Quarry Twin Theatre
204 E. Main Street,
Pipestone,
MN
56164
204 E. Main Street,
Pipestone,
MN
56164
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1973-76 I ran the Palace theater in Luverne and looked into the closed bowling alley that later became the Quarry
Still there in October 2021.
Years after the closure in 2012 the deteriorating building was purchased at a tax auction in May 2019. However the new owners moved out of state and nothing was done. It was the plan of the town to acquire and demolish the building, which I presume they did, and redevelop the location.
The Thursday, May 17, 1979, issue of the Pipestone County Star reported that the Quarry Twin Theatre would open on Wednesday. I’d presume that would have been the following Wednesday, May 23. The new house seated “…about 225 persons in each auditorium.”
In Google Street View, the marquee of the Quarry Twin Theatre says “Closed” and “For Sale.” The web site lists no upcoming events. The last movies on their calendar were shown in August, 2012, and they were listed as free events. The last regular movie was shown on July 11, 2012, so this theater has been closed for a long time.
Pipestone Star Online said on September 5, 2012, that the Quarry Twin would be closed for two months, but the projected reopening has never taken place. My guess would be that the cost of converting to digital projection would have been beyond the means of the operator in any case, so the house probably would have closed by now even had it reopened last year.
Here is the real estate listing. The building is currently for sale at $39,900, and includes an apartment on the second floor. But it would probably cost at least four of five times that to install digital projection on two screens, so it’s not the bargain it appears to be.
The real estate listing says that the building was erected in 1914, but I don’t know if the theater is that old or not.
A January 22, 1962, item in the Pipestone Star mentioned an Alo Theater building on East Main Street. I don’t know if this was an AKA for the Quarry or the Orpheum or was another theater altogether. There was also an Alo Theatre in Albany, Minnesota. Given the unusual name, perhaps they were under the same ownership.