Elwood Theatre
1526 E. Main Street,
Elwood,
IN
46036
1526 E. Main Street,
Elwood,
IN
46036
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In the picture now used as the main photo, the old Superba/Colonial/Baby Grand is visible as the Circle Pizza building.
The Odd Fellows Hall was built sometime before 1892 (probably not very long at all, given the architecture). The hall was on the third floor but the ground floor was home to a huge variety of businesses before its conversion, including briefly the Indiana Union Traction Co. (an interurban line) streetcar depot.
The actual timeline is much closer to this:
The long-standing Odd Fellows building was purchased in 1927 for theatrical use. The venue was now steel enforced and launched December 15, 1927 with “Alias, the Lone Wolf” as the Mack Theatre. On April 6, 1932, the theatre became the Elwood Theatre.
The last film at the Elwood Theatre was “American Werewolf in London” on December 3, 1981. Scheduled showings of “Carbon Copy” starting the next day were not shown as the theatre closed abruptly.
After standing empty for several years, the Elmwood auditorium was gutted and twinned. The Elmwood Twin Cinema brought movies back to the city. The auditoriums were labeled Cinema East and Cinema West. The venue launched November 21, 1984 with “Gremlins” and “Ghostbusters.” But indifference was the reaction as the theatre closed March 15, 1988 with “Critical Condition”, “The Golden Child” and “Lady and the Tramp”.
The building was used for live theatre in 1990 before falling into disuse again. On June 17, 2000, the roof collapsed taking part of the side wall without injuries. The building was demolished later that year.
Note: The Lyric Theatre was located across the street at 1529 Main according to the local newspapers and not here. The Classic Theatre was also on the opposite side of the street.
Elwood looked pretty ratty. They’ve lost a lot of population, and about half of downtown is gone. In the old picture above, everything is gone except the building just past the highway sign, which has been mutilated with a horrible fake stucco front.
Looks like a downtown full of parking lots. Lovely.
What a waste to tear down a lovely brick building like this. Nice detail work.
Demolished long ago, now a parking lot.