RIC Theatre
69227 N. Main Street,
Richmond,
MI
48062
69227 N. Main Street,
Richmond,
MI
48062
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The RIC Theatre was the second Johnson Construction Company project in Richmond, Michigan. My grandfather Al Johnson took two Kodachrome slides of the RIC Theatre and labeled them: “RIC - BLDG” and “RIC - INT. OPENING” which I’ve uploaded to this webpage.
The first slide, showing a new cinder block building under construction with wooden rafters, is dated August 1948. The second slide (the interior view on opening night), is dated January 1949. It shows my paternal grandfather Robie Gray, who worked on several theater and drive-in jobs for Al Johnson, standing in work clothes between two suited gentlemen. The date that the slide was developed suggests that the RIC opened sometime between December 1948 and January 1949.
The man on the left in this image was the theater owner Jack Howard. Richmond residents posting on the “Memories of Growing Up in Richmond!!” Facebook page have identified the gentleman on the right as Eddie Wosnakowski (sp?), who was the projectionist. The photos of the RIC Theatre exterior, movie ad and ticket were uploaded from this Facebook page.
The Exterior image of the RIC Theatre, taken on or about 1950, shows the theatre with two pairs of my grandfather’s patented half-moon glass “Johnson doors.” The same page indicates that the theatre showed its last film in late 1980, and that the building was used afterwards to host special events.
A representative of Maniaci’s Banquet Center, which is the business currently in the building, told me that “…there is really only one room that has never been touched in the building. It’s the projection room upstairs at the hall…same floor and walls.” I’ve uploaded a current (March 2021) Google Maps street view of Maniaci’s.
A number of references to the Ric Theatre appear in trade journals, mostly Boxoffice, in the early 1950s. The house was owned by Jack Howard, and managed by his father, Charles Howard.