Kallet Theatre

The Kallet Theatre was twinned in 1979.

I’ve seen a couple of sources saying that Folley remodeled the Temple Theatre in 1938. That’s certainly possible. It’s also possible that Folley was working in one of Ketcham’s offices in 1939 (Ketcham’s main office was in Syracuse, but he had a branch office in Utica) and that he was given the task of designing the Kallet.

But one source I found indicated that Foley was 82 years old in 1998, which would have made him about 23 in 1939. That would not have prevented him from designing a major project at that time, but it makes it less likely that he did. That’s the age at which most architects are serving as draftsmen in someone else’s firm, not designing buildings on their own.

Neither have I found any sources saying that there was any connection between Ketcham and Folley. Unless a period source turns up identifying Folley as the architect of this theater, I’m still inclined to accept the known period sources naming Ketcham as the architect of the 1939 project. A 1986 newspaper article- almost fifty years after the Kallet Theatre was built- just isn’t enough.

The report of the fire that destroyed the Temple Theatre in the Oswego Palladium-Times of January 23, 1939, said: “M. J. Kallet of Oneida, head of the Kallet chain of theaters, and architect George Ketcham of Utica arrived in Pulaski Monday noon to look over the ruins.”

The February 9 issue of the same publication also mentioned Ketcham, saying that he was preparing the plans for the new theater, though this item gave the location of his office as Syracuse. That article also noted that Kallet had purchased the lot adjacent to the Temple Theatre, and that the new house would probably have a parking lot on one of the lots. The adjacent lot had been the site of the Hohman Opera House, which had itself burned down some years before.

Cezar Del Valle attributes the design of the Astor Theatre in Attica, New York, to George Ketcham, too. See the caption to this photo at Flickr.

The Kallet is yours for $99,000:
http://tinyurl.com/8hg9d9

The dates I cited were from the Mexico Independent Thursday August 1, 1935: “New Temple Theatre opening Friday” and the Oswego Palladium Times June 6, 1939: “Pulaski theatre to open on Wednsday”.
The reference to the New Temple Theatre merely meant that the Kalletshad bought the lease from the Hohman family and had remodeled the theatre.
Yes, the Kallets also operated the LeRoy theatre.

Actually the Kallets assumed the lease on the Temple in 1935 opening on Friday, August 2. The Temple burned down in early 1939 and the Kallets built the Kallet Theatre opening Wednsday June 7, 1939.