clematis Street.
You can find a picture of a Palms theater at:
View link
Don’t know if its this one or the one in Fillmore. It doesn’t seem to match up to any other of the Palms theater listings. Perhaps there’s another Palms that hasn’t been listed yet. Anybody know for sure?
Maybe someone with access to microfilm of the local newspaper can find an advertisement. It could be he was playing short sets, like they might at a county fairgrounds.
Elvis must have played here during the theater’s final days in 1956:
http://www.elvisconcerts.com/liv1956.htm
Some caution with this data: How can a man (even if he is Elvis) play 4 shows in 1 day??