Palace Theatre
110 S. Federal Avenue,
Mason City,
IA
50401
110 S. Federal Avenue,
Mason City,
IA
50401
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Central States Theatres Corp, Paramount Pictures Inc.
Previous Names: Regent Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Originally opened as the Regent Theatre in the early-1910’s, it was renamed Palace Theatre in the early-1920’s and was later owned and operated by A.H. Blank, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures Inc. Seating was listed at 786. 0n 19th June 1962 the World Premiere of “The Music Man” starring Robert Preston was held at the Palace Theatre.
This was one of seven theatres located in downtown Mason City. Central States Theatres took over ownership in the early-1930’s until the theatre closed in the mid-1980’s.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
The obituary of John McKee Heffner was published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. In 1906 Mr. Heffner had opened the first movie theater in Mason City, the Bijou, on South Federal Avenue. After the Bijou closed, he became the manager of the Palace, which had originally been called the Regent Theatre.
Here is a December 1956 ad from the Mason City Globe:
http://tinyurl.com/lnrjn5
Needs to be changed to demolished. A stupid urban ‘renewal’ project destroyed about half of downtown and replaced it with a mall.
Constructed sometime between 1909 and 1915.
Regent was the name of one of the seven movie houses listed at Mason City in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but was one of only two listed without an address (the other was the Princess.)
The Palace Theatre was once a true Midwest icon due to the fact that the city of Mason City and the Palace Theatre itself became worldwide headlines following the world premiere of the 1962 Warner Brothers smash classic “The Music Man”.
On that same exact day on June 19, 1962, a grand total of 75,000 residents that were estimated by the Mason City Police Department jammed the sidewalks of downtown Mason City for the 24th annual North Iowa Band Festival Parade with the movie being its theme, which lasted four hours and had a grand total of over 121 bands (91 local and 30 out-of-state) starting from near the studios of CBS affiliate KGLO-TV (now KIMT) to the corner past the post office, to the corner at Federal and 4th NW, to where the Cecil Theatre was (which at the time was playing Disney’s “Big Red”), and lastly to the Sears parking lot. It was unknown on how many arrests were reported though, but probably either none or a very minor few. Many attendees were the cast of the movie, but some other of these attendees include Iowa Governor Norman Erba, Mason City’s then-Mayor George Mendon, 1961 Miss North Iowa Elaine Douglas, and former Mason City librarian Lydia Barrette. A little weird note is that a sign on the side of a car which reads “Our Marian The Librarian, Retired”. There is also banners reading “No Trouble For River City Today”. While Fort Lauderdale resident Paul Yoker reached through Central Park, local resident Meredith Willson hopped out of his car and began doing his drum chores by taking it order just in time to conduct “76 Trombones” with the city’s high school. Dodge City, Kansas’s famous giant 8ft drum known as the “Big Boomer” was never played due to the drum being blown off a trailer into a Kansas area ditch.
A marching competition was held right afterward, and along goes the Palace Theatre showing the film on-screen with thousands of people jamming the sidewalks leading to the Palace Theatre with cars holding the cast line up, with Arthur Godfrey listing all the names of the special attendees. The management forced the scheduled evening showing of Elvis’s “Follow That Dream” to be postponed and moved the film over to the nearby Strand Theatre due to the Music Man premiere.
The Palace Theatre did receive a remodel in June 1967, but unfortunately, the once-notable Palace Theatre closed in late-1983 and was demolished the following year in early 1984.