Exira Theatre
Exira,
IA
50076
No one has favorited this theater yet
Map
Additional Info
Previous Names: Exira Picture Show, Picture Palace, Palace Theatre, Kozy Theatre
Nearby Theaters
No theaters found within 30 miles
The Exira Picture Show was opened in July 1912. On December 26, 1912 it was renamed Picture Palace. It 1914 it was renamed Palace Theatre. It was remodeled in 1938, but suffered dame in a fire in 1943. Repairs were carried out and it reopened as the Kozy Theatrein 1944. In 1947 it was renamed Ezira Theatre. Boxoffice magazine reported in June 1955 that Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Tuey, owners, had extended the closing date of the theatre to July 4 due to popular demand. The theatre had been scheduled to close on June 11.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
This long-running entertainment venue in downtown Exira opened in July of 1912 as the Exira Picture Show. It was created after the Exira Opera House experimented successfully with motion pictures in 1911 and 1912.
George Prall purchase the operation changing its name to the Picture Palace on December 26: 1912. The Exira Opera House closed a year later as the town supported film over live events. In 1914, the theatre was called the Palace Theatre. Under new operators, the theatre converted to sound. It closed briefly three times during the Depression but continued as the Palace Theatre.
It received a streamline makeover in 1938 but suffered a fire in 1943 badly damaging the building and closing the venue. New operators repaired the venue relaunching it as the Kozy Theatre in 1944. New operators took on the theatre in 1947 and would change the name of the business to the Exira Theatre which closed in 1955 as TV challenged small town theaters nationwide.
The Film Board of Trade report in Film Daily of January 13, 1929 listed the Palace Theatre at Exira as a new house, but this was probably its reopening as a sound house under new owners, which probably took place in late 1928.