Knox Theatre
331 W. Oak Street,
Louisville,
KY
40203
331 W. Oak Street,
Louisville,
KY
40203
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The neighborhood Towers Theatre launched on a 25-year lease at 331 West Oak Street on November 10, 1926 with “It Must Be Love” with Colleen Moore. Broadway Amusement Company placed the pipe organ console in a lift so that there could be a choice of the organist being in full view or hidden away. The theatre was bathed in old gold, robin’s egg blue and ivory. Hugh Lloyd Nevin, Frederic Lindley and Hermann Wischmeyer of Nevin, Wischmeyer and Morgan Architects plans show an open design that would rival most any other neighborhood theater of that era. It was elegant.
The neighboring Towers Sweet Shop served as the de facto concession stand in the Towers' formative years. The venue added sound to remain viable and it closed at the expiry of its lease. Its final showings as the Towers Theatre were on October 11, 1951 with “Main Event: Willie Pep v. Sandy Sadler (Fight Film),” Piper Laurie in “Louisa,” and Francis, the Talking Mule in “Francis.” The seats were offered for sale that same day along with the concession equipment.
The theatre reopened after a refresh under new operators as the Knox Theatre. The theatre was for “Whites Only” according to 1964 policy which was relayed to the Louisville Human Regulations Commission as a violation. It appears to have closed in 1966 which would likely time out with a 15-year leasing expiry. It was converted to a Furniture and Appliance warehouse and also an auction house followed by an antiques store.
In 1984, a plan was unveiled to demolish the theatre. But the theater’s significant design stopped the plan for some 12 years. In April 1996 and just shy of the theater’s 70th Anniversary, the Landmarks Commission approved of the auditorium’s demolition. The plan left the theater’s facade looking about the same as it did in 1926 and it still stands in the 2020s.
Ads for this cinema started to appear on November 14th, 1926. It may had opened before, but did not advertised in the paper. Ad in photo section.
The AKA should be Towers Theatre, rather than Tower Theatre. The book Old Louisville, by David Dominé and Ronald Lew Harris, has a 1926 photo showing the plural name on the vertical sign.
My Mom decided it was a good idea to take me there to see “The Fly”. It was actually a terrible idea. I was scared to death.
Settos Theatre was located in the OHIO Theatre building in Indianapolis.George Settos,owner.