New Theatre
50976 Washington Street,
New Baltimore,
MI
48047
50976 Washington Street,
New Baltimore,
MI
48047
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My uncle Albert S. Johnson Jr.’s research shows this as a 1948 job by Johnson Construction Company. My grandfather Al Johnson Sr.’s Kodachrome (uploaded to this page) taken in May 1948, shows a modest-sized new block building - the front of which had a clean late 1940’s look. The cream and red porcelain enamel tiled theater front was characteristic of Johnson-built theaters.
From the waterwinterwonderland.com website: “This movie theater had the amenities of the day including a cry room, which was mostly a make-out room. When it [the theater] closed, it was converted into the New Baltimore Recreation Center. In the early 1970s they featured local bands of the day, including the Frost, Iggy and the Stooges, and Toby Redd.”
Sadly, after serving as a recreation center for several years, I was told earlier this year that the building was razed in 2020.
Despite the vintage look of the current facade, the New Theatre once sported a streamline modern front, as seen in the photo on page 110 of New Baltimore, by Richard Gonyeau, Bob Mack, and Alan Naldrett (Google Books preview.)