Agate Theatre
2225 E. Franklin Avenue,
Minneapolis,
MN
55404
2225 E. Franklin Avenue,
Minneapolis,
MN
55404
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My grandfather Ing Hansen and his brother Rummer Hansen build the Agate. My mom, Dorothy (Hansen) Prentice ran the theater in its last decade of operation.
Silent movies were played at this theater with a piano player for the score. Candy wrappers sold there occasionally gave out free movie passes. Just some history from an old customer.
One poster here has mentioned in passing two Chicago theaters with external trusses: the Four Star and the Michigan. No pictures showing the trusses though.
External trusses are rare in any type of construction (other than bridges, of course, where they must be external.) I have never seen a theater built that way, though I recall having seen in an architectural journal photos of a large factory with its roof suspended from exposed trusses. I can’t recall how long ago it was, but I think it was in the 1970s.
Joe, there was a theatre in St. Louis called the Gravois where the steel trusses were external. Is that unusual in theatre construction?
The Agate Theatre has not been demolished, but the building has been drastically altered. It is actually down the block from the karate studio, close to the corner of 23rd Street. It is occupied by Precision Grind Coffee House (2223 Franklin East) and the Mezzanine Salon (2225 Franklin East.) The back of the former auditorium (or possibly a stage house) is occupied by Boneshaker Books, which has a 23rd Street address.
If you look at the side of the building from 23rd Street you can see that part of the original roof has been removed to lower the ceiling, but that the steel trusses that once supported it are still in place as part of the design. The walls are still standing, but the one facing 23rd Street has been fenestrated, and an addition has been built for what looks to be an apartment or an office above the book store, with a third-floor terrace supported on a couple of the old trusses.
There’s a third floor addition at the front of the building too, but the facade has what are probably some original features, including a cornice with central vault and some very nice tapestry brick work. Though the theater has been lost, the building is a creative example of adaptive renovation for a new use.
devan328 Yes this theatre was actually called the Agate Theatre.
The current building is a karate studio, but looking at the map view I think that building was a successor to the 1912 structure.
http://www.movementartscenter.org/
Could this theatre have also been called the Agate, which was located at 2225 E. Franklin Avenue? The Agate is listed under independent theaters in this May 1934 ad: http://tinyurl.com/ybagbaa