Dooley Airdome

Mr. and Mrs. Rene E. Stone had opened the Rex Theatre in October 20, 1916 but when Purcell’s weather set new heat records in June and July of 1917, the Rex Theatre management decided that it had to build an outdoor airdome because the hardtop Rex Theatre’s ventilation wasn’t up to the task of keeping patrons comfortable. The Rex Airdome opened on E. Main Street on July 21, 1917 with Maurice Costello in “The Crimson Stain Mystery” serial. When the weather cooled in September, the Airdome was discontinued until the next summer and continuing to August of 1920. The Rex Airdome was the third such theater in the city after the Cozy Airdome and Brown’s Airdome (aka Airdome Theatre).

In March of 1921, the Rex Theatre added 25' to the building to incorporate 100 extra seats and a Typhoon cooling fan to operate year round. Operator Hugh C. Smith decided to let the Rex Airdome property go and it was soon razed. But J.W. Graves and F.W. Nickson pulled a surprise just as the razing began by building a new Airdome Theatre not far away from the original. The outdoor theatre launched with motion pictures on May 7, 1921 with Kathlyn Williams in “The U.P. Trail”.

Smith saw patronage drop at the Rex Theatre and decided to simply buy out the Airdome just a month later in early-June of 1921. He would operate the venue in the hot summer months through 1926. The renamed Rex Airdome, often time, had it’d showtimes listed as “either the Rex Airdrome or the Rex (hardtop) Theatre” as the weather dictated the venue. The Rex Airdome appears to have gone unused from 1927 to 1930 when Carl P. Dooley and Ollie Brown resurrected it as the Airdome Theatre (sometimes called the Purcell Airdome Theatre). The Airdome opened with “The Gold Diggers of Broadway” on May 16, 1930.

Dooley would also take on the hardtop Rex Theatre building in 1930 which had closed previously in 1929 failing to convert to sound films. As the Rex Theatre was being prepared, the Airdome dealt a fatal blow to Dooley who - while rewiring a speaker for a sound film - was electrocuted. His wife, Pearl Dooley, continued both the Airdome and launched the new Dooley Theatre on September 21, 1931 closing the Airdome for the season. In 1932 through the Summer of 1934, the outdoor venue was renamed as the Dooley Airdome Theatre and was the summer showplace for the Dooley Theatre.

The Dooley Airdome closed August 30, 1934 with Helen Twelvetrees in “She Was a Lady” supported by the Andy Clyde comedy short, “Hello, Prosperity” and the Max Fleischer Talkartoon, “Grand Uproar”. The Dooley Airdome was demolished. The original hardtop Dooley Theatre was closed on October 26, 1939 and replaced by the New Dooley Theatre (aka the McClain Theater) a night got later. Each indoor venues also has its own Cinema Treasure entry.

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