Roxy Theatre

The interior photos of the Roxy show a building that must have been built quite some time before 1939. Note in particular the thin columns under the balcony. Those were characteristic of the late 19th-early 20th century period.

I suspect that the Roxy was an old theater called the Metropolitan that was in operation at the turn of the century, when it was listed in Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide. The Metropolitan later ran movies and was mentioned in Movie Age of May 25, 1929, when sound was installed.

Boxoffice of November 11, 1939, has a brief item announcing that the two theaters at Owatonna had been sold to the Frank Amusement Co. by F. R. Thompson. Most likely Frank gave the house an update and renamed it the Roxy that year. Boxoffice doesn’t provide any confirmation of this surmise, though. Neither of Owatonna’s theaters is mentioned very often in the magazine.