State Theatre
1114 Market Street,
Wheeling,
WV
26003
1114 Market Street,
Wheeling,
WV
26003
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Plaza Theatre, Kautz State Theatre
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The Plaza Theatre was opened on August 1, 1921 with Jean Paige in “Black Beauty”. In 1931 it was renamed Kautz State Theatre screening Eddie Quillan in “Sweepstakes”. It was demolished in 1959 for a parking lot.
Contributed by
David Zornig
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The Plaza Theater was located at 1114 Market St. it opened in August of 1921. In 1931, it was reopened as the Kautz State Theater, operated by D.R. Kautz. By 1934, it was under the management of James Velas. Demolished in 1959, the site is now a parking lot.
Here is the brief item about the opening of Wheeling’s new Plaza Theatre that appeared in the September 3, 1921 issue of Moving Picture World: “The beautiful new Plaza Theatre, Wheeling, W. Va., which has been under construction for the past year, was opened Monday, August 1, with ‘Black Beauty’ as the attraction. The entire proceeds of the first day were divided equally between the Ohio Valley General and the North Wheeling Hospitals.
“The theatre is under the management of George Zeppos, general manager of the Rex Theatre Co., operating the Rex Theatre here, with Paul Leach, recently manager of the Elks Club, as house manager. Fred Campwell is director of the orchestra.”
The Plaza was designed by noted local architect Frederick Fisher Faris (advertising as F. F. Faris and usually called Fred Faris in published items.)
A July 10, 1926 Moving Picture World item about the project that would open as the Capitol Theatre in 1928 said that plans for the new house had already been prepared by Fred Faris. I’m not sure why the commission ended up being given to Faris’s principal local rival, Charles W. Bates. The Plaza was certainly a handsome building, as were Faris’s numerous other works.