Redding Theatre

Joe Vogel on August 11, 2007 at 2:17 am

The Redding Theatre is mentioned several times on this page of the Cascade Theatre website. According to that page the Redding Theatre was built in 1910, and the wording gives the impression that by the 1930s it was being operated by T.&D., Jr. Enterprises. (Note that the page is not entirely reliable, though, as it names the owners of T.&D. as Turner and Duncan, not the correct Turner and Dahnken.)

There’s another photo of the Redding Theatre accessible from this page at the Redding Record-Searchlight’s website.

Joe Vogel on May 11, 2011 at 2:10 pm

The claim made on the Cascade Theatre web site that the Redding Theatre was built in 1910 was wrong. This article by Renee McKean, about Redding’s Armory Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1915, says that after the Armory Hall was destroyed, the Redding Chamber of Commerce arranged with M. Leonardini to build the Redding Theatre.

Here is an item from The Moving Picture World of July 15, 1916:

“REDDING, CAL.â€"M. Leonardini, owner of the Paragon block on California street, is having plans prepared bf C. C. Dakin, First National Bank building, Oakland, Cal., for a theatre building, costing between $20,000 and $25,000.”

Given the fact that the front of the Redding Theatre was designed in a style that was typical of the 19th century, and was out of date by the 1900s, it’s possible that Leonardini’s project was to build an auditorium behind his existing business building, the Paragon Block. It would explain why the theater’s facade was so old fashioned.

Joe Vogel on February 23, 2012 at 12:02 pm

The Redding Theatre was altered in early 1927. The January 7 issue of The Film Daily said that the stage was being enlarged, the scenery loft rebuilt, and the interior decoration rehabilitated.

50sSNIPES on February 8, 2022 at 7:18 pm

Closed In 1957.