Elma Theater
Elma,
IA
50628
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Well, the second Elma Theatre was also destroyed by a fire, this one on March 16, 1948. The Fire which destroyed the Dawn Theatre in 1954 took place on March 4. The Alma Theatre Corporation rebuilt the Dawn with another Quonset structure, and rather daringly (or defiantly) named it the Flame Theatre. I’ve been unable to discover if the Flame was later destroyed by fire.
A new Elma Theatre was opened. A 200-seat house of that name is listed in the 1940 FDY. The Dawn Theatre, mentioned by CJ1949, was one of nine businesses in Elma destroyed by a fire in 1954. Boxoffice of March 13 said that the Dawn was a Quonset structure built in 1949, and only the front section and marquee were left standing after the fire.
There was another theatre in Elma – the Dawn Theatre, operating as of 1953 by Charlie Jones, who was an officer in the Allied States organization for IA and NE exhibitors. References to Jones and correspondence from him were featured in the 1953 and 1956 U.S. Senate hearings on motion picture distribution.