RICHARD RAYMOND AND OTHERS v. E. J. BAEHR AND OTHERS
Arising out of a fire and explosion in a building owned by defendants E. J. Baehr and M. S. Baehr and leased to defendant Bonita Amusement Company, Inc. One action was for personal injuries sustained by Richard Raymond, an employee of one of the tenants of the building; the other action was for personal property damage sustained by William Peabody and other tenants. The cases were tried together before John T. Galarneault, Judge, and a jury, which returned verdicts for plaintiffs against defendant Bonita Amusement Company only. Said company appealed from the judgment entered in each case upon the basis of stipulated damages.
On December 28, 1964, a fire occurred in the Baehr Building constructed and owned by defendants E. J. Baehr and M. S. Baehr. Bonita Amusement Company, Inc. was the prime lessee of the Baehr Building and was responsible for the repair and maintenance of the building. Actions were brought by the sublessees who sustained property damage and the employee of the lessee who suffered personal injuries from the fire and explosion. The issue was whether the fire was due to the negligence of defendants.
The jury returned verdicts against Bonita and Bonita appealed. The plaintiffs asserted that the fire originated in the negligently maintained incinerator system of the building, either from fire escaping from its defective burning chamber and igniting combustible material on the floors directly above it or from intense heat in its deteriorated flue igniting a wood meter cabinet adjacent to it on the second floor, and that regardless of such origin the fire’s damaging spread was due to three other negligent acts or conditions for which Bonita was responsible: A recurring prevalence of smoke from the defective incinerator system lulled the plaintiffs into complacency concerning the hazard of an existing fire; Bonita’s caretaker, in opening the door to the meter cabinet, then engulfed in flames, permitted the fire to burst out into general conflagration; and Bonita had its own responsibility for permitting the existence of a wood-framed ventilation duct, negligently constructed by defendants Baehr, along which the fire traveled across the building to the point where the building exploded.
The Baehr Building was a three-story structure which, with the exception of exterior walls and masonry floors and firewalls on the first floor, was constructed primarily of wood. It was equipped with an inside incinerator system, located toward the west end of the building. The burning chamber of the incinerator was in the basement and its flue rose vertically through the building to the roof. On each of the three floors there was a small door to the incinerator flue, into which tenants dropped combustible trash to the burning chamber below. Adjacent to the flue, on the second floor, was a meter cabinet made of wood. At the top of the flue was a wire screen to trap materials rising from the burning chamber.
The incinerator system had not been adequately maintained. Brick had fallen from the upper part of the burning chamber, creating an 8-by-10-inch opening at the upper rear wall of the chamber, and some of the brick inside the chamber was cracked. The interior of the burning chamber and flue had never been inspected, and no repair work had been performed upon the system in 11 years. Its flue was deteriorated as far as an observer could see above the level of the basement ceiling; the brick lining of the flue, which was not constructed of firebrick, was about 2 inches less thick than the 12-inch thickness indicated in the original blueprints. The wire screen atop the flue may have been clogged, for, although it was necessary for the caretaker to clean the flue out about once a month to avoid backup of smoke into the building, it had not been cleaned in 2 months and a smoky condition had existed in the building for some hours prior to the fire. The fire’s origin was somewhere in the immediate area of the incinerator system below the third floor of the building.
Fire had existed in the incinerator on the day of the fire. Due to the Christmas weekend there was an unusual amount of trash for incineration, and it was burned by Bonita’s caretaker from about 9 o'clock until about 10 o'clock in the morning. There was evidence, including charred wires above the burning chamber, from which a jury could find that intense heat or flame escaped through the hole in the burning chamber. The ultimate inference, the difficult one in this case, would be that this heat or fire was transmitted to the second floor to the meter cabinet where the fire was discovered in full flame at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a little more than 4 hours after the morning’s trash burning.
The jury had before it a multiplicity of theories as to the origin of the fire and theories as to the spread of the fire, and was unable to ascertain upon what basis the jury found that defendant Bonita was negligent.
Demolition could start this week on the former CenterPoint MarketPlace property, and that means time is running out on a renovation of the
Fox Theater.
The city’s Community Development Authority on Monday hired Chicago-based Meridian Industrial Service Corp. to demolish the downtown mall for $278,000, $72,000 less than the lowest estimate, which was between $350,000 to $500,000 to tear down the middle of the empty building. The demolition will leave an empty space, which could allow the back of the Fox Theater to be restored. The back was removed from the theater to make space for the mall when it was built in the 1980s.
But Mayor Andrew Halverson said there is other interest in that soon-to-be-empty space. “(The owners of the theater are) going to have to move quick for us to reserve any space. We cannot just wait and not do anything because there’s potential they might do something.”
The possibility of restoring the over-century-old Fox Theater on Main Street had been used by the city and the Sanders family, who owns the building, as one of the selling points for borrowing $5.9 million to redevelop the mall area.
The Sanders family was working with a committee to restore the theater, but has yet to announce definite plans for the building. Committee spokesman Gerry McKenna said talks had come to a standstill and that the committee was waiting to hear from the Sanders family on what they wanted to do with the theater.
(Racine Journal Times, Thursday, December 13, 1945)
ARCHITECT DIES
MILWAUKEE – Alexander H. Bauer, Milwaukee architect, died in a Milwaukee hospital Wednesday from a cerebral hemorrhage suffered while attending a business meeting here. Bauer, a past president of the Wisconsin Institute of Architects and a 32nd degree Mason, is survived by his wife, Etta.
Friends of the Fishers Island Theater held a fundraising event at the Pequot on Thursday, July 12th, 2012. There was a DJ, great raffle prizes and golf-outing live auction good for the Calusa Pines golf club in Naples, Florida. There will be a $20 cover charge at the door.
Jamie Doucette reported that 2012 marks the 80th anniversary for the theater and “We are raising money for the theater which desperately needs painting, many building improvements and a new digital projector system. The film projector is very outdated and they are going to stop circulating movies on film in the near future. Digital will also allow us to get newer movies. The theater has already been cleaned numerous times by our committee and a professional cleaning company, the entry-way painted and the windows replaced.”
(Mount Carmel Daily Republican Register, October 19, 2007)
A ‘Royal’ Rebirth by Kristen Tribe
Laughter ripples through the crowd at the Royal Theater in Archer City, Texas (pop. 1,848), as singer Rodney Hayden tells a witty tale. But as he begins strumming his guitar, the laughter subsides, Hayden begins to sing and the audience absorbs every note.
“Singer-songwriters love nothing more than you listening to what they have to say,” says Tesha Thomas, producer of the Lite Week Lazy Boy Supper Club at the Royal, a recurring showcase for performers to sing their songs and tell their stories.
The Royal Theater has a long tradition of inspiring storytelling, first as a movie house, then as the basis of a famous novel and film, now as host to the supper club, theatrical productions and the Texasville Opry, which presents six performances each year.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry, 71, grew up in Archer City and well remembers going to the Royal as a child. “Most of the movies I saw were at the
Royal,” he recalls. “We had to drive in from the ranch. It was the only culture there was, so to speak.”
In 1965, the town’s shred of culture was lost when
the theater burned; although a cause was never determined, locals always believed it was because someone was smoking in the balcony. Despite its
destruction, the Royal became a risen “star” when McMurtry spotlighted it in his novel “The Last Picture Show” the following year. It was memorialized again in the award-winning 1971 movie based on McMurtry’s book and filmed partially on location in Archer City.
In 1986, McMurtry opened Booked Up in Archer City, a bookstore comprising four buildings and hundreds of
thousands of books. The store proved to be a haven for
book dealers, readers, movie buffs and autograph seekers in search of the author. But despite the literary and cinematic attention brought to the town, the Royal continued to lay in ruins until a local theatrical group, the Picture Show Players, decided to rebuild it as a multiuse performing arts center.
“A group of people wanted to perform and wanted to
see it rebuilt and have an economic impact,” says Archer County Judge Gary Beesinger, 54, producer of the Texasville Opry and himself a member of Picture Show Players.
“It was an ‘If we build it, they will come’ mentality.”
On August 24th, 2000, the 35th anniversary of the day
it burned, the Royal Theater reopened. Since its rebirth, the Royal has regularly hosted a variety of theatrical and musical productions and various other events.
Another Archer City native, actress Angela Kinsey,
who plays Angela Martin on NBC’s hit series The Office,
held her rehearsal dinner and wedding reception at the
Royal in 2001. Although the dinner was planned for the
theater, the reception was to be outdoors until a violent storm necessitated an emergency move inside.
“The winds picked up and everything went nutty,” says Kinsey, who lives in Los Angeles but regularly
visits family in Archer City. “People were running for
cover and salad was flying through the air.”
Despite the storm, her wedding is just one of many
fond memories Kinsey has of Archer City. She and a friend often did their high school homework at Booked Up, and she remembers always being curious about the ruins of the Royal Theater and excited to hear about its restoration. “It’s important for every community to have a creative outlet,” Kinsey says.
Today, the Royal Theater’s bright blue ticket booth serves as a beacon to storytellers of all sorts, and to those who want to hear their tales.
McMurtty, who splits his time between homes in Archer City and Tucson, Ariz., says the Royal is once again a place of cultural significance in an area where ranching and oil comprise much of the economic base.
“It’s always good,” he says, “to have a little something to bring the stimulation of art into a small town.”
Theater made famous in The Last Picture Show' to reopen
ARCHER CITY, TEXAS (AP) — In this one-stoplight town immortalized in a 1971 Academy Award-winning film, a national icon is returning to the limelight thirty-five years after the Royal Theater burned down, the front of the stone building – complete with a blue and white marquee, orange awnings and illuminated “Royal” sign – has been rebuilt to appear as it did in “The Last Picture Show,” based on a novel by Archer City native Larry McMurtry.
The site of the original 100-seat theater won’t show movies but will be an open-air amphitheater with a larger room next door for bands, plays, dinner theater and art classes.
“This,” said project coordinator Abby Abernathy, “would have been simple to rebuild as a movie theater, but for what? To get 100 people in here?”
The renovated theater will be unveiled Thursday night, the 35th anniversary of the fire.
A fifth-generation resident, Abernathy, 38, bought the property in 1986. When his idea for a restaurant failed to get support, he convinced community leaders
to restore the theater as a tourist attraction.
The city was beginning to dry up, and we had to re-engineer,“ he said. "Tourism is what we had to offer, because the pilgrimage to the theater was everlasting.
People kept coming here for that.”
Filmed in black-and-white and hailed as a masterpiece, “The Last Picture Show” portrayed the
breakdown of an unhappy fictional one-horse Texas town in the 1950s.
Abernathy initially received little support from locals, many of whom objected to the R-rated movie’s sexual material and felt it denigrated their town.
But after working on the restoration for several years,
Abernathy has apparently convinced many that their link to the past is key to the town’s future. “Now, even the biggest skeptics think it’s a good idea,” Abernathy said.
The theater actually burned before the movie was made. Still, hundreds of people each year have made the trek to find the Royal and snap pictures of the rubble.
McMurtry, who won a Pulitzer Prize for “Lonesome Dove,” and others in town are not surprised by lingering interest in the landmark thanks to the film, which was nominated for eight Oscars.
“The Last Picture Show” had a lasting impression because it’s representative of small-town America,“ he said. "People with small-town backgrounds can relate to it.”
The Archer City of today is much like it was portrayed in the film, which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starred Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges and Timothy
Bottoms. Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman both won supporting actor Oscars.
Nearly 1,800 people live in this oil and ranching town in northcentral Texas, about 25 miles south of Wichita Falls. The only traffic signal is a flashing light.
The town has a few stores, banks, gas stations and one fast-food chain restaurant, Dairy Queen.
“I guess you could say not much has changed here since the 1950s,” said Mazie Berend, who owns The General Store in the downtown square. Berend remembers going to
the theater as a child in the 1950s, when a movie cost 20 cents and popcorn cost a dime. She and her friends watched John Wayne and Elvis Presley films, often turning around to see who was necking in the balcony.
“Everybody went to the Royal because that’s all there was to do,” Berend said. But that stopped when theater caught fire one night in August 1965. What was left was a charred facade and pile of stones and rubble.
“People were upset because it was their childhood memories going up in smoke,” Berend said.
The owners could not afford to rebuild, so the structure remained in ruins for decades.
Abernathy decided to donate the theater to the nonprofit Archer City Community Foundation, so grant money could be obtained. The foundation then bought the space next door to expand the theater.
For the past four years Abernathy has done most of the physical rebuilding himself. The final cost will be about $400,000 and profits from the renovated theater
will go back into operating it. “It’s just a dream come true for this town,” said Karla Powell, who owns a jewelry store and floral shop downtown. “Small towns, if they don’t have something to bring people in, then we’re all over.”
Small-Town Theatre Designed for Public Service by Hanns R. Teichert
There are many small towns now supporting an old grownup-with-the-town theatre that are wide open for a second new and up-to-date house. But Walworth, Wis. is not one of them. Venerable as the town is, its inhabitants and those of the surrounding countryside are the proud patrons of one of the most modern and delightfully functional theatres in their part of the country. This property, owned by the Harvard Theatre Corporation, composed of John Papas, C. J. Papas and S. J. Papas, seats seven hundred people. And the first illustration will show how smart the house is from the initial visual impression.
A Refreshment Bar
It will be noticed at once that the building incorporates a refreshment bar. And inasmuch as this issue is stressing that feature of service, we cannot think of a better example of smart handling in this department. For this little bar is unique in many respects. In the first place, there is a service counter running across the middle of the shop so that it is divided into two separate sales areas; that toward the front door, and that toward the side rear door. From the front are served the people who come in from the street and who are not just then patronizing the theatre. And from the rear door are served those who come in from the theatre. Thus there is no confusion of unticketed small patrons getting among those who have already paid their entrances.
The other side of the door to the theatre lobby can be seen in the second illustration, where it will be noticed how smoothly it is incorporated into the features of the lobby wall. But first, a glance through the large plate glass window between the Showette and the outer lobby arrests the patron as he comes in and by the time he reaches the door in the inner lobby he has likely made up his mind to step in for popcorn, candy or something at the fountain. At least, that was what the Showette started serving when they first opened; but the demand has been so great that now hot and cold sandwiches have been added and small lunches. They are also making their own ice cream, and all this is served both day and night. This provides a great service to the children who throng in from the grammar and high school next door. To say that the Showette is popular is a vast understatement.
For those who do not want to go into the Showette when it is apt to be crowded with youngsters just before and after features, there is a bar at the head of the lobby where quick refreshments such as candy, gum and popcorn can be picked up in passing. Older people seem to find this a convenience. It will be noticed that both of these areas are incorporated into the architecture of the interior, and that they are neat, sanitary and a visual asset to the theatre instead of the messy and in-the-way afterthoughts that they sometimes are.
Smartly Functional
But enough for the handling of refreshments in this smart theatre and on to some of the other features it offers its patrons. On the opposite side of the lobby from the Showette are recesses leading to a modem ladies' powder room, the men’s smoking room, and a tiled inset containing the drinking fountain. Thus the necessary facilities for the service of patrons are distributed on both sides of the incoming and outgoing traffic areas so that a smooth flow is assured at all times. But it is the decoration of the Walworth Theatre that also keys it to what is best in its field. Foremost is the fact that everything has been so simply handled that it will date less quickly than most other houses: still, when the time comes for a general up-dating, the whole atmosphere of the house can be changed simply through an alteration of decorative treatment. Another color scheme, now motifs in the decorative panels, a few different accents here and there and presto! … a new interior!
The Color Scheme
At present, the color scheme in the lobby consists of coral red, warm off-white and gold, with carpeting that tones in well and is the same throughout the house. Plain surfaces on the side walls act as a foil to the rich squares of custom-made marble textured paper applied where the walls break toward the auditorium. Between these two marbleized areas is the centered candy bar backed with a decorative panel in an abstract floral pattern, well illuminated from the trough above. In fact, the illumination throughout the theatre is one of its most distinctive points. It was all especially designed and custom-made, much of it in pierced brass of classically fine design that will go with any subsequent redecorations. Another distinctive feature of the Walworth Theatre is its woodwork, which is finished in a natural light tone throughout to emphasize its good graining. This, too, is a permanent asset of the interior and requires no great working over in case of later changes.
The auditorium does not show the mistake made by so many of the smaller houses in going fussy or cute because of its size. The Walworth auditorium is executed with a dignity and simplicity that increases its size rather than diminishes it. The coral seating gives life to the area while the walls of deep turquoise are inset with sand-toned panels displaying free rhythmic leaf forms in a modern sketchy style. These are illuminated by curved light troughs that are a part of the panel ornamentation, and further lighting is taken care of free recessed overhead squares. It all sounds simple indeed, but the richness of these colorings and the feeling of tasteful restraint in the handling give a dynamic effect that is worth any amount of overdressing.
For All the People
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this house is the whole effect it has of being residential rather than commercial. This is a well-calculated result, built up of many details, and planned that way because of the patronage it serves. The latter is composed of townspeople, farmers from the surrounding rural area, resort people during the summer from the nearby lakes, and an unusual percentage of youngsters not only from the aforementioned sources but from a large military academy nearby.
It was desired that this theatre provide an intimate and homelike atmosphere further to bind all these elements of people together, rather than a coldly commercial interior, however impressive. And in this the Walworth is an acknowledged success. People of all the groups mentioned above do express themselves as feeling at home there. The Showette acts as their kitchen where they can pick up a bite when they are hungry. The powder and smoking rooms are sanitary and attractive, they meet their friends in the lobby, and they relax together in the auditorium as comfortably as in their own living rooms. The Walworth Theatre is the community’s mutual home for entertainment, and there is no need or room in the town for another.
(Kenosha News article on the GATEWAY Theatre [July 16, 2012] by Diane Giles)
People stood in line on Dec. 29, 1927 at the Gateway Theater box office to pay 30 cents for tickets to see live entertainment in addition to the silent film comedy adventure “She’s a Sheik,” staring Bebe Daniels.
The Gateway is now Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St. The Gateway was the third building to stand on the site. The original Rhode Opera House, built in 1891 was destroyed in 1896 fire and rebuilt the same year.
The second building was razed by Milwaukee entertainment giants the Saxe Brothers in 1926 to make way for the “modern” building costing a half million dollars. That’s more than $6.5 million in today’s money.
The theater was designed by George Leslie Rapp of Chicago. George and his brother Cornelius W. Rapp, who died a year before the Gateway opened, designed some of the finest movie palaces in the country.
“We found the blueprints at the Chicago Historical Society and were able to purchase a copy,” said Judy Rossow, manager of Pollard Gallery and former board member of Rhode Center for the Arts.
The Rapp firm’s three greatest achievements, according to “Motion Picture News” of Dec. 25, 1926, were the Paramount Theater in New York, the Oriental in Chicago and Shea’s Buffalo Theater in Buffalo, N.Y. The Rapps also designed the grand Chicago Theater in the heart of Chicago.
Seating 1,260, the Gateway Theater boasted a $60,000 organ offering wide instrumentation and sound effects.
But the real magnificence of the theater wasn’t in the auditorium. It was in the lobby, and much of it still is visible today.
“It’s different but basically the underlying is the same,” Rossow said.
Victor S. Pearlman and Co. of Chicago created the four crystal chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. The brown tiles on the floor that continue up the walls are original, made in Milwaukee at Continental Faience and Tile Co.
Perhaps the most intriguing are the decorative tiles made in Seville, Spain, at the Manuel Ramos Rejano factory.
Some frame panels stretching up two stories. Then there are the six ceramic benches that tell the story of Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.” Each has a different scene, but all of them are signed by the artist.
Rossow says the benches once had wrought iron arms and backs, but those amenities were removed. The railings on the balcony and stairway, ribbed glass on the front doors and the mirrored walls in the outer ladies lounge also date back to 1927.
But there have been changes. Missing are the draperies and mural panels that once graced the lobby walls. A fountain that once stood in the lobby was removed in the 1970s.
The four large sconces in the lobby once hung in the auditorium, but they were moved. Others installed in the 1960s makeover into the Lake Theater have disappeared over the years.
“The sconces that were in the lobby in pre-1970 are no longer around,” Rossow explained. “I know of only one in the vicinity. The rest belong to collectors.”
In THE SPRINGFIELD PAPER on February 21, 2012, Offie Wortham wrote:
“In 1961 I was a physics student at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and also the head of the Antioch Civil Rights Organization. With over 700 of the 1,100 students as paid members of the NAACP College Chapter, we were the largest organized civil rights organization on any campus in the country during the 60’s.
The owner of the Liberty Theater in Springfield had publicly vowed that Negroes would never be allowed in his theater. At that time African Americans also were not admitted into any of the bowling allies, roller skating rinks, and several restaurants in Springfield.
After hitch-hiking from Yellow Springs to Springfield I went to the box office to buy a ticket. I was told it was a “membership only” theater and I would not be admitted. I am Black. I walked around the corner to the police station and told them that we were going to have a demonstration at the theater after an attempt to have Blacks admitted. I got their assistance to park a busload of police around the corner while undercover police watched from the sidelines.
Because there were only 8 Black students at Antioch I had to go to Central State and Wilberforce to encourage a busload of Black students to come to be a part of the demonstration.
Well over 100 students came to take part in the operation. The owner was interviewed before the event and said again that Blacks would not be admitted unless they were members. White racist organizations nationwide, including the Klan and the Nazi party, promised to be there to support the owner to keep out Blacks.
Coverage of the event was on nationwide television, and the streets were lined with local citizens to see the showdown between the radical students and the racist theater owner and his supporters.
Black and White students approached the box office in a single file that went around the block. All students were neatly dressed and some were even forced to wear shoes. At the head of the line was David Crippens, a Black student from Antioch who had drawn the longest straw from among those put in by over 20 Black students from the three colleges.
I stood across the street with the reporters with two press releases. One that congratulated the owner for changing his policy, the other announcing the beginning of a daily picket of the theater.
When David got to the box office the streets went completely silent. After a moment he turned and raised his ticket, and a cheer broke out in the streets and from the students in line, as they all purchased their tickets and entered the theater.
In the following days we had to attend the Black churches and convince them they could now attend the theater. Just a visit and discussion at the other segregated places in Springfield was all that was required to have them decide to admit African Americans."
(From BOXOFFICE, December 10, 1938)
A Remarkable Case of Property Reclamation
By Helen Kent
SENILITY had obviously moved in and taken possession of the old Liberty Theatre, at 16 East High Street, in Springfield, Ohio. It was, as will be seen by the picture presented here, definitely doddering, rheumatic and bleary-eyed in appearance, and as for operating efficiency, this had evidently passed (if indeed it were ever present) when the house was a mere stripling of youth. Whatever there may have been to attract patronage was simply not visible to the naked eye and it is quite surprising that the house could have existed as a moving picture theatre for as many years as it did.
A perfect case of hardening of the arteries was taking place before the eyes of Springfield moving picture patrons and they were expected to watch the slow process of erosion as a part of the so-called entertainment which they paid for at the boxoffice.
It seems that the movie-going public is a brave lot to entrust a couple of hours of their fleeting lives to the dubious pleasure of watching the screen in such environment as this. The old Liberty in Springfield was a striking example of the far too many grind-shops of its type which are scattered indiscriminately across the country in large towns and small ones, each doing its part to destroy the movie-going habit.
But somebody did something about the old Liberty. William Settos, its present manager, a veteran of 27 years' experience in theatre business, 14 of which were spent in Springfield, decided to make of the Liberty a theatre of which he as well as its patrons could well be proud. He employed the theatre division of P and Y Building Service, of Columbus, Ohio, to design and reconstruct the old house. It was closed only from August 9 to October 14, (1938) to permit rebuilding and modernization.
The well-calculated transformation was complete. This particular project offers again a prime example of our very pet conviction that this is the most logical way to foil bad business, to forestall overseating, and to keep out competition. We’ve long been in favor of remodeling—making the best of what the old building and its location may offer.
Here then is the fitting example of an old house which offered no advantages except that of a proved location being replaced—rather than placed in competition—with a modern theatre with House Appeal plus an undefiled location. Wisely, the owner tore down the old landmark and put up a sparkling new house on its very foundation. The ghost of the old veteran is laid and it does not remain to rise and compete in its half-baked condition with the new theatre, which by reason of its excellence deserves and will get increased patronage.
The extent to which modernization was necessary in the case of the Liberty Theatre is evidenced in the fact that the old structure and an adjacent building were demolished completely to the very foundations to permit erection of the new Liberty Theatre. It was found that deterioration of many years' standing had made salvage of any materials or equipment unwise.
Hence, the modern counterpart bears relation to the old solely in name and location. It is, in fact, a new theatre in every sense of that designation.
A Bright New Face Appears
The front of the new Liberty Theatre now covers an expanse nearly twice as broad as that formerly occupied by the old house. This was brought about by
the conversion of an old store building at one side of the theatre into a part of the reconstruction. The new building’s basic construction is of brick, with the central portion of the facade and the entire wainscot in modern, highly reflective vitreous material.
A small store with profitable rental possibilities is located at one side of the theatre entrance and a confectionery stand which is an integral part of the theatre is to be found on the other side. The centrally located V-shaped marquee with three lines of modern silhouette changeable letters and the massive lettered horizontal name-sign form a brilliant outdoor advertising display medium for the attractive new theatre. Dignified poster displays also add to the attraction of the front.
The lobby is located directly behind the entrance doors which flank the boxoffice and it also is wisely devoted to program exploitation in a refined manner. A particularly appealing foyer is entered by doors at the far end of the lobby. This portion of the theatre is separated from the auditorium merely by a modern contoured standee rail, serving to heighten interest in the decorative aspect of both rooms.
Indirect lighting in this room is especially attractive and functional. It is formed by luminous elements recessed in a semi-circular offset in the ceiling which extends from the standee rail pilasters into the center of the foyer. A glossy white ceiling onto which the light is thrown reflects in such a manner that the room is amply lighted but in no way glarey. Another indirect luminous unit of the cove type forms a portion of the standee rail and serves as a direction finder as well as decorative lighting effect.
A Complementary Color Scheme
The color scheme for the lobby and foyer, as well as the auditorium, is picked up from the carpeting which is used throughout the theatre in the same modern all-over pattern. A dark wainscot runs completely around the foyer and is carried on into the auditorium. It is topped by a light tone that goes to the ceiling. Simplicity of design and contour characterizes the decorative effect of the entire house.
The auditorium is spacious and comfortable both from the standpoint of restfulness and convenience. It seats 553 patrons, entirely on the main floor, and offers ample space between seats for feet and knees. The aisles also are wider than customary. Seating in the auditorium is of the latest comfort-type construction and is attractively upholstered to complement the decorative scheme of the room.
Acoustical materials were used most effectively in the auditorium to provide the finest possible sound reception. Wall decoration is secured by a damask-like
wall covering that is used above the wainscoting in panels about the room. The modern wall panels on either side of the auditorium are accented by square-cut white bands for additional interest.
Lighting in the auditorium is entirely indirect from large inverted circular fixtures in the ceiling and attractive modern luminous elements on the side walls. The cone-shaped ceiling fixtures are placed on a panel which runs the full length of the auditorium, adding greatly to the feeling of spaciousness in the room.
Effective stage curtain lighting also enhances the beauty of the auditorium.
The mezzanine floor of the theatre, located above the lobby, foyer and two stores at the front of the building, contains lounge rooms, offices, ladies' rest room, crying room and the projection booth. The Before—After—men’s room is located on the main floor at one side of the stairway leading to the space above.
Lounge provisions on the mezzanine are especially attractive and inviting to patron relaxation. The lounges are furnished with comfortable leather-upholstered chrome furniture, mirrors, smoking provisions and other accessories to effect a home-like atmosphere. Decoration here is in the form of horizontally graduated colors enhanced by indirect lighting.
A crying room for mothers of unconditioned young movie fans is located at a vantage place to one side of the projection room. It contains a large plate glass window, is equipped for perfect sound and is acousticized to hold in unruly noise.
Other services provided by the management to interest and hold patronage are free telephone service, courteous attendants and the best of picture presentation. This latter is insured by the latest available equipment in the projection booth for the most nearly perfect presentation of sight and sound.
The new building is also completely air conditioned for both summer and winter by a scientifically correct system. The new Liberty is said to be the first theatre in Springfield to have a complete year ‘round air conditioning system.
If we may finally wax poetic at this point, the new Liberty Theatre may be said to be of the phoenix-kind. It rose new-born from the embers of its predecessor—a new theatre to carry on the traditions, but in a much better manner, of the old Liberty. Its completed excellence offers indeed a remarkable case of property reclamation of the type that is sorely needed in many communities at this time.
Yorkville squelches ‘X’-flicks By Thomas Roanhouse Journal Times Staff
Y O R K V I L L E – Those X-rated movies may be legal,
but they’re apparently not welcome in the Town of Yorkville.
An estimated 100 Yorkville residents crowded into a hearing Monday, sponsored by the Racine County Board’s Land Use Committee, to publicly oppose a zoning change,
which would allow the operation of a mini-theater. Some
residents said they’d prefer an ammonia plant or a glue
factory to a theater which shows X-rated movies.
Mark Little of Kenosha had requested the zoning change.
Little had leased a building at 2036 N. Sylvania Ave. (1-94 west frontage road), Town of Yorkville, for the purpose of opening a mini-theater. The building has been renovated by Little to accommodate a theater.
Little and his attorneys, James and Giulio Fornary,
both of Racine, were the only persons who spoke in favor of the zoning change proposal.
The number of persons in opposition were seeemingly
much larger. The Land Use Committee heard testimony
from at least 16 persons and received three petitions and a letter indicating opposition to the change. One petition reportedly had 179 signatures, the other had 26 names and the third petition was not numbered.
All this transpired while an overflow crowd in the auditorium of the Racine County Highway Building looked on and offered supportive applause after nearly each person opposing the change had spoken.
James Fornary said the change “is more restrictive,”
than the existing zoning status and added the proposal
“would upgrade the zoning rather than downgrade it.”
Also, he said in addition to the theater, Little intends to develop a mini-shopping center to house between 10-12 businesses.
The mini-shopping center proposal was not listed on the
zoning change request submitted to the county, Little said later at the hearing.
Fornary contended the approval of the proposal “would
be good for the community because the area should have
a shopping center and it would bring in more revenue
for taxes.” “It would elevate the area,” he said.
Little, who holds a one-year lease on the property from its owner Al Buder, told the committee and residents, “when developed it would lend itself to the area and give residents a chance of of convenience.”
He also said he has sublet part of it “which might be the cause of some of my problems.”
He did not say to whom the property had been sublet to. However, after the meeting when questioned by a
reporter, he said it was sublet to Don Thomas of Parkway Theater, Milwaukee, which shows X-rated movies regularly.
Giulio Fornary testified under the existing zoning “an ammonia plant, asbestos plants, chlorine factory or glue factory, a foundry, a creamery or a cement plant are things you can do now. This zoning proposal is
more restrictive.”
Fornary continued “I know what you people are afraid of
– X-Rated movies. There’s not a movie house that
doesn’t show X-rated movies once in a while – it’s legal.
"X-Rated is not porno. If you don’t want porno, fine –
enforce the law. Mr. Little does not intend to show it.” he said.
“You cant use zoning for censorship. That’s wrong,” said Fornary.
Don Haas, who said he lived south of the property in
question, was the first person to speak in opposition.
He said he had read in an advertisment that Parkway
Theater was planning on opening a Parkway South in
the near future. “The stuff Parkway shows Is perfectly
legal, but it’s trash,” he said.
Hass said he telephoned Parkway and asked them where their new theater was going to open. “They told me at a site south of Highway K, west of 1-94, and north of Highway 20 and obviously that (Little’s leased building) is suppose to be be Parkway South.
"I’ll take the ammonia plant or the glue factory before
I take that,” Haas said.
Yorkville Town Attorney Ken Hostack said “first of all,
he renovated the building without a building permit.”
And then he said, “lets look at this purely for zoning.” Hostack said a shopping center would not be consistent with the other types of businesses in the area, such as an automotive salvage yard and said the area “is zoned for where public sewer Is available.”
And, he added, the Town of Yorkvllle’s proposed sewer
collection system doesn’t go near the area where Little
has plans to develop a shopping center.
Marlene Hass told the committee “I was shocked when I
heard the presentation tonight about a shopping center.
I was in the zoning office Wednesday and the zoning request on file is for a minitheater only and there was
nothing there for for a shopping center.” Plus, she said “Parkway is strictly trash. It scares me.”
Marion Cole, who said she owns the motel across the
street from the building, said “the roads are too narrow to serve a shopping center. They’d get congested, plus there’s no on-or off-ramps for the freeway.”
She cautioned “once he gets his doors open, he can do
whatever he pleases. It’s time we take a stand for morality once-and-for-all and say were not going to allow this.”
Lila Neil, who echoed Mrs. Cole’s comments, also said “I think, in what he’s shown us so far, his word in no good.”
William Swenson said “ I’m diametrically opposed and I’ll fight it all the way to the courts.”
James Miller, who said he recently moved to the Town
of Yorkville from Milwaukee, said “I moved to this town to get away from this stuff.”
Art Osinga said “let’s not always think of the children, but lets take a stand as adults.” He then said “we may be from the country, but don’t think they can pull the wool over our eyes.”
Berdette Gulbrand said he didn’t oppose the shopping
center, but said “ I’m against a pornographic theater.”
Jerry Olson suggested Little and his associates post a
$1 million bond for 10 years. “If they’re so honest, put up the bond for 10 years and tell us there’ll be no porno.”
Frances Nocarsci, who said she recently moved to the
area, said “my first reaction was to sell my house when I heard about this. Now my reaction is not to sell it, but to stand up and fight against it.”
Testimony opposing the zoning change also was submitted
by representatives of area schools, churches, 4-H
groups and parent-teacher groups.
Apparently the testimony filed at the hearing, in effect, was nothing more than a public forum. Under Racine County zoning laws, if either the County Board or the local municipality goes on record of opposing
a zoning change, the request is denied. Joe McGauran, a planner at the county’s zoning und planning office, said “We’ve received a letter from the Yorkville Town Board which said the board passed a resolution on Nov. 14 opposing this zoning change request.”
The Racine County Board still must act on the proposal,
but with the Town of Yorkville’s zoning change denial,
any County Board action would be merely academic at
this point.
HUBERT J. SOENS, formerly of 10 McKlnley Ave. passed away at 83 in the West View Nursing Home on Friday evening, March 28, 1975. Mr. Soens was born in Racine
on Nov. 2, 1891 and had lived there all of his life. In Racine in 1929 he married the former Mabel Johnson. Mr. Soens was a motion picture operator for the Rialto Theater for many years. Surviving him were his wife, Mabel; three daughters, Doris Thuriat of Racine,
Isabelle Hyder of Long Beach, Cal., and Florence Bouterse of Kenosha; one brother, Aloys Soens of Kenosha; two sisters, Mrs. Rose Andersen and Mrs. John Olsen, both of Racine; grandchildren, great
grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other relatives
also survive. Private funeral services were held in the
WILSON FUNERAL HOME, 1139 Blaine Ave., Wednesday,
April 2, 1975 at 10 a.m. with Rev. George Overdier. Interment in Mound Cemetery. There was no visitation.
(March 3, 1950)
Frank N. Consago, 61, of 1257 N. Mason avenue, Chicago, owner of the new Elm theatre now being erected and scheduled to open in Wauconda early in March was killed in an auto-truck collision on U. S. highway 66 near the north city limits of Pontiac,
in Livingston county. Also killed in the crash was Mrs. Isabelle Rizza, 36, of Chicago, who was riding with Mr. Consago.
Leonard J. Deasey of Wauconda was born Feb. 25, 1927, in Chicago. Burial was in Transfiguration Cemetery, Wauconda. He died Thursday, Dec. 2, 1993 at Winchester
House Nursing Home, Libertyville. Mr. Deasey retired from the Wauconda Post Office after 36 years of service. He was a Navy veteran of World War II. He was a member of American Legion Post #911, Wauconda. He
was Past Grand Knight and member of Knights of Columbus Queen of Angels Council, past president
and member of the Wauconda Chamber of Commerce, the Wauconda Lions Club, and member of Transfiguration Church, Wauconda. He managed the Elm Theater for 15 years. He was the husband of Estelle (nee Lauletta); father of Victoria (Vern) Paddock of Gurnee, IL, Kathi of Libertyville, Toni (Jack) Kappel of Palatine, Elizabeth (Dominic) Blasco of Wauconda, and Stephen (Julie) of Island Lake, IL.; brother of Patrick
“Jim” (the late Trudy) of Davis, IL. and Marge Selin of Palatine, and grandfather of nine.
Visitation was from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, 1993 at the funeral home. For information (708) 526-2115.
On New Year’s Eve of 1947, the ZION Theatre opened following a move by the Zion, Illinois city council that rescinded old municipal laws that had prohibited the screening of motion pictures. The city’s first theatre had opened in 1913, but was raided by the police and ordered closed by the mayor.
The owners of the new ZION Theatre quickly ruffled feathers by announcing in April of 1948 that the theatre would open on Sundays in defiance of the city’s “blue laws” forbidding business on Sunday.
Zion’s blue laws had gone into effect with the founding of the city in 1901. Blue laws have been used since Colonial times and originally were directed at prohibiting such things as gambling and the consumption of alcohol. In the 19th century, various American state and local governments had begun passing blue laws based on Christian beliefs of honoring the Sabbath that forbade businesses from operating on Sunday.
In their defense, the ZION Theatre owners pointed out that the ordinance was already being compromised by restaurants and drug stores, and furthermore added that the annual Zion Passion Play, which charged admission, also conducted business on Sunday.
Three of the ZION Theatre’s owners were Lake County board supervisors Martin B. Ruesch, Edwin Gus Peterson, and Frank L. Davis.
On Sunday, April 11, 1948, the owners of the ZION Theatre and the neighboring bowling alley opened their businesses and were promptly arrested.
Zion’s Chief of Police Alven Ruesch, bearing a complaint issued by Zion Mayor Richard Hire, arrested Onnie Bridges (the police chief’s brother-in-law) at the ZION Theatre, and then went down the street to the bowling alley and arrested Otto Lawrence.
The ban on Sunday movies and other amusements was upheld by Judge Ralph Dady of the Circuit Court in Waukegan, the Lake County seat, in August of 1948. Following this ruling, the theatre owners circulated a petition requesting a special election to determine whether the ban on Sunday business should be repealed.
Despite a vigorous campaign by pro-theatre/pro-amusement forces, on December 21 of 1948 Zion residents voted to retain the blue laws by a vote of 1,756 to 1,564. The city council then voted to enforce the prohibition of Sunday trade, including even the sale and delivery of ice cream, milk, and newspapers. (A drug store across the street owned by a prominent citizen was permitted to remain open on Sundays to “sell only emergency drugs and ice cream consumed on the premises.”)
Business owners continued to work toward the repeal, and on April 5, 1949, another vote of Zion residents was taken. This time voters were in favor of the repeal … 1,746 to 966, which brought 48 years of blue laws in Zion to an end.
In both 1950 and 1951, diehard proponents of the blue laws brought the issue back to voters, who voted against their reinstatement.
In May of 1959, it was announced that the ZION Theatre would close. Hinting at the onslaught of free television, Onnie Bridges, president of the Zion Theater Corporation, stated that the closing was dictated by his desire to retire “rather than failing audiences.”
The ELM Theater was located at Liberty (Route 176) and Mill Streets in Wauconda. There was parking for 125 cars. The ELM was featured in a large-letter Curt Teich postcard featuring Wauconda landmarks within the letter “U”. Through the 1960s, the ELM’s program listings appeared in the Daily Herald.
And then in 1967, the historic Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church purchased the ELM, reportedly because they feared “purchase by others would hinder the expansion program of the church.” The church members at first volunteered as staff ushers and cashiers before leasing the ELM to a Leonard Deasey, whose children and friends staffed the theatre. The church’s control mandated that only National Legion of Decency-approved films were screened at the ELM.
The ELM Theatre was demolished in 1984. Church spokesmen offered the explanation that it “could no longer subsidize it,” and soon built a new church was built on the site where the ELM Theatre had been.
Recently, an original sign from the Elm Theater was donated by Glen Halverson to the Lake County Discovery Museum nearby.
Baehr Theaters Co. came from Bemidji and erected the theatre block.
SUPREME COURT OF MINNESOTA
December 6, 1968
RICHARD RAYMOND AND OTHERS
v.
E. J. BAEHR AND OTHERS
Arising out of a fire and explosion in a building owned by defendants E. J. Baehr and M. S. Baehr and leased to defendant Bonita Amusement Company, Inc. One action was for personal injuries sustained by Richard Raymond, an employee of one of the tenants of the building; the other action was for personal property damage sustained by William Peabody and other tenants. The cases were tried together before John T. Galarneault, Judge, and a jury, which returned verdicts for plaintiffs against defendant Bonita Amusement Company only. Said company appealed from the judgment entered in each case upon the basis of stipulated damages.
On December 28, 1964, a fire occurred in the Baehr Building constructed and owned by defendants E. J. Baehr and M. S. Baehr. Bonita Amusement Company, Inc. was the prime lessee of the Baehr Building and was responsible for the repair and maintenance of the building. Actions were brought by the sublessees who sustained property damage and the employee of the lessee who suffered personal injuries from the fire and explosion. The issue was whether the fire was due to the negligence of defendants.
The jury returned verdicts against Bonita and Bonita appealed. The plaintiffs asserted that the fire originated in the negligently maintained incinerator system of the building, either from fire escaping from its defective burning chamber and igniting combustible material on the floors directly above it or from intense heat in its deteriorated flue igniting a wood meter cabinet adjacent to it on the second floor, and that regardless of such origin the fire’s damaging spread was due to three other negligent acts or conditions for which Bonita was responsible: A recurring prevalence of smoke from the defective incinerator system lulled the plaintiffs into complacency concerning the hazard of an existing fire; Bonita’s caretaker, in opening the door to the meter cabinet, then engulfed in flames, permitted the fire to burst out into general conflagration; and Bonita had its own responsibility for permitting the existence of a wood-framed ventilation duct, negligently constructed by defendants Baehr, along which the fire traveled across the building to the point where the building exploded.
The Baehr Building was a three-story structure which, with the exception of exterior walls and masonry floors and firewalls on the first floor, was constructed primarily of wood. It was equipped with an inside incinerator system, located toward the west end of the building. The burning chamber of the incinerator was in the basement and its flue rose vertically through the building to the roof. On each of the three floors there was a small door to the incinerator flue, into which tenants dropped combustible trash to the burning chamber below. Adjacent to the flue, on the second floor, was a meter cabinet made of wood. At the top of the flue was a wire screen to trap materials rising from the burning chamber.
The incinerator system had not been adequately maintained. Brick had fallen from the upper part of the burning chamber, creating an 8-by-10-inch opening at the upper rear wall of the chamber, and some of the brick inside the chamber was cracked. The interior of the burning chamber and flue had never been inspected, and no repair work had been performed upon the system in 11 years. Its flue was deteriorated as far as an observer could see above the level of the basement ceiling; the brick lining of the flue, which was not constructed of firebrick, was about 2 inches less thick than the 12-inch thickness indicated in the original blueprints. The wire screen atop the flue may have been clogged, for, although it was necessary for the caretaker to clean the flue out about once a month to avoid backup of smoke into the building, it had not been cleaned in 2 months and a smoky condition had existed in the building for some hours prior to the fire. The fire’s origin was somewhere in the immediate area of the incinerator system below the third floor of the building.
Fire had existed in the incinerator on the day of the fire. Due to the Christmas weekend there was an unusual amount of trash for incineration, and it was burned by Bonita’s caretaker from about 9 o'clock until about 10 o'clock in the morning. There was evidence, including charred wires above the burning chamber, from which a jury could find that intense heat or flame escaped through the hole in the burning chamber. The ultimate inference, the difficult one in this case, would be that this heat or fire was transmitted to the second floor to the meter cabinet where the fire was discovered in full flame at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a little more than 4 hours after the morning’s trash burning.
The jury had before it a multiplicity of theories as to the origin of the fire and theories as to the spread of the fire, and was unable to ascertain upon what basis the jury found that defendant Bonita was negligent.
Demolition could start this week on the former CenterPoint MarketPlace property, and that means time is running out on a renovation of the Fox Theater.
The city’s Community Development Authority on Monday hired Chicago-based Meridian Industrial Service Corp. to demolish the downtown mall for $278,000, $72,000 less than the lowest estimate, which was between $350,000 to $500,000 to tear down the middle of the empty building. The demolition will leave an empty space, which could allow the back of the Fox Theater to be restored. The back was removed from the theater to make space for the mall when it was built in the 1980s.
But Mayor Andrew Halverson said there is other interest in that soon-to-be-empty space. “(The owners of the theater are) going to have to move quick for us to reserve any space. We cannot just wait and not do anything because there’s potential they might do something.”
The possibility of restoring the over-century-old Fox Theater on Main Street had been used by the city and the Sanders family, who owns the building, as one of the selling points for borrowing $5.9 million to redevelop the mall area.
The Sanders family was working with a committee to restore the theater, but has yet to announce definite plans for the building. Committee spokesman Gerry McKenna said talks had come to a standstill and that the committee was waiting to hear from the Sanders family on what they wanted to do with the theater.
1940 photo.
Heywood-Wakefield seating.
(Racine Journal Times, Thursday, December 13, 1945) ARCHITECT DIES
MILWAUKEE – Alexander H. Bauer, Milwaukee architect, died in a Milwaukee hospital Wednesday from a cerebral hemorrhage suffered while attending a business meeting here. Bauer, a past president of the Wisconsin Institute of Architects and a 32nd degree Mason, is survived by his wife, Etta.
Friends of the Fishers Island Theater held a fundraising event at the Pequot on Thursday, July 12th, 2012. There was a DJ, great raffle prizes and golf-outing live auction good for the Calusa Pines golf club in Naples, Florida. There will be a $20 cover charge at the door.
Jamie Doucette reported that 2012 marks the 80th anniversary for the theater and “We are raising money for the theater which desperately needs painting, many building improvements and a new digital projector system. The film projector is very outdated and they are going to stop circulating movies on film in the near future. Digital will also allow us to get newer movies. The theater has already been cleaned numerous times by our committee and a professional cleaning company, the entry-way painted and the windows replaced.”
The Friends of The Fishers Island Theatre is conducing a survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CFW6RP6
This is the original Rhode Opera House, which was demolished to provide a footprint for the new 1927 Saxe Bros. GATEWAY Theatre.
(Mount Carmel Daily Republican Register, October 19, 2007)
A ‘Royal’ Rebirth
by Kristen Tribe
Laughter ripples through the crowd at the Royal Theater in Archer City, Texas (pop. 1,848), as singer Rodney Hayden tells a witty tale. But as he begins strumming his guitar, the laughter subsides, Hayden begins to sing and the audience absorbs every note. “Singer-songwriters love nothing more than you listening to what they have to say,” says Tesha Thomas, producer of the Lite Week Lazy Boy Supper Club at the Royal, a recurring showcase for performers to sing their songs and tell their stories. The Royal Theater has a long tradition of inspiring storytelling, first as a movie house, then as the basis of a famous novel and film, now as host to the supper club, theatrical productions and the Texasville Opry, which presents six performances each year. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry, 71, grew up in Archer City and well remembers going to the Royal as a child. “Most of the movies I saw were at the Royal,” he recalls. “We had to drive in from the ranch. It was the only culture there was, so to speak.” In 1965, the town’s shred of culture was lost when the theater burned; although a cause was never determined, locals always believed it was because someone was smoking in the balcony. Despite its destruction, the Royal became a risen “star” when McMurtry spotlighted it in his novel “The Last Picture Show” the following year. It was memorialized again in the award-winning 1971 movie based on McMurtry’s book and filmed partially on location in Archer City. In 1986, McMurtry opened Booked Up in Archer City, a bookstore comprising four buildings and hundreds of thousands of books. The store proved to be a haven for book dealers, readers, movie buffs and autograph seekers in search of the author. But despite the literary and cinematic attention brought to the town, the Royal continued to lay in ruins until a local theatrical group, the Picture Show Players, decided to rebuild it as a multiuse performing arts center. “A group of people wanted to perform and wanted to see it rebuilt and have an economic impact,” says Archer County Judge Gary Beesinger, 54, producer of the Texasville Opry and himself a member of Picture Show Players. “It was an ‘If we build it, they will come’ mentality.” On August 24th, 2000, the 35th anniversary of the day it burned, the Royal Theater reopened. Since its rebirth, the Royal has regularly hosted a variety of theatrical and musical productions and various other events. Another Archer City native, actress Angela Kinsey, who plays Angela Martin on NBC’s hit series The Office, held her rehearsal dinner and wedding reception at the Royal in 2001. Although the dinner was planned for the theater, the reception was to be outdoors until a violent storm necessitated an emergency move inside. “The winds picked up and everything went nutty,” says Kinsey, who lives in Los Angeles but regularly visits family in Archer City. “People were running for cover and salad was flying through the air.” Despite the storm, her wedding is just one of many fond memories Kinsey has of Archer City. She and a friend often did their high school homework at Booked Up, and she remembers always being curious about the ruins of the Royal Theater and excited to hear about its restoration. “It’s important for every community to have a creative outlet,” Kinsey says. Today, the Royal Theater’s bright blue ticket booth serves as a beacon to storytellers of all sorts, and to those who want to hear their tales. McMurtty, who splits his time between homes in Archer City and Tucson, Ariz., says the Royal is once again a place of cultural significance in an area where ranching and oil comprise much of the economic base. “It’s always good,” he says, “to have a little something to bring the stimulation of art into a small town.”
(Kokomo Tribune, August 18, 2000)
Theater made famous in The Last Picture Show' to reopen ARCHER CITY, TEXAS (AP) — In this one-stoplight town immortalized in a 1971 Academy Award-winning film, a national icon is returning to the limelight thirty-five years after the Royal Theater burned down, the front of the stone building – complete with a blue and white marquee, orange awnings and illuminated “Royal” sign – has been rebuilt to appear as it did in “The Last Picture Show,” based on a novel by Archer City native Larry McMurtry. The site of the original 100-seat theater won’t show movies but will be an open-air amphitheater with a larger room next door for bands, plays, dinner theater and art classes. “This,” said project coordinator Abby Abernathy, “would have been simple to rebuild as a movie theater, but for what? To get 100 people in here?” The renovated theater will be unveiled Thursday night, the 35th anniversary of the fire. A fifth-generation resident, Abernathy, 38, bought the property in 1986. When his idea for a restaurant failed to get support, he convinced community leaders to restore the theater as a tourist attraction. The city was beginning to dry up, and we had to re-engineer,“ he said. "Tourism is what we had to offer, because the pilgrimage to the theater was everlasting. People kept coming here for that.” Filmed in black-and-white and hailed as a masterpiece, “The Last Picture Show” portrayed the breakdown of an unhappy fictional one-horse Texas town in the 1950s. Abernathy initially received little support from locals, many of whom objected to the R-rated movie’s sexual material and felt it denigrated their town. But after working on the restoration for several years, Abernathy has apparently convinced many that their link to the past is key to the town’s future. “Now, even the biggest skeptics think it’s a good idea,” Abernathy said. The theater actually burned before the movie was made. Still, hundreds of people each year have made the trek to find the Royal and snap pictures of the rubble. McMurtry, who won a Pulitzer Prize for “Lonesome Dove,” and others in town are not surprised by lingering interest in the landmark thanks to the film, which was nominated for eight Oscars. “The Last Picture Show” had a lasting impression because it’s representative of small-town America,“ he said. "People with small-town backgrounds can relate to it.” The Archer City of today is much like it was portrayed in the film, which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starred Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms. Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman both won supporting actor Oscars. Nearly 1,800 people live in this oil and ranching town in northcentral Texas, about 25 miles south of Wichita Falls. The only traffic signal is a flashing light. The town has a few stores, banks, gas stations and one fast-food chain restaurant, Dairy Queen. “I guess you could say not much has changed here since the 1950s,” said Mazie Berend, who owns The General Store in the downtown square. Berend remembers going to the theater as a child in the 1950s, when a movie cost 20 cents and popcorn cost a dime. She and her friends watched John Wayne and Elvis Presley films, often turning around to see who was necking in the balcony. “Everybody went to the Royal because that’s all there was to do,” Berend said. But that stopped when theater caught fire one night in August 1965. What was left was a charred facade and pile of stones and rubble. “People were upset because it was their childhood memories going up in smoke,” Berend said. The owners could not afford to rebuild, so the structure remained in ruins for decades. Abernathy decided to donate the theater to the nonprofit Archer City Community Foundation, so grant money could be obtained. The foundation then bought the space next door to expand the theater. For the past four years Abernathy has done most of the physical rebuilding himself. The final cost will be about $400,000 and profits from the renovated theater will go back into operating it. “It’s just a dream come true for this town,” said Karla Powell, who owns a jewelry store and floral shop downtown. “Small towns, if they don’t have something to bring people in, then we’re all over.”
(BOXOFFICE, December 6, 1947)
Small-Town Theatre Designed for Public Service
by Hanns R. Teichert
There are many small towns now supporting an old grownup-with-the-town theatre that are wide open for a second new and up-to-date house. But Walworth, Wis. is not one of them. Venerable as the town is, its inhabitants and those of the surrounding countryside are the proud patrons of one of the most modern and delightfully functional theatres in their part of the country. This property, owned by the Harvard Theatre Corporation, composed of John Papas, C. J. Papas and S. J. Papas, seats seven hundred people. And the first illustration will show how smart the house is from the initial visual impression.
A Refreshment Bar
It will be noticed at once that the building incorporates a refreshment bar. And inasmuch as this issue is stressing that feature of service, we cannot think of a better example of smart handling in this department. For this little bar is unique in many respects. In the first place, there is a service counter running across the middle of the shop so that it is divided into two separate sales areas; that toward the front door, and that toward the side rear door. From the front are served the people who come in from the street and who are not just then patronizing the theatre. And from the rear door are served those who come in from the theatre. Thus there is no confusion of unticketed small patrons getting among those who have already paid their entrances.
The other side of the door to the theatre lobby can be seen in the second illustration, where it will be noticed how smoothly it is incorporated into the features of the lobby wall. But first, a glance through the large plate glass window between the Showette and the outer lobby arrests the patron as he comes in and by the time he reaches the door in the inner lobby he has likely made up his mind to step in for popcorn, candy or something at the fountain. At least, that was what the Showette started serving when they first opened; but the demand has been so great that now hot and cold sandwiches have been added and small lunches. They are also making their own ice cream, and all this is served both day and night. This provides a great service to the children who throng in from the grammar and high school next door. To say that the Showette is popular is a vast understatement. For those who do not want to go into the Showette when it is apt to be crowded with youngsters just before and after features, there is a bar at the head of the lobby where quick refreshments such as candy, gum and popcorn can be picked up in passing. Older people seem to find this a convenience. It will be noticed that both of these areas are incorporated into the architecture of the interior, and that they are neat, sanitary and a visual asset to the theatre instead of the messy and in-the-way afterthoughts that they sometimes are.
Smartly Functional
But enough for the handling of refreshments in this smart theatre and on to some of the other features it offers its patrons. On the opposite side of the lobby from the Showette are recesses leading to a modem ladies' powder room, the men’s smoking room, and a tiled inset containing the drinking fountain. Thus the necessary facilities for the service of patrons are distributed on both sides of the incoming and outgoing traffic areas so that a smooth flow is assured at all times. But it is the decoration of the Walworth Theatre that also keys it to what is best in its field. Foremost is the fact that everything has been so simply handled that it will date less quickly than most other houses: still, when the time comes for a general up-dating, the whole atmosphere of the house can be changed simply through an alteration of decorative treatment. Another color scheme, now motifs in the decorative panels, a few different accents here and there and presto! … a new interior!
The Color Scheme
At present, the color scheme in the lobby consists of coral red, warm off-white and gold, with carpeting that tones in well and is the same throughout the house. Plain surfaces on the side walls act as a foil to the rich squares of custom-made marble textured paper applied where the walls break toward the auditorium. Between these two marbleized areas is the centered candy bar backed with a decorative panel in an abstract floral pattern, well illuminated from the trough above. In fact, the illumination throughout the theatre is one of its most distinctive points. It was all especially designed and custom-made, much of it in pierced brass of classically fine design that will go with any subsequent redecorations. Another distinctive feature of the Walworth Theatre is its woodwork, which is finished in a natural light tone throughout to emphasize its good graining. This, too, is a permanent asset of the interior and requires no great working over in case of later changes.
The auditorium does not show the mistake made by so many of the smaller houses in going fussy or cute because of its size. The Walworth auditorium is executed with a dignity and simplicity that increases its size rather than diminishes it. The coral seating gives life to the area while the walls of deep turquoise are inset with sand-toned panels displaying free rhythmic leaf forms in a modern sketchy style. These are illuminated by curved light troughs that are a part of the panel ornamentation, and further lighting is taken care of free recessed overhead squares. It all sounds simple indeed, but the richness of these colorings and the feeling of tasteful restraint in the handling give a dynamic effect that is worth any amount of overdressing.
For All the People
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this house is the whole effect it has of being residential rather than commercial. This is a well-calculated result, built up of many details, and planned that way because of the patronage it serves. The latter is composed of townspeople, farmers from the surrounding rural area, resort people during the summer from the nearby lakes, and an unusual percentage of youngsters not only from the aforementioned sources but from a large military academy nearby.
It was desired that this theatre provide an intimate and homelike atmosphere further to bind all these elements of people together, rather than a coldly commercial interior, however impressive. And in this the Walworth is an acknowledged success. People of all the groups mentioned above do express themselves as feeling at home there. The Showette acts as their kitchen where they can pick up a bite when they are hungry. The powder and smoking rooms are sanitary and attractive, they meet their friends in the lobby, and they relax together in the auditorium as comfortably as in their own living rooms. The Walworth Theatre is the community’s mutual home for entertainment, and there is no need or room in the town for another.
(Kenosha News article on the GATEWAY Theatre [July 16, 2012] by Diane Giles)
People stood in line on Dec. 29, 1927 at the Gateway Theater box office to pay 30 cents for tickets to see live entertainment in addition to the silent film comedy adventure “She’s a Sheik,” staring Bebe Daniels.
The Gateway is now Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St. The Gateway was the third building to stand on the site. The original Rhode Opera House, built in 1891 was destroyed in 1896 fire and rebuilt the same year.
The second building was razed by Milwaukee entertainment giants the Saxe Brothers in 1926 to make way for the “modern” building costing a half million dollars. That’s more than $6.5 million in today’s money.
The theater was designed by George Leslie Rapp of Chicago. George and his brother Cornelius W. Rapp, who died a year before the Gateway opened, designed some of the finest movie palaces in the country.
“We found the blueprints at the Chicago Historical Society and were able to purchase a copy,” said Judy Rossow, manager of Pollard Gallery and former board member of Rhode Center for the Arts.
The Rapp firm’s three greatest achievements, according to “Motion Picture News” of Dec. 25, 1926, were the Paramount Theater in New York, the Oriental in Chicago and Shea’s Buffalo Theater in Buffalo, N.Y. The Rapps also designed the grand Chicago Theater in the heart of Chicago.
Seating 1,260, the Gateway Theater boasted a $60,000 organ offering wide instrumentation and sound effects.
But the real magnificence of the theater wasn’t in the auditorium. It was in the lobby, and much of it still is visible today.
“It’s different but basically the underlying is the same,” Rossow said.
Victor S. Pearlman and Co. of Chicago created the four crystal chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. The brown tiles on the floor that continue up the walls are original, made in Milwaukee at Continental Faience and Tile Co.
Perhaps the most intriguing are the decorative tiles made in Seville, Spain, at the Manuel Ramos Rejano factory.
Some frame panels stretching up two stories. Then there are the six ceramic benches that tell the story of Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.” Each has a different scene, but all of them are signed by the artist.
Rossow says the benches once had wrought iron arms and backs, but those amenities were removed. The railings on the balcony and stairway, ribbed glass on the front doors and the mirrored walls in the outer ladies lounge also date back to 1927.
But there have been changes. Missing are the draperies and mural panels that once graced the lobby walls. A fountain that once stood in the lobby was removed in the 1970s.
The four large sconces in the lobby once hung in the auditorium, but they were moved. Others installed in the 1960s makeover into the Lake Theater have disappeared over the years.
“The sconces that were in the lobby in pre-1970 are no longer around,” Rossow explained. “I know of only one in the vicinity. The rest belong to collectors.”
In THE SPRINGFIELD PAPER on February 21, 2012, Offie Wortham wrote:
“In 1961 I was a physics student at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and also the head of the Antioch Civil Rights Organization. With over 700 of the 1,100 students as paid members of the NAACP College Chapter, we were the largest organized civil rights organization on any campus in the country during the 60’s.
The owner of the Liberty Theater in Springfield had publicly vowed that Negroes would never be allowed in his theater. At that time African Americans also were not admitted into any of the bowling allies, roller skating rinks, and several restaurants in Springfield.
After hitch-hiking from Yellow Springs to Springfield I went to the box office to buy a ticket. I was told it was a “membership only” theater and I would not be admitted. I am Black. I walked around the corner to the police station and told them that we were going to have a demonstration at the theater after an attempt to have Blacks admitted. I got their assistance to park a busload of police around the corner while undercover police watched from the sidelines.
Because there were only 8 Black students at Antioch I had to go to Central State and Wilberforce to encourage a busload of Black students to come to be a part of the demonstration.
Well over 100 students came to take part in the operation. The owner was interviewed before the event and said again that Blacks would not be admitted unless they were members. White racist organizations nationwide, including the Klan and the Nazi party, promised to be there to support the owner to keep out Blacks.
Coverage of the event was on nationwide television, and the streets were lined with local citizens to see the showdown between the radical students and the racist theater owner and his supporters.
Black and White students approached the box office in a single file that went around the block. All students were neatly dressed and some were even forced to wear shoes. At the head of the line was David Crippens, a Black student from Antioch who had drawn the longest straw from among those put in by over 20 Black students from the three colleges.
I stood across the street with the reporters with two press releases. One that congratulated the owner for changing his policy, the other announcing the beginning of a daily picket of the theater.
When David got to the box office the streets went completely silent. After a moment he turned and raised his ticket, and a cheer broke out in the streets and from the students in line, as they all purchased their tickets and entered the theater.
In the following days we had to attend the Black churches and convince them they could now attend the theater. Just a visit and discussion at the other segregated places in Springfield was all that was required to have them decide to admit African Americans."
(From BOXOFFICE, December 10, 1938) A Remarkable Case of Property Reclamation
By Helen Kent
SENILITY had obviously moved in and taken possession of the old Liberty Theatre, at 16 East High Street, in Springfield, Ohio. It was, as will be seen by the picture presented here, definitely doddering, rheumatic and bleary-eyed in appearance, and as for operating efficiency, this had evidently passed (if indeed it were ever present) when the house was a mere stripling of youth. Whatever there may have been to attract patronage was simply not visible to the naked eye and it is quite surprising that the house could have existed as a moving picture theatre for as many years as it did. A perfect case of hardening of the arteries was taking place before the eyes of Springfield moving picture patrons and they were expected to watch the slow process of erosion as a part of the so-called entertainment which they paid for at the boxoffice. It seems that the movie-going public is a brave lot to entrust a couple of hours of their fleeting lives to the dubious pleasure of watching the screen in such environment as this. The old Liberty in Springfield was a striking example of the far too many grind-shops of its type which are scattered indiscriminately across the country in large towns and small ones, each doing its part to destroy the movie-going habit. But somebody did something about the old Liberty. William Settos, its present manager, a veteran of 27 years' experience in theatre business, 14 of which were spent in Springfield, decided to make of the Liberty a theatre of which he as well as its patrons could well be proud. He employed the theatre division of P and Y Building Service, of Columbus, Ohio, to design and reconstruct the old house. It was closed only from August 9 to October 14, (1938) to permit rebuilding and modernization. The well-calculated transformation was complete. This particular project offers again a prime example of our very pet conviction that this is the most logical way to foil bad business, to forestall overseating, and to keep out competition. We’ve long been in favor of remodeling—making the best of what the old building and its location may offer. Here then is the fitting example of an old house which offered no advantages except that of a proved location being replaced—rather than placed in competition—with a modern theatre with House Appeal plus an undefiled location. Wisely, the owner tore down the old landmark and put up a sparkling new house on its very foundation. The ghost of the old veteran is laid and it does not remain to rise and compete in its half-baked condition with the new theatre, which by reason of its excellence deserves and will get increased patronage. The extent to which modernization was necessary in the case of the Liberty Theatre is evidenced in the fact that the old structure and an adjacent building were demolished completely to the very foundations to permit erection of the new Liberty Theatre. It was found that deterioration of many years' standing had made salvage of any materials or equipment unwise. Hence, the modern counterpart bears relation to the old solely in name and location. It is, in fact, a new theatre in every sense of that designation.
A Bright New Face Appears
The front of the new Liberty Theatre now covers an expanse nearly twice as broad as that formerly occupied by the old house. This was brought about by the conversion of an old store building at one side of the theatre into a part of the reconstruction. The new building’s basic construction is of brick, with the central portion of the facade and the entire wainscot in modern, highly reflective vitreous material. A small store with profitable rental possibilities is located at one side of the theatre entrance and a confectionery stand which is an integral part of the theatre is to be found on the other side. The centrally located V-shaped marquee with three lines of modern silhouette changeable letters and the massive lettered horizontal name-sign form a brilliant outdoor advertising display medium for the attractive new theatre. Dignified poster displays also add to the attraction of the front. The lobby is located directly behind the entrance doors which flank the boxoffice and it also is wisely devoted to program exploitation in a refined manner. A particularly appealing foyer is entered by doors at the far end of the lobby. This portion of the theatre is separated from the auditorium merely by a modern contoured standee rail, serving to heighten interest in the decorative aspect of both rooms. Indirect lighting in this room is especially attractive and functional. It is formed by luminous elements recessed in a semi-circular offset in the ceiling which extends from the standee rail pilasters into the center of the foyer. A glossy white ceiling onto which the light is thrown reflects in such a manner that the room is amply lighted but in no way glarey. Another indirect luminous unit of the cove type forms a portion of the standee rail and serves as a direction finder as well as decorative lighting effect.
A Complementary Color Scheme
The color scheme for the lobby and foyer, as well as the auditorium, is picked up from the carpeting which is used throughout the theatre in the same modern all-over pattern. A dark wainscot runs completely around the foyer and is carried on into the auditorium. It is topped by a light tone that goes to the ceiling. Simplicity of design and contour characterizes the decorative effect of the entire house. The auditorium is spacious and comfortable both from the standpoint of restfulness and convenience. It seats 553 patrons, entirely on the main floor, and offers ample space between seats for feet and knees. The aisles also are wider than customary. Seating in the auditorium is of the latest comfort-type construction and is attractively upholstered to complement the decorative scheme of the room. Acoustical materials were used most effectively in the auditorium to provide the finest possible sound reception. Wall decoration is secured by a damask-like wall covering that is used above the wainscoting in panels about the room. The modern wall panels on either side of the auditorium are accented by square-cut white bands for additional interest. Lighting in the auditorium is entirely indirect from large inverted circular fixtures in the ceiling and attractive modern luminous elements on the side walls. The cone-shaped ceiling fixtures are placed on a panel which runs the full length of the auditorium, adding greatly to the feeling of spaciousness in the room. Effective stage curtain lighting also enhances the beauty of the auditorium. The mezzanine floor of the theatre, located above the lobby, foyer and two stores at the front of the building, contains lounge rooms, offices, ladies' rest room, crying room and the projection booth. The Before—After—men’s room is located on the main floor at one side of the stairway leading to the space above. Lounge provisions on the mezzanine are especially attractive and inviting to patron relaxation. The lounges are furnished with comfortable leather-upholstered chrome furniture, mirrors, smoking provisions and other accessories to effect a home-like atmosphere. Decoration here is in the form of horizontally graduated colors enhanced by indirect lighting. A crying room for mothers of unconditioned young movie fans is located at a vantage place to one side of the projection room. It contains a large plate glass window, is equipped for perfect sound and is acousticized to hold in unruly noise. Other services provided by the management to interest and hold patronage are free telephone service, courteous attendants and the best of picture presentation. This latter is insured by the latest available equipment in the projection booth for the most nearly perfect presentation of sight and sound. The new building is also completely air conditioned for both summer and winter by a scientifically correct system. The new Liberty is said to be the first theatre in Springfield to have a complete year ‘round air conditioning system. If we may finally wax poetic at this point, the new Liberty Theatre may be said to be of the phoenix-kind. It rose new-born from the embers of its predecessor—a new theatre to carry on the traditions, but in a much better manner, of the old Liberty. Its completed excellence offers indeed a remarkable case of property reclamation of the type that is sorely needed in many communities at this time.
(Racine Journal Times, November 22, 1977)
Yorkville squelches ‘X’-flicks
By Thomas Roanhouse
Journal Times Staff
Y O R K V I L L E – Those X-rated movies may be legal, but they’re apparently not welcome in the Town of Yorkville. An estimated 100 Yorkville residents crowded into a hearing Monday, sponsored by the Racine County Board’s Land Use Committee, to publicly oppose a zoning change, which would allow the operation of a mini-theater. Some residents said they’d prefer an ammonia plant or a glue factory to a theater which shows X-rated movies. Mark Little of Kenosha had requested the zoning change. Little had leased a building at 2036 N. Sylvania Ave. (1-94 west frontage road), Town of Yorkville, for the purpose of opening a mini-theater. The building has been renovated by Little to accommodate a theater. Little and his attorneys, James and Giulio Fornary, both of Racine, were the only persons who spoke in favor of the zoning change proposal. The number of persons in opposition were seeemingly much larger. The Land Use Committee heard testimony from at least 16 persons and received three petitions and a letter indicating opposition to the change. One petition reportedly had 179 signatures, the other had 26 names and the third petition was not numbered. All this transpired while an overflow crowd in the auditorium of the Racine County Highway Building looked on and offered supportive applause after nearly each person opposing the change had spoken. James Fornary said the change “is more restrictive,” than the existing zoning status and added the proposal “would upgrade the zoning rather than downgrade it.” Also, he said in addition to the theater, Little intends to develop a mini-shopping center to house between 10-12 businesses. The mini-shopping center proposal was not listed on the zoning change request submitted to the county, Little said later at the hearing. Fornary contended the approval of the proposal “would be good for the community because the area should have a shopping center and it would bring in more revenue for taxes.” “It would elevate the area,” he said. Little, who holds a one-year lease on the property from its owner Al Buder, told the committee and residents, “when developed it would lend itself to the area and give residents a chance of of convenience.” He also said he has sublet part of it “which might be the cause of some of my problems.” He did not say to whom the property had been sublet to. However, after the meeting when questioned by a reporter, he said it was sublet to Don Thomas of Parkway Theater, Milwaukee, which shows X-rated movies regularly. Giulio Fornary testified under the existing zoning “an ammonia plant, asbestos plants, chlorine factory or glue factory, a foundry, a creamery or a cement plant are things you can do now. This zoning proposal is more restrictive.” Fornary continued “I know what you people are afraid of – X-Rated movies. There’s not a movie house that doesn’t show X-rated movies once in a while – it’s legal. "X-Rated is not porno. If you don’t want porno, fine – enforce the law. Mr. Little does not intend to show it.” he said. “You cant use zoning for censorship. That’s wrong,” said Fornary. Don Haas, who said he lived south of the property in question, was the first person to speak in opposition. He said he had read in an advertisment that Parkway Theater was planning on opening a Parkway South in the near future. “The stuff Parkway shows Is perfectly legal, but it’s trash,” he said. Hass said he telephoned Parkway and asked them where their new theater was going to open. “They told me at a site south of Highway K, west of 1-94, and north of Highway 20 and obviously that (Little’s leased building) is suppose to be be Parkway South. "I’ll take the ammonia plant or the glue factory before I take that,” Haas said. Yorkville Town Attorney Ken Hostack said “first of all, he renovated the building without a building permit.” And then he said, “lets look at this purely for zoning.” Hostack said a shopping center would not be consistent with the other types of businesses in the area, such as an automotive salvage yard and said the area “is zoned for where public sewer Is available.” And, he added, the Town of Yorkvllle’s proposed sewer collection system doesn’t go near the area where Little has plans to develop a shopping center. Marlene Hass told the committee “I was shocked when I heard the presentation tonight about a shopping center. I was in the zoning office Wednesday and the zoning request on file is for a minitheater only and there was nothing there for for a shopping center.” Plus, she said “Parkway is strictly trash. It scares me.” Marion Cole, who said she owns the motel across the street from the building, said “the roads are too narrow to serve a shopping center. They’d get congested, plus there’s no on-or off-ramps for the freeway.” She cautioned “once he gets his doors open, he can do whatever he pleases. It’s time we take a stand for morality once-and-for-all and say were not going to allow this.” Lila Neil, who echoed Mrs. Cole’s comments, also said “I think, in what he’s shown us so far, his word in no good.” William Swenson said “ I’m diametrically opposed and I’ll fight it all the way to the courts.” James Miller, who said he recently moved to the Town of Yorkville from Milwaukee, said “I moved to this town to get away from this stuff.” Art Osinga said “let’s not always think of the children, but lets take a stand as adults.” He then said “we may be from the country, but don’t think they can pull the wool over our eyes.” Berdette Gulbrand said he didn’t oppose the shopping center, but said “ I’m against a pornographic theater.” Jerry Olson suggested Little and his associates post a $1 million bond for 10 years. “If they’re so honest, put up the bond for 10 years and tell us there’ll be no porno.” Frances Nocarsci, who said she recently moved to the area, said “my first reaction was to sell my house when I heard about this. Now my reaction is not to sell it, but to stand up and fight against it.” Testimony opposing the zoning change also was submitted by representatives of area schools, churches, 4-H groups and parent-teacher groups. Apparently the testimony filed at the hearing, in effect, was nothing more than a public forum. Under Racine County zoning laws, if either the County Board or the local municipality goes on record of opposing a zoning change, the request is denied. Joe McGauran, a planner at the county’s zoning und planning office, said “We’ve received a letter from the Yorkville Town Board which said the board passed a resolution on Nov. 14 opposing this zoning change request.” The Racine County Board still must act on the proposal, but with the Town of Yorkville’s zoning change denial, any County Board action would be merely academic at this point.
HUBERT J. SOENS, formerly of 10 McKlnley Ave. passed away at 83 in the West View Nursing Home on Friday evening, March 28, 1975. Mr. Soens was born in Racine on Nov. 2, 1891 and had lived there all of his life. In Racine in 1929 he married the former Mabel Johnson. Mr. Soens was a motion picture operator for the Rialto Theater for many years. Surviving him were his wife, Mabel; three daughters, Doris Thuriat of Racine, Isabelle Hyder of Long Beach, Cal., and Florence Bouterse of Kenosha; one brother, Aloys Soens of Kenosha; two sisters, Mrs. Rose Andersen and Mrs. John Olsen, both of Racine; grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other relatives also survive. Private funeral services were held in the WILSON FUNERAL HOME, 1139 Blaine Ave., Wednesday, April 2, 1975 at 10 a.m. with Rev. George Overdier. Interment in Mound Cemetery. There was no visitation.
July 4, 1958.
KENOSHA Theatre manager Bill Exton.
Chewing gum removed from floors, seats and elsewhere at the KENOSHA Theatre, Kenosha, Wisconsin (1938).
New Wauconda theater owner killed by car
(March 3, 1950) Frank N. Consago, 61, of 1257 N. Mason avenue, Chicago, owner of the new Elm theatre now being erected and scheduled to open in Wauconda early in March was killed in an auto-truck collision on U. S. highway 66 near the north city limits of Pontiac, in Livingston county. Also killed in the crash was Mrs. Isabelle Rizza, 36, of Chicago, who was riding with Mr. Consago.
Leonard J. Deasey
Leonard J. Deasey of Wauconda was born Feb. 25, 1927, in Chicago. Burial was in Transfiguration Cemetery, Wauconda. He died Thursday, Dec. 2, 1993 at Winchester House Nursing Home, Libertyville. Mr. Deasey retired from the Wauconda Post Office after 36 years of service. He was a Navy veteran of World War II. He was a member of American Legion Post #911, Wauconda. He was Past Grand Knight and member of Knights of Columbus Queen of Angels Council, past president and member of the Wauconda Chamber of Commerce, the Wauconda Lions Club, and member of Transfiguration Church, Wauconda. He managed the Elm Theater for 15 years. He was the husband of Estelle (nee Lauletta); father of Victoria (Vern) Paddock of Gurnee, IL, Kathi of Libertyville, Toni (Jack) Kappel of Palatine, Elizabeth (Dominic) Blasco of Wauconda, and Stephen (Julie) of Island Lake, IL.; brother of Patrick “Jim” (the late Trudy) of Davis, IL. and Marge Selin of Palatine, and grandfather of nine. Visitation was from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, 1993 at the funeral home. For information (708) 526-2115.
On New Year’s Eve of 1947, the ZION Theatre opened following a move by the Zion, Illinois city council that rescinded old municipal laws that had prohibited the screening of motion pictures. The city’s first theatre had opened in 1913, but was raided by the police and ordered closed by the mayor.
The owners of the new ZION Theatre quickly ruffled feathers by announcing in April of 1948 that the theatre would open on Sundays in defiance of the city’s “blue laws” forbidding business on Sunday.
Zion’s blue laws had gone into effect with the founding of the city in 1901. Blue laws have been used since Colonial times and originally were directed at prohibiting such things as gambling and the consumption of alcohol. In the 19th century, various American state and local governments had begun passing blue laws based on Christian beliefs of honoring the Sabbath that forbade businesses from operating on Sunday.
In their defense, the ZION Theatre owners pointed out that the ordinance was already being compromised by restaurants and drug stores, and furthermore added that the annual Zion Passion Play, which charged admission, also conducted business on Sunday.
Three of the ZION Theatre’s owners were Lake County board supervisors Martin B. Ruesch, Edwin Gus Peterson, and Frank L. Davis.
On Sunday, April 11, 1948, the owners of the ZION Theatre and the neighboring bowling alley opened their businesses and were promptly arrested.
Zion’s Chief of Police Alven Ruesch, bearing a complaint issued by Zion Mayor Richard Hire, arrested Onnie Bridges (the police chief’s brother-in-law) at the ZION Theatre, and then went down the street to the bowling alley and arrested Otto Lawrence.
The ban on Sunday movies and other amusements was upheld by Judge Ralph Dady of the Circuit Court in Waukegan, the Lake County seat, in August of 1948. Following this ruling, the theatre owners circulated a petition requesting a special election to determine whether the ban on Sunday business should be repealed.
Despite a vigorous campaign by pro-theatre/pro-amusement forces, on December 21 of 1948 Zion residents voted to retain the blue laws by a vote of 1,756 to 1,564. The city council then voted to enforce the prohibition of Sunday trade, including even the sale and delivery of ice cream, milk, and newspapers. (A drug store across the street owned by a prominent citizen was permitted to remain open on Sundays to “sell only emergency drugs and ice cream consumed on the premises.”)
Business owners continued to work toward the repeal, and on April 5, 1949, another vote of Zion residents was taken. This time voters were in favor of the repeal … 1,746 to 966, which brought 48 years of blue laws in Zion to an end.
In both 1950 and 1951, diehard proponents of the blue laws brought the issue back to voters, who voted against their reinstatement.
In May of 1959, it was announced that the ZION Theatre would close. Hinting at the onslaught of free television, Onnie Bridges, president of the Zion Theater Corporation, stated that the closing was dictated by his desire to retire “rather than failing audiences.”
The ELM Theatre is featured within the letter ‘U’ in this Curt Teich postcard.
The ELM Theater was located at Liberty (Route 176) and Mill Streets in Wauconda. There was parking for 125 cars. The ELM was featured in a large-letter Curt Teich postcard featuring Wauconda landmarks within the letter “U”. Through the 1960s, the ELM’s program listings appeared in the Daily Herald.
And then in 1967, the historic Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church purchased the ELM, reportedly because they feared “purchase by others would hinder the expansion program of the church.” The church members at first volunteered as staff ushers and cashiers before leasing the ELM to a Leonard Deasey, whose children and friends staffed the theatre. The church’s control mandated that only National Legion of Decency-approved films were screened at the ELM.
The ELM Theatre was demolished in 1984. Church spokesmen offered the explanation that it “could no longer subsidize it,” and soon built a new church was built on the site where the ELM Theatre had been.
Recently, an original sign from the Elm Theater was donated by Glen Halverson to the Lake County Discovery Museum nearby.