Grace Theatre
3303 W. National Avenue,
Milwaukee,
WI
53215
3303 W. National Avenue,
Milwaukee,
WI
53215
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox Circuit
Architects: Henry Hansel
Functions: Office Space
Nearby Theaters
A conversion of a warehouse which was built in 1911. The Grace Theatre opened prior to 1927 with seating listed at 405. The architect was Henry Hansel. It was equipped with a Barton 2 manual organ. The Grace Theatre was operated by Fox Theatres. The front of the building was given an Art Deco style remodel in 1936.
The theatre closed in 1957 and now houses a company called Damage Control Inc. (They clean up after fires, floods, etc.).
Contributed by
Chuck
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(July 16, 1930)
Bomb Is Exploded at Milwaukee Movie House
[Associated Press Leased Wire)
MILWAUKEE â€" A dynamite bomb was exploded in front of the Grace theater, a neighborhood movie house, at 2:55 a. m. today wrecking the front of the structure.
Paul Orsic, manager, said the only motive he could ascribe for the bombing was a disagreement with an operator who wanted to join the union.
A stick of dynamite, the fuse partly burned, was found on the roof of the theater after the blast.
A Grand Barton Theater Pipe Organ 2/, manual/, keyboards/, was shipped 85 miles from the Barton factory in Oshkosh B'kosh, Wisconsin in 1925. Anyone have any idea what happened to the organ?
Jul 16, 1930, page 10 - Wisconsin State Journal:
Milwaukee Theater Bombed in Labor War
MILWAUKEE (U.P.) A bomb dropped in the entrance to the Grace theater here early today shattered windows in nearby buildings, rolled several persons from their beds in an adjoining apartment and shook the entire neighborhood with its explosion.
The bombing is another chapter in the theater labor war here, police declared after learning that R. S. Haynes and Adolph Oresiec, Grace operators, had recently been asked to join the union but refused on grounds that they would lose their jobs.
The theater suffered least from the bombing, while windows in all nearby buildings were broken.
Additional Information:This office building was originally constructed as a warehouse in 1911. Its side walls are built of rock-faced concrete block. At an unknown date prior to 1927, the building was converted to a movie theater. In 1936, the front façade was remodeled to include the recessed entryway and second story with an Art Deco-style panel of ridged masonry. At an unknown date, the simulated masonry was added to the front façade. All the masonry is painted in the building, and the existing windows in the storefront are all modern replacements. (WI State Historical Society)