Iowa Theatre
608 Commercial Street,
Waterloo,
IA
50701
608 Commercial Street,
Waterloo,
IA
50701
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: Grand Theatre, Family Theatre, Garden Theatre, Rialto Theatre, Royal Theatre, Capitol Theatre
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A conversion of an existing building constructed between 1885 & 1892. Opened as the Grand Theatre on December 20, 1914 with seating listed as 850. The original owner was J.E. Bryant. On August 25, 1915 it was renamed Family Theatre. In August 1918 it became the Garden Theatre. By 1920 J.H. Hostettler was the owner and in 1922 it was renamed Rialto Theatre. In 1925 it was taken over by A.J. Diebold. It closed in August 18, 1928. Taken over by new operators it reopened as the Royal Theatre on February 24, 1929 but closed as a silent movie theatre in August 1929. In 1932 it became a church and they occupied the building until September 1935.
On September 25, 1935 it re-opened as the Capitol Theatre with Grace Moore in “One Night of Love”. It was closed at the end of May 1938. On December 25, 1938 it reopened as the Iowa Theatre. The theatre closed July 4, 1961 with Glenn Ford in “The Americano” & Judy Canova in “The WAC from Walla Walla”.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
Here is a 1949 ad from the Waterloo Courier:
http://tinyurl.com/2nbpbm
Our history for this theater is a bit off, due to two different houses in Waterloo having been called the Iowa Theatre. The house at 608 Commercial Street was never called the Plaza, but it did have the following aka’s: Grand, Family, Garden, Rialto, and Capitol.
This handy list of theaters from the Waterloo Public Library shows that the theater at 608 Commercial Street was first listed in the city directory in 1915 as the Grand Theatre. In 1916 and 1918 it is listed as the Family Theatre. From 1919 through 1921 it is listed as the Garden Theatre.
No theater is listed for this address in the 1922-23 directory, but in 1924 it reappears as the Rialto Theatre. It was still the Rialto in 1928, but no directory is available for 1929, and no theater is listed for the address again until 1936, when it appears as the location of the Capitol Theatre. The name Iowa Theatre first appears at this address in the 1939 directory, and remains through 1961. After that, no theater is listed at 608 Commercial Street.
During most of the 1930s the name Iowa Theatre belonged to the house that opened in 1914 as the Plaza and became the Orpheum sometime in 1938.
Also, it was the Plaza/Iowa/Orpheum on Fourth Street that was designed by architect Mortimer Cleveland. So far I’ve been unable to discover the architect of the Grand/etc/New Iowa.
According to the 1928 city directory, my grandparents Mr & Mrs. Edward R. Hagerstrom had a popcorn business located next door to this place at 610 Commercial St. My father told me it was a popcorn wagon.
The Grand Theatre became the Family Theatre on August 25, 1915 with “The Shooting of Dan McGrew.” In August of 1918, the Family became the Garden Theatre.
The Garden Theatre conducted a name change contest announcing on January 21, 1922 the switch to the Rialto Theatre. The Rialto ceased showing movies on August 19, 1928 opting not to convert to sound and doing limited live events.
Under new operators, a five year lease was signed and the theatre was relaunched as the Royal Theatre on February 24, 1929. Silent presentations didn’t draw crowds and the Royal closed in August of 1929.
It became a church in 1932 through September of 1935. On September 25, 1935 it relaunched as the Capitol Theatre with “One More Night of Love.” The Capitol closed at the end of May of 1938.
On Christmas Day, 1938, it relaunched as the Iowa Theatre. The theatre closed July 4, 1961 with Glenn Ford in “The Americano” & Judy Canova in “The WAC from Walla Walla”.
Previous – Royal Theatre
Other use – Church
No ad found for the opening of the Grand theatre on December 20th, 1914, however, the Plaza theatre opened on the same date.
For a very short time, there was two Iowa theatres in town.
Found on Newspapers.com
I have uploaded six grand opening ads in the photo section for this cinema.
Not sure when this was demolished, but it’s still on the 1962 map, marked as vacant. Waterloo has a terrible downtown that’s mostly surface lots or ugly ‘modern’ buildings one to a block. A grim hotel occupies most of this block across from a parking deck with empty grass around it.
Almost all of the pictures are of the wrong theater. Elmorovivo posted one of a snowy day with the Iowa in the background. That is the correct building. All of the others are wrong.
This was a remodel of a very old building, which was constructed sometime between 1885 and 1892. Originally it was not very deep, and had a central staircase. Between 1900 and 1906 it was extended in the rear all the way to the alley. Both 1906 and 1910 maps show a harness shop here. The 1918 map shows the then Family alone on this section of the block. I think there was a fire that destroyed a large 4 story office building on the corner (the Russell-Lamson Block), as well as possibly an old wooden hotel that was on the other side of the theater. It’s clear from the one photo that at least the front portion of the older building survived.