Lyric Theatre (II)
127 W. Washington Street,
Osceola,
IA
50213
127 W. Washington Street,
Osceola,
IA
50213
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Osceola Theatre
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Osceola, IA has had three Lyric Theatres throughout its history.
Free Vreeland was the first manager of the first Lyric Theatre, who opened Osceola’s playhouse located on the north side of the square on May 10, 1913 featuring an original capacity of 750 seats. The first Lyric Theatre opened with two vaudeville acts by the Downes Sisters and their Classy Kids and a special piano performance by Kate McDonald, although its first film screened at the Lyric Theatre has not yet to be found. It was first owned by William and Carl Shields.
In a conversion of a former department store, a second Lyric Theatre opened on November 7, 1929, then-owner and manager John Waller (who had been in the theater business since 1905 and at the time also helped constructing the Idle Hour Theatre in Leon and install talkies at the Mayfair Theatre in Shenandoah) announced that sound from both Vitaphone and Movietone systems will be installed in Osceola’s second Lyric Theatre after contacting the DeForest Sound & Tone Company. After a whole month of wiring, the Lyric Theatre became an all-sound theater beginning with “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” along with a comedy reel “A Hollywood Star” on December 29, 1929.
Early-September 1934 comes an announcement led by Waller that a newer Lyric Theatre will be built and relocated to its now-current location located in the west side of the square.
The second Lyric Theatre on the north side continued to operate until December 26, 1934 when it closed with John Lodge in “Menace” along with a musical subject of Cab Calloway’s “Hi-De-Ho” and a short entitled “Old Kentucky Hounds”. It was renamed Osceola Theatre
The third and current Lyric Theatre would later open its doors two days later on December 28, 1934 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures)
In early-1935, the former old first Lyric Theatre building was demolished, and in February of that same year, it was rebuilt and a second movie house named the Osceola Theatre opened its doors at the former first Lyric Theatre site on April 12, 1935. The Osceola Theatre operated for 21 years until closing in 1956 (It has its own page on Cinema Treasures).
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
If the history is correct, the address has to be wrong. 103 is a large building from about 1900. There’s a history painted on the side, and it was never a theater. I’d suggest something like 107-113 which is an empty lot to the west of 103, although the scar on the side indicates a small one story building is missing directly next door. The fire department is at 135, and that building is definitely post 1956.
Looks like some of the history is wrong, too. This has not been demolished, and the correct address is 127 W Washington. The building is the Emil Jarl building, constructed in 1906-07 as a department store. The Lyric was here 1929-35. This building was remodeled into the Osceola, which operated until about 1970. All this information comes from the NRHP listing for downtown.
The one obvious conflict with this information is that the Lyric is the only theater listed in the 1914-15 directory. The listing makes reference to a skating rink being here in 1913 (probably upstairs), and a fire ruining the Jarl store in 1917. I think what may have happened is that the Majestic (which I’ve added a listing for) became the Lyric in 1913. That property became a hatchery in 1928, which makes a 1929 opening date at this address quite sensible.
This building today is in decent shape, with a fairly unattractive ground floor, and used as a clinic.