Grand Theatre
Third Avenue,
Durant,
OK
74701
Third Avenue,
Durant,
OK
74701
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Peoples Theatre, Bea Vert Theatre, Wilro Theatre
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The Peoples Theatre was the second movie house to be built in Durant. It was opened in February 1909. From March 8th, 1911, it was operated by Mr. Ada Webb. In 1914 it was renamed Bea Vert Theatre after Mable Bea Vert. On September 5, 1914 it was renamed Wilro Theatre and on December 15, 1914 it became the Grand Theatre. It was closed on September 4, 1915 with “The Three of Us”. It became a fraternal hall for the Modern Woodmen of America.
Contributed by
Billy Holcomb / Billy Smith / Don Lewis
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The Peoples Theatre launched in February of 1909 on Third Avenue. In 1914, it was re named for Mabel Bea Vert and was technically the Bea Vert Theatre. She retired from the operation and on September 5, 1914, it became the Wilro Theatre purportedly named after Zigomar Wilro. However, it’s also a fusion of the owners Catherin Williams and Mr. Rose or Willro which likely is how the name was conceptualized. The theater’s monikers of “Bea Vert” and “Wilro” are the only such entries carrying those nameplates in the Cinema Treasures database.
Brown and Greene took over the location months later renaming it as the more routine Grand Theatre beginning with the December 15, 1914 show. Four reels of motion pictures or fewer cost five cents and five or more reels cost ten cents. And you got to hear the Wurlitzer piano no matter how long the films were. The Grand departed following the September 4, 1915 showing of “The Three of Us.” It would become home to a fraternal organization, the Modern Woodmen.