Ingersoll Theatre
3711 Ingersoll Avenue,
Des Moines,
IA
50312
3711 Ingersoll Avenue,
Des Moines,
IA
50312
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A chronology of 70mm presentation history in Des Moines has recently been published. Ingersoll is mentioned numerous times.
October 2015 article about the Ingersoll with timeline & photos.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/development/2015/10/12/ingerolls-theatre-des-moines-most-endangered-buildings/73729362/?fbclid=IwAR2fsN13CmrWcBF8J9Y5Ds0Ht-5YvtloLPy6lU9P4CUEWZ6y35GN9G1XtjE
Architected by Wetherell & Harrison and decorated by the interior design division of the locally famous Younkers Dept. Store, this was the second Ingersoll Theatre in Des Moines. The first was built at the turn of the 19th Century and was part of an amusement park called Ingersoll Park. The second Ingersoll theatre had love seats and talkies beginning in October of 1939.
Going through some really old papers, I found my mother’s Social Security card and pay stubs from the TriState theater, which apparently became the Ingersoll. She apparently worked at Tri-State for about 18 months, in 1940 and 1941, before WW2, and made a whopping $1.98 (after two cents of retirement taxes), per week!
http://whotv.com/2015/10/12/former-ingersoll-dinner-theater-tops-list-of-des-moines-endangered-buildings/
October 1st, 1939 grand opening ad in photo section.
I lived in Des Moines in 1980-1981.
I’ve been tooling around the city via Google Street Maps. Came upon the Ingersoll Theater. It appears that it has been turned into some teen/young adult Party Palace? They mention 2 parties coming up. One on a Friday and the other on a Saturday.
The theater itself appears to be in good shape, at least from the outside. The map with the actual photography is from 2012, so not to long ago.
I worked there in 1964 as a usher.
With the little suit, paper dickey, and flashlight.
Got to know every line of the longest day, a walt disney file tomensina(spelling), a full length yogy bear animation, how the west was won and probaly others I would rather forget.
They also had Cleopatra for a long run months before the glitzy hollywood premier. All reserved seating for that one.
With the attendance even then I think it is amazing it stayed open for so long.
But fun days never the less.
Here are some November 2009 articles about reuse of the Ingersoll:
http://tinyurl.com/y8m7tyo
http://tinyurl.com/ycb5327
Here is another 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lle7jw
Tri-State Theaters announced construction plans in January 1938. The theater opening was planned for July of that year.
Here are some additional photos. The dinner theater closed in 2004, and although there has been interest in reuse, nothing has happened yet:
http://tinyurl.com/2vbjzo
http://tinyurl.com/2sy5pc
It’s good you shared that photo, Lost Memory. I haven’t lived in Des Moines for a long time, but I read somewhere there’s talk of the entire block being demolished.
Toward the end of it’s run as a cinema, the Ingersoll was an art house—some first-run films, some revivals. I saw a Bergman film or two there—can’t recall which. Also “Elvira Madigan” and Joseph Losey’s 1975 biopic of Galileo, based on the Bertolt Brecht play.