Ranney's Fifth Avenue Opera House
219 E. 5th Avenue,
Arkansas City,
KS
67005
219 E. 5th Avenue,
Arkansas City,
KS
67005
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Listed as the Fifth Avenue Theater in Polk’s 1904 Kansas state directory.
Listed in some Yearbooks from the early ‘30s as closed with 1,000 seats, before disappearing again. Probably hadn’t been open in years.
The VFW apparently was built in 1948, although the KHRI listing is ‘pending’, so any additional information is unavailable.
Appears to have closed, at least for movies, by 1926. It still appears on the 1920 map, but movies are not specifically noted.
The Fifth Avenue Opera House in Arkansas City is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. It had 1,400 seats and Frank Hess was Mgr. Ticket prices 25 cents to $1. The theater was on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 36 feet square, and the stage was 40 feet deep. There was one daily newspaper and 4 weeklies. Hotels for show folk were the Gladstone and the Midland. Railroads were the Santa Fe and the Frisco. The theater had both electric and gas lighting. The 1897 population was 9,000.
Thanks for the info!
The building that occupies the same spot as the 5th Ave Opera House is indeed currently the Ark City recreation center. But it was originally built (in the 1940’s, I believe) by Spencer-Ralston VFW Post #1254.
Was that building built as a rec center? It’s got some neat deco touches, although the opera house was far superior. Surprised something that big was so far out of downtown, although I assume the enormous expanse of parking lots probably used to be something more interesting.
Fifth Avenue Opera House was located at 225 East Fifth Avenue. The building was demolished and the Arkansas City recreation center was built at this address.
A quick peek at street view confirms that there is nothing like this on Fifth Ave. Demolition confirmed.