Salih Brothers was the construction and contracting firm that built this theater. I can’t find any evidence anywhere that the firm was ever engaged in architecture or design.
The Garberville Theatre opened on August 2nd, 1935, in a converted garage, according to the extensive and detailed history of the house on this web page. There are several photographs, as well as scans of vintage ads, and items about the theater from various publications.
It’s been established that the Obispo was originally the El Monterey Theatre, and became the Obispo in 1928, following a $20,000 remodeling of the interior. The facade remained largely unchanged. Janet Penn Franks' book “San Luis Obispo: A History in Architecture” says that the El Monterey Theatre opened on December 24, 1911.
A book called “History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut,” published in 1918, presents a glowing description of the Alcazar in its early years:
“THE ALCAZAR THEATER.
“The Alcazar theater, conducted by George F. Rabbott, is one of the most attractive amusement houses of Naugatuck and in fact is a most conspicuous monument to the silent drama. It is splendidly housed in a building that was constructed expressly for the purpose in 1913 by F. H. Brothers, of Waterbury, and the new theater first opened its doors to the public on the 30th of August of that year. It is located on North Main street, a few doors from Maple street, and the building is handsomely designed. It is fifty-two by eighty-five feet, two stories in height, and the most perfect ventilation system has been installed. This includes an exhaust fan forty-eight inches in diameter which is capable of renewing with fresh air each cubic foot of space in the building every four minutes. The theater has five exits on the ground floor and there is also a spacious and attractive lobby. The seating capacity of the house, including the gallery, is about seven hundred. A Mirroroid screen has been installed and the projection of the pictures is absolutely perfect, due largely to the use of two of the newest and most expensive type of motion picture projecting machines and also to the skill of an expert operator. Thorough study of the situation on the part of the management has led to the most absolutely perfect results that can be attained. The booth from which the pictures are projected is situated in the gallery and is of steel and asbestos construction, thus being absolutely fireproof. An orchestra of from five to eight pieces furnishes a musical program in keeping with the high class of entertainment provided. The management of the theater has followed the policy of exhibiting only pictures of the very highest standard in which the leading film actors are represented. Many attractive serials have been presented and the production is at all times of the highest grade, such as would prove attractive to the most cultured taste.”
The portion of North Main Street on which the Alcazar Theatre was located has been wiped out by a modern highway. Google Maps places its pin icon a considerable distance north of the actual location of the theater.
An article about the recently completed remodeling of the Victory Theatre was published in the May, 1936, issue of The Architect and Engineer. The author was the architect of the project, William I. Garren.
The out-of-town tryout for Irving Berlin’s 1917 musical “Yip! Yip! Yaphank!” was held at the Star Palace Theatre in Patchogue. I don’t know of any other Broadway shows that had tryouts in Patchogue, but there might have been some. Most pre-Broadway tryouts were held in larger cities, with the Shubert Theatre in New Haven being the most popular venue.
This house is probably the theater at Amityville that was designed by architect Maurice D. Sornik in 1960, as listed in his entry in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory.
The entry for architect Maurice Sornik in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory lists a “Theatre & Comm. Bldg., Patchogue” as a 1959 project. The Plaza doesn’t look like it had any commercial functions, but it’s the only theater listed for Patchogue that was built around that time.
Is there a theater built in Patchogue that was opened in 1959 or 1960, and is missing from the Cinema Treasures database? If not, then it’s possible that the Plaza was the project listed, but it was built without its commercial component.
The architect’s middle name is spelled with a double “p” in his entries in various editions of the AIA’s American Architects Directory: Phillippe. As the content for the biographical material in the directories was submitted by the architects themselves, this spelling is most likely correct.
The entry for James Franklin Scalf in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory lists the Tony Theatre at Huntsville as one of his projects.
Thomas Urbansky’s Loraine-Fulton Theatre was in the planning stage in early 1921, when the January 27 issue of Engineering News-Record ran the following item:
:“O.. Cleveland — Theater and Commercial —T. Urbansky, Ontario St., having plans prepared by H. Hradilek. archt.. Park Bldg., for 2 story, 90 x 250 ft., rein.-con., brick and steel, rein.-con. flooring, concrete foundation on Lorain Ave. and Fulton Rd. About $200,000.”
Given the size of the proposed building, the reported late 1940s FDY seating capacities of almost 1,500 are not surprising.
Architect Henry Hradilek was very active in the 1910s and 1920s, and is best known for the numerous houses he designed in the Cleveland Heights district, and for the Weizer Building (with architect Arthur Thomas,) a three-storey commercial and apartment building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Music Trade Review of November 25, 1916, said that Thomas Urbansky had opened the Jennings Theatre in Cleveland. The Urbansky family was active inthe theater business in Cleveland at least into the 1950s.
The November, 1920, issue of The Architect and Engineer has an advertisement for a San Francisco roofing company which is illustrated by a photo of the New Lyceum Theatre. The text attributes the design of the house to Reid Brothers.
The Victory Theatre was designed by architect H. J. Knauer. He is best known for the numerous period style mansions he designed in such posh Los Angeles neighborhoods as Hancock Park and Windsor Square, as well as a number of Art Deco commercial buildings in and around Hollywood. He did design at least one other theater early in his career, a 1915 project on Vermont Avenue at 41st Place, but so far I’ve been unable to track down its name or address.
Thanks, Bill. I must have overlooked the Meralta’s listing in the 1923 directory. As for the construction date from the assessor’s office, they do appear to have a number of errors in their database. This is probably one of them, unless some disaster such as a major fire befell the original structure and it was entirely rebuilt in 1924.
If you still have access to the 1918 and 1919 city directories, could you look something up for me? I’m trying to track down a theater that was reported to be under construction in late 1914, at the southeast corner of Vermont Avenue and 41st Place. It isn’t listed in any of the city directories the L.A. library has online. I don’t know what its name was, but if it ever opened the address would have been approximately 4150 S. Vermont.
The building on that site now fits the description of the 1914 project, but the only indication that it might have housed a theater is the fact that part of it is now occupied by a small church. I think the theater must have operated for only a few years, and most likely closed due to competition from two larger theaters that were built nearby in the early 1920s.
The list of projects by various California architects slated for 1920, published in The Architect and Engineer of December, 1919, included in its entry for Reid Brothers a $90,000 project at Mission and 29th for the Lyceum Theatre Company. I’ve been unable to discover if this was to be a major remodeling of the existing Lyceum or if it was to be a replacement for the 1907 building. $90,000 would have been a lot of money for a remodeling job.
I’ve been unable to find confirmation that the project was carried out, either. Jack Tillmany doesn’t mention the project in his book “Theatres of San Francisco,” though there’s a photo of the Lyceum. Judging from the cars on the street, the photo appears to have been from after 1920, but theater’s facade still looked more like it was from 1907 than from 1920.
The December, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer included a theater at Richmond for the T&D circuit among the projects slated for 1920 by the office of architect A. W. Cornelius. This house most likely opened that year. The T&D Theatre at Salinas was on the same list.
The December, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer listed alterations and additions to the Verdi Theatre among the projects slated for 1920 that were being designed by architect A. W. Cornelius.
The Epstein Brothers' Circle Theatre was getting Color-Glo lighting fixtures, installed by the Western Theatre Supply Company, according to the October 24, 1936, issue of The Film Daily.
The Grand Theatre built in 1936 replaced an earlier house of the same name. Here’s the news from the September 30, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
“Omaha, Neb. — Western Theater Supply Co., will let contracts for erection of a new Grand theater at Grand Island, Neb., and install equipment. Harry Schiller, Grand’s owner, closes his house Oct. 1. Razing of the 450-seat structure and another store building next door begins immediately to make room for the new 850-seat Grand, which will cost an estimated $85,000.”
Here’s an item from The Film Daily of September 23, 1936: “Sam Marino has reopened the Maryland, a neighborhood Omaha house. He bought 500 new seats and erected a new canopy.”
The Strand Theatre that got the Hillgreen-Lane organ in 1916 was a different house, located on Douglas Street. It was demolished in 1917 or 1918 to make way for the Omaha Athletic Club. The name Strand was probably moved to this house at that time. I don’t know what became of the organ.
Salih Brothers was the construction and contracting firm that built this theater. I can’t find any evidence anywhere that the firm was ever engaged in architecture or design.
The Garberville Theatre opened on August 2nd, 1935, in a converted garage, according to the extensive and detailed history of the house on this web page. There are several photographs, as well as scans of vintage ads, and items about the theater from various publications.
The June, 1930, issue of The Architect and Engineer said that William H. Weeks would be the architect of a new theater to be built at Martinez.
Here is a photo of the Obispo Theatre.
It’s been established that the Obispo was originally the El Monterey Theatre, and became the Obispo in 1928, following a $20,000 remodeling of the interior. The facade remained largely unchanged. Janet Penn Franks' book “San Luis Obispo: A History in Architecture” says that the El Monterey Theatre opened on December 24, 1911.
A book called “History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut,” published in 1918, presents a glowing description of the Alcazar in its early years:
The portion of North Main Street on which the Alcazar Theatre was located has been wiped out by a modern highway. Google Maps places its pin icon a considerable distance north of the actual location of the theater.An article about the recently completed remodeling of the Victory Theatre was published in the May, 1936, issue of The Architect and Engineer. The author was the architect of the project, William I. Garren.
The out-of-town tryout for Irving Berlin’s 1917 musical “Yip! Yip! Yaphank!” was held at the Star Palace Theatre in Patchogue. I don’t know of any other Broadway shows that had tryouts in Patchogue, but there might have been some. Most pre-Broadway tryouts were held in larger cities, with the Shubert Theatre in New Haven being the most popular venue.
This house is probably the theater at Amityville that was designed by architect Maurice D. Sornik in 1960, as listed in his entry in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory.
The entry for architect Maurice Sornik in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory lists a “Theatre & Comm. Bldg., Patchogue” as a 1959 project. The Plaza doesn’t look like it had any commercial functions, but it’s the only theater listed for Patchogue that was built around that time.
Is there a theater built in Patchogue that was opened in 1959 or 1960, and is missing from the Cinema Treasures database? If not, then it’s possible that the Plaza was the project listed, but it was built without its commercial component.
The architect’s middle name is spelled with a double “p” in his entries in various editions of the AIA’s American Architects Directory: Phillippe. As the content for the biographical material in the directories was submitted by the architects themselves, this spelling is most likely correct.
The entry for James Franklin Scalf in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory lists the Tony Theatre at Huntsville as one of his projects.
The entry for Gale Santocono in the 1962 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory lists the Vine Theatre at Livermore as one of his works.
Thomas Urbansky’s Loraine-Fulton Theatre was in the planning stage in early 1921, when the January 27 issue of Engineering News-Record ran the following item:
Given the size of the proposed building, the reported late 1940s FDY seating capacities of almost 1,500 are not surprising.Architect Henry Hradilek was very active in the 1910s and 1920s, and is best known for the numerous houses he designed in the Cleveland Heights district, and for the Weizer Building (with architect Arthur Thomas,) a three-storey commercial and apartment building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Music Trade Review of November 25, 1916, said that Thomas Urbansky had opened the Jennings Theatre in Cleveland. The Urbansky family was active inthe theater business in Cleveland at least into the 1950s.
The November, 1920, issue of The Architect and Engineer has an advertisement for a San Francisco roofing company which is illustrated by a photo of the New Lyceum Theatre. The text attributes the design of the house to Reid Brothers.
The Victory Theatre was designed by architect H. J. Knauer. He is best known for the numerous period style mansions he designed in such posh Los Angeles neighborhoods as Hancock Park and Windsor Square, as well as a number of Art Deco commercial buildings in and around Hollywood. He did design at least one other theater early in his career, a 1915 project on Vermont Avenue at 41st Place, but so far I’ve been unable to track down its name or address.
Thanks, Bill. I must have overlooked the Meralta’s listing in the 1923 directory. As for the construction date from the assessor’s office, they do appear to have a number of errors in their database. This is probably one of them, unless some disaster such as a major fire befell the original structure and it was entirely rebuilt in 1924.
If you still have access to the 1918 and 1919 city directories, could you look something up for me? I’m trying to track down a theater that was reported to be under construction in late 1914, at the southeast corner of Vermont Avenue and 41st Place. It isn’t listed in any of the city directories the L.A. library has online. I don’t know what its name was, but if it ever opened the address would have been approximately 4150 S. Vermont.
The building on that site now fits the description of the 1914 project, but the only indication that it might have housed a theater is the fact that part of it is now occupied by a small church. I think the theater must have operated for only a few years, and most likely closed due to competition from two larger theaters that were built nearby in the early 1920s.
The list of projects by various California architects slated for 1920, published in The Architect and Engineer of December, 1919, included in its entry for Reid Brothers a $90,000 project at Mission and 29th for the Lyceum Theatre Company. I’ve been unable to discover if this was to be a major remodeling of the existing Lyceum or if it was to be a replacement for the 1907 building. $90,000 would have been a lot of money for a remodeling job.
I’ve been unable to find confirmation that the project was carried out, either. Jack Tillmany doesn’t mention the project in his book “Theatres of San Francisco,” though there’s a photo of the Lyceum. Judging from the cars on the street, the photo appears to have been from after 1920, but theater’s facade still looked more like it was from 1907 than from 1920.
The December, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer included a theater at Richmond for the T&D circuit among the projects slated for 1920 by the office of architect A. W. Cornelius. This house most likely opened that year. The T&D Theatre at Salinas was on the same list.
The December, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer listed alterations and additions to the Verdi Theatre among the projects slated for 1920 that were being designed by architect A. W. Cornelius.
The Epstein Brothers' Circle Theatre was getting Color-Glo lighting fixtures, installed by the Western Theatre Supply Company, according to the October 24, 1936, issue of The Film Daily.
The Grand Theatre built in 1936 replaced an earlier house of the same name. Here’s the news from the September 30, 1936, issue of The Film Daily:
Here’s an item from The Film Daily of September 23, 1936: “Sam Marino has reopened the Maryland, a neighborhood Omaha house. He bought 500 new seats and erected a new canopy.”
A history of Omaha published in 1917 says that the Empress Theatre was built in 1912. The Empress was originally owned by the J. L. Brandeis Company.
The Strand Theatre that got the Hillgreen-Lane organ in 1916 was a different house, located on Douglas Street. It was demolished in 1917 or 1918 to make way for the Omaha Athletic Club. The name Strand was probably moved to this house at that time. I don’t know what became of the organ.