Showboat Theatre
412 6th Street N,
Texas City,
TX
77590
412 6th Street N,
Texas City,
TX
77590
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I was a kid in the 1950s & I vividly remember the Showboat Theatre.
David Zornig, I’m not sure but it seems the pictures you linked may have been taken at a re-opening. Included in the text below the pictures, “The Showboat Theater, a Texas City landmark that was damaged and rebuilt several times during the period of 1942 to 1949, was known for its neon tower, which lit up what was then the downtown district of Texas City.” That was before my time but I know there was a lot of damage from a hurricane in 1943, and there was damage in that area from the explosions in ‘47.
The Showboat Theatre opened April 26th, 1949, not 1941. Grand opening photos in the below link.
http://www.texascity-library.org/history/wwii/showboat.php
my sister and I went without permission to watch “Grizzly” at the Showboat while my mom was at work and my father was deployed. I was 8 and she was 10. We had to walk back home in the dark afterwards. We lived behind the Lucky 7 convenience store. We were scared sh**less!
The original Showboat Theatre was designed in 1941 by architect Ernest L. Shult, but might have opened in 1942. The house was on a list of theaters designed by Shult that was published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog.
I might have the seating capacity wrong but I know it had a large lower level of four sections. Two large sections in the middle seperated by a center isle and an two outside rows. It also had a very large balcony. Or at least it seemed large to me at the time.
My father, George Jolley, managed the theatre in the 60’s. I grew up there. Saw many great films. Johnny Long of LCL theatres owned it. Great theatre. Seated 1700 ppl. Lots of memories of the showboat.
I saw the first Batman movie (1966 with Adam West) at the Texas City Showboat for my 8 year old birthday party with some other Texas City boys. It is one of my fondest childhood memories. – tom morgan
The theater was in need of rehab in 1990:
http://tinyurl.com/dxe8fh
A 2003 photo of the “new” Showboat and a photo of original Showboat in Texas City. The original has been demolished.
BTW, I forgot to mention that the new pavilion, as you see in the photo posted earlier, is a smaller replica of the original theater.
The original Showboat was torn down in the 1990’s by the city because it was considered dangerous and too costly to renovate. A new pavilion/banquet hall was built on the site and hosts parties and civic gatherings. When a new multiscreen cinema was opened in another part of Texas City in the 1970’s, interestingly near the site of what once was the Tradewinds Drive In Theater, the Showboat closed for good. I remember seeing my first movie, “Pinocchio” at the Showboat as a small child in the early 70’s. Don’t remember much about the movie, just the huge, at least through a child’s eyes, Showboat designed into the terrazzo floor in the lobby of the theater.
A photo of the Showboat Theater is posted on www.texasescapes.com under Architecture, followed by Texas Theaters.
Looks like it’s a banquet hall:
http://tinyurl.com/2vm5ab
The Showboat Theatre is not listed in the 1941 or 1943 editions of Film Daily Yearbook. Unfortunately I don’t have the 1944/45/46 or 1947 editions, but presume it must have first opened in one of these years, only to be damaged in April 1947. It is listed in the 1950 edition of F.D.Y. (the address given in that edition is 416 6th Street N.)
The first Ma and Pa Kettle film was released on 4/1/49.
There was a huge explosion in the city on 4/16/47, according to this record. The Showboat was badly damaged and had to be rebuilt. This is verified by the newspaper records around that time:
http://tinyurl.com/2x3rp3