Columbia Theatre

This theatre was located in the Fitchner & Laub building, a large two-story brick building constructed in 1892. The partners' store was located on the ground floor, with the opera house above. The capacity is taken from the 1905 Cahn guide, which states that it was under the management of I.L. Hardenbrook.

At some point, movies began to be shown, but that seems to have stopped by 1916, when the map shows a small movie theatre in a building next door. The auditorium continued to be used for community events and live entertainment at least long enough for Lawrence Welk to perform there.

The building was being used as a residence when the roof partially collapsed in September 2010. The building was demolished shortly thereafter, and the site is now an ugly prefab auto parts store. Note that the historical address was 125-127 Erwin, before renaming/renumbering took place at some point post-1916.

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