Huron Theatre
1006 Military Street,
Port Huron,
MI
48060
1006 Military Street,
Port Huron,
MI
48060
2 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: GKC Theatres
Functions: Gymnasium
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Desmond Theatre
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News About This Theater
- May 14, 2010 — Please Post Today, May 14 --- "Jaws," Happy 35th
Opened as the Desmond Theatre on July 26, 1922 seating 1,350. Later was remodeled in an Art Deco style and was renamed the Huron Theatre. It ran until 1990 when it was bought and closed by GKC Theatres. It was later converted to a gym.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
In response to the above comment, if you find the term “tacky” derogatory, I apologize. That photo is mine, on my Flickr page, and was never intended to be posted as a link on a greater site such as Cinema Treasures. I feel that since said photograph is mine, I have every right to describe it with whatever commentary I wish. I have used far more extreme descriptors than “tacky” in my years with labeling theater photographs, and if you find such an adjective insulting, so be it. I was merely comparing the building today with historical photographs from WaterWinterWonderland.Com.
The former theater is now the Huron Physical Arts Center.
The URL of the Huron Physical Arts Center is http://www.hpackids.com/
The 1940 Mickey Rooney film “Young Tom Edison” had its world premiere at the Desmond. A photo of the event as well as what the Huron looks like today can be found at http://www.classcreator.com/Port-Huron-MI-1961/class_custom3.cfm
The July 31, 1922, issue of The Film Daily reported that the finishing touches were being put on Herb Weil’s new theater at Port Huron and the house would soon open. Weil had entered the theater business in Port Huron in 1917, and by 1919 controlled all five of the town’s movie houses.
Weil was planning to build the new theater in 1919, but suffered setbacks that delayed its construction until 1922. When the Desmond opened he still controlled the Family Theatre, but the town’s leading theater, the Majestic, had come under the control of W. S. Butterfield in 1920.
This item from the April 5, 1919, issue of The Moving Picture World notes Herb Weil’s intention to build a large theater in Port Huron:
I haven’t yet discovered what became of the Maxine, Bijou, and American Theatres.July 26th, 1922 grand opening ad in the photo section
November 21st, 1961 grand opening ad as Huron also in the photo section.
An item about the Desmond Theatre appeared in the November 26, 1921, issue of The American Contractor:
December 7th, 1979 grand opening ad as a twin also in the photo section.