Ryan Theatre
22844 Ryan Road,
Warren,
MI
48091
22844 Ryan Road,
Warren,
MI
48091
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The massive Ryan Theatre was located at 22884 Ryan Road in Warren, Michigan. The theater seated 1,400 patrons and had a 500-car parking lot, and was a lengthy project. My grandfather Albert S. “Al” Johnson built the theater. I’ve uploaded eleven several color Kodachrome slides that Al shot during its construction.
Two of my grandfather’s color slides, stamped by the developer in August 1948, show the theater with its walls raised and partially bricked over, and the steel rafters in place. Opening night was another sixteen months away on December 28, 1949.
Al Johnson shot the remaining nine slides in December 1949 just before the theatre opened. One image shows the marquee proclaiming “Watch Grand Opening Soon… Most Beautiful Theatre in All Michigan.” The entrance features four pairs of natural color “Johnson doors” with matching half-moon glass and elaborate push bars. Al Johnson held a patent on this style of doors, and they were used in several of his theater jobs.
Various publications of the AIA, as well as most other sources, spell the architect’s first name as Talmage, without the “d.” The name is spelled correctly in the introduction to Cinema Treasures' Rapids Theatre page, but not in the architect field.
The Ryan was part of the Schulte circuit in the early sixties.
I lived in back of this theatre my entire life. The parking lot was huge and the theatre had an “art deco” look. The theatre closed after a neighborhood kid started a fire inside the building (while it was closed).