York Theatre
620 Main Street,
West Point,
VA
23181
620 Main Street,
West Point,
VA
23181
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I found a number of ads dated from Feb 1971 to April 1971 of the Lisa Theatre that operated in the Old York Theater. No other information available. See ad that I posted on Photo Page.
The Wonderland Theater was built in 1921 and operated until 1931 when it was renamed the York Theater.
It closed in May 1966. During segregation, the York served both white and black audiences with the black folks sitting in the balcony with a separate ticket booth just inside the entry door. I was told that there were no provisions for concessions for them.
A local historian told me that it reopened for a short period on weekends under the name Lisa.
I had a chance to tour the theater today – or what is left of it. It has been heavily remodeled and hard to tell anything about its theater days. The original doors are in place with a double set.
The whites entered through the left hand doors with the ticket booth directly inside to the right.
Black entered through the right hand doors with the ticket booth to the left (served by the same person) with the stairs to the balcony straight ahead.
The balcony is still in place but all the seats are gone. The balcony is being used as storage.
The Projection room is there but the projectors were sold for salvage.
Downstairs you the stage is still standing in the rear but again the whole area is storage.
The owner told me that he removed the metal ends off each aisle and sold them for a handsome price on ebay.
It was great to visit but sad overall.
Found this on the web:
The York Theater in West Point, Virginia was in operation from the early Fifties to the late Seventies, with occasional “restart” attempts into the Eighties, as near as we can determine. Economics pushed the prior owner of the building, a now-deceased attorney and entrepreneur, to cease theater operations and to “renovate” the auditorium by adding several small offices into the auditorium space. The building has been used since that renovation variously as law offices, a florist, an insurance agency and now that we own it, as the home to Pullen Computing. The building would be incredibly cost-prohibitive to “resurrect” as a full working theater; it has undergone significant structural changes including installation of ground-to-roof pillars to prevent the roof from collapsing.