Lake Theatre
204 N. 1st Avenue,
Sandpoint,
ID
83864
204 N. 1st Avenue,
Sandpoint,
ID
83864
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Gem Theatre
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The opening of the Lake Theatre was announced in the Spokane Daily Chronicle on August 8, 1946. It was built by remodeling the old Gem Theatre, which had been closed after the opening of the Panida Theatre, about 19 years before.
The history of the Gem Theatre can be traced back to at least 1917 in newspaper archives and was once owned by Jack Gardner who sold it to F.C Weskil, after Weskil opened his Panida Theatre. The owner of the new Lake Theatre, as well as the then owner of the Panida Theatre, was Floyd Gray. Gray was elected mayor of Sandpoint in 1949.
The Lake Theatre was nearly a year and a half old when it was severely damaged by a fire on January 4, 1948. The Daily Chronicle reported that the floor joists gave away and the seats fell into the basement, where a bowling alley was being built. The start of the fire was said to come from the basement room where the former owner was living when a candle fell over igniting some newspapers. Luckily there were no reports of injury as it happened on a Sunday afternoon before show time. On June 26, 1948 Gray reopened the rebuilt theatre using projectors and seating from the Panida Theatre. Film Daily Yearbook of 1951 lists seating as 300.
The Lake Theatre was located a block south of the Panida Theatre on the same side of the street. Hey, Cupcake!, which was open seasonally, was the most recent occupant of the site in 2011.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
William Abbott opened the first Gem Theatre on February 27, 1913 with L. Rogers Lytton in “The Vengeance of Durand; or, The Two Portraits” supported by “A Busy Day in the Jungles.” It was housed a block from its future home in the Abbott Building with the Abbott Saloon. In its eight years, the Gem was doing well and a brand new theatre was built.
The New Gem moved a block away to its new home in the 200 block on January 26, 1921 with Gloria Swanson in “Something to Think About” on the new big screen. It was the secondary theatre in town after the Panida was build and, under the Gem moniker, it did not convert to sound. It continued with silent film through showtimes on November 13, 1930. It was then sporadically used as a live event house. Plays and political speeches occurred through 1944 under the Gem nameplate.
It was finally converted to sound in a streamline moderne makeover and renamed as the Lake Theatre opening on August 8, 1946. Ten years later, it closed with “The Solid Gold Cadillac” on November 20, 1956. It again was used for live events and rummage sales very sporadically over the next nine years. In 1967, a campaign to save the theatre was launched though proved unsuccessful. After the campaign failed, in 1968, the floor was leveled and in 1970 all exterior elements were removed from the former Gem/ Lake Theatre.