Theatre 1536

1536 E. Grand Avenue,
Des Moines, IA 50316

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Tri-State Theaters

Previous Names: Eastown Theater

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Theatre 1536

The Eastown Theater was a basic neighborhood theater showing mostly B-movies. It first opened May 29, 1941 and was operated by TriStates Theatres.

Before it closed, it had been re-named Theatre 1536, and it showed porn for a while. It was closed on December 31, 1983 with Walt Disney’s “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and was demolished around 2000.

Contributed by Swede Blue

Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 12, 2009 at 10:18 pm

From Boxoffice magazine, May 1941:

DES MOINES-The Eastown, new Tri-States and East Des Moines Theater Corp. theater here, is scheduled to open Wednesday. The new house will be the tenth Tri-States theater in the city.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 16, 2009 at 1:19 am

I can’t see any building resembling the theater in Google street view. It must be gone. There’s a newer building with six store fronts which looks like it occupies the theater site and a couple of adjacent parcels as well, though it has the address 1534 E. Grand. The building next door is definitely not the theater.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 16, 2009 at 1:19 am

Here is a December 1965 ad from the Des Moines Register:
http://tinyurl.com/llyx9u

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 16, 2009 at 1:20 am

It looks like it was called Theater 1536 in the 1983 photo. Maybe that was its porno name.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 16, 2009 at 1:35 am

Here is a December 1974 ad for the Theatre 1536:
http://tinyurl.com/man8tm

macbot3000
macbot3000 on February 27, 2010 at 11:48 pm

The 1536 building was demolished about 2000 or so.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 26, 2012 at 6:32 pm

This opened as Theatre 1536 on October 25th, 1974. Grand opening ad posted here.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 28, 2015 at 3:00 pm

This opened on May 29th, 1941. Grand opening ads in photo section.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on January 29, 2019 at 9:49 pm

Closed after showings on December 31, 1983, the theatre was offered for sale for $59,000. A last ditch effort by a businessman to restore the theatre occurred in January of 2000 but the city’s building inspectors appear to have advised against it.

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