Rapids Theatre
451 N. Shore Drive,
Eaton Rapids,
MI
48827
451 N. Shore Drive,
Eaton Rapids,
MI
48827
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Additional Info
Architects: Talmage C. Hughes
Firms: Johnson Construction Co.
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
The Rapids Theatre opened on February 28, 1950. Designed by architect Talmage C. Hughs, with Albert S. Johnson as theatre consultant. The facade is finished in a porcelain enamel. Inside the auditorium, seating was provided in orchestra and balcony levels, and there was a cry room at the rear left hand side of the balcony. The decorative treatment comprised of free hand drawings on the side walls and front of the balcony which consisted of curves and swirls.
By 1983, the Rapids Theatre had closed and was in use as a bowling alley. It has since been demolished and a bank and furniture store now operate on the site.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/dn2ttd
This former theater site is now used for a bank and a furniture store.
My grandfather Albert S. “Al” Johnson, referenced above as the “theatre consultant” was also the general contractor for the construction of the Rapids Theatre. His Johnson Construction Company built at least sixty-four Michigan theaters and drive-ins between the 1930s and 1950s.
I’ve uploaded six Kodachrome slides that Al shot of the Rapids Theatre in 1950. In two of them you can see the free-hand drawings or murals referenced in the above overview.
If the Eaton Theater in Charlotte was saved, something could - and should - have been done with the Rapids. On the occasions I drive through Eaton Rapids, I would drive by where the theater was and can only imagine if it were still open today; most likely as two screens, like the Eaton, but the Rapids could have possibly shown what the Eaton couldn’t get, if it was still here!