Edmar Theatre

“Standing room only signs were hung out early on the evening of September 27, 1950, as the new theatre in Edgar was formally opened to the public by Edgar Theater Inc. The evening’s motion picture was preceded by a brief ceremony in which Anton Hoffman, village president, Dr. Harold Leppla, president of the Edgar Chamber of Commerce, Dr. H. A. Schulz, a member of the village board and former chairman of the Marathon County Board of Supervisors and Frank Cartwright, president and manager of the theater company, participated. Frank Cartwright, a former Marathon County traffic officer, and associates operated the new enterprise.

The Edgar Theatre held performances twice nightly and matinees on Sunday afternoons. The modern theatre building had a capacity of about 325 and was built with fireproof construction. The equipment used at the theatre was the latest development in the motion picture industry for 1950. The seats were placed to provide ample room between rows and separated by wide aisles. They were fully upholstered and equipped with automatic uprights. The sound equipment was of the highest quality and the projecting equipment of high intensity to permit lifelike reproduction without loss of color. The screen was made of cycloramic which had been the most important picture development in 30 years and afforded clear view without distortion from any angle in the theatre. The view of the screen was also accentuated by the absence of pillars in the theatre building. Laminated trusses were used to provide the supporting roof strength. The theatre lobby also held a modern soda fountain which was operated in conjunction with the theatre.

New owners took over and it was renamed Edmar Theatre from August 25, 1961. It continued operating until 1966. The building was sold to General Telephone. The building was dismantled and a new Telephone Building was erected on the same site in 1969. This building still stands there today on 3rd Avenue.“ (Huebsch, Allen; Huebsch, Jane [ed.], "Edgar: an illustrated history, 1898-1998” [c1998])

Newspaper advertisements from May of 1961 show that the Edgar Theatre and all its appurtenances were auctioned on May 8 of that year.

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

rivest266 on April 2, 2017 at 4:38 pm

This reopened as Edmar theatre on August 25th, 1961. Grand opening ad in the photo section.

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Found on Newspapers.com

rivest266 on April 2, 2017 at 4:42 pm

Listings in the Wausau Daily Herald stopped in 1966 for this theatre.