Galva Theatre
333 Market Street,
Galva,
IL
61434
333 Market Street,
Galva,
IL
61434
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This movie house was opened in 1927 and could seat about 350. It continued to operate until 1969, and was later used as an American Legion hall. It was demolished in August 2016.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
I don’t remember the exact year, but it was in the mid 1960’s. A total eclipse of the sun prompted the Galva Theater to offer a free showing of “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. The theater taped black construction paper over all the windows in order to protect all the children in attendance from the supposedly harmful rays of the eclipse. Funny thing was, the show was jammed with little kids filling the isles, creating a fire hazard far greater than anything the sun was dishing out that day.
According to Boxoffice, in 1946 the owners of the Galva had purchased an adjoining building and were planning to expand the theater into a twin—a novelty at the time. The second screen was to have had about 250 seats and would have operated three or four nights a week.
This has been demolished, along with the large building to the right.
For what it’s worth, I think the demolition happened in August 2016.
This item from the January 1, 1927 Moving Picture World was probably about the Galva Theater: “GALVA, ILL.—J. A. Miller & Son have general contract to erect up-to-date two-story moving picture theatre, with seating capacity of 500, located on Market street, east of Princess Theatre. Large stage suitable for vaudeville will be constructed, including orchestra pit. Pipe organ costing $4,000 will be installed. A. W. Trevor will be manager.”