I didn’t send in this story because it is not the end of the story; the common council must still vote on this recommendation. No date for that has been given. Jim Rankin
RedDawg is perfectly correct as to the sad depredations done to theatres in the guise of “restoration.” True restoration does not include such odious intrusions as he describes that are now common in today’s ‘modern’ theatres. Sad to say, modern stagecraft is all about technology and virtually worships it. Ever since President Kennedy called for the heavy promotion of science and mathematics in our schools to the virtual exclusion of arts and history, we have had an ever more crass population without the moral and artistic grounding that our forebears had. People born since then often have no real historic or social reference, and science is touted then as the ‘god’ to emulate. From this stock we get not only technicians/engineers, but also the architects and ‘artists’ that are competent to duplicate by consulting vintage photographs the artistry of earlier days, but are quite without the cultural frame of reference to understand the ‘whys’ of the graciousness of earlier days. The godless generations from that time have replaced artistry with efficiency, and restraint with a greed for quick money in all they do. Could we expect this not to influence the theatres they are called upon to ‘restore’? To them, the calls of the modern thralls of science in the form of countless technical consultants are the calls of the gods of their day and age. The old designs may be quaint to them, but they are never taken seriously, so if an ‘authority’ on theatres and stages calls for a monstrous truss to hang in bold view with cables dangling through holes punched in murals, it is only to increase ‘usability’ they say. With only a profit motive ever in view, it is easy to justify the desecration of any space, no matter how revered. You ask for more “subtle” solutions? Do not hold your breath. In a day and age of crass and brazenness, we cannot expect them to take the time to devise artistic and subtle (or “transparent” as current lingo goes) means to hide the devices really necessary to achieve a good show. Trouble is, a good show is as the movies these days: no real story or artistry, but a vapid display of special effects at deafening sound levels. To a populace raised on such, what is a few more holes in the plaster? When a style is promoted called ‘High Tech’, are we to expect it to be to us appreciators of beauty, other than ‘High Ugly’? Resign yourself to this audacity, RedDwag, since to criticize the blatancy of High Tech is to disavow the worship of their real gods: money and power. They have the power now, and the Hipp and many other theatres will become their victims, all in the name of keeping their doors open at any cos
Your inquiry is answered by the ANNUAL of 1980 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America: “MARQUEES: A Pictorial History”. It is a 30-page, 8-1/2x11 booklet of vintage b&w photos of different types of marquees on theatres across the land. You can order it for $12.50 plus postage from the Society at http://www.HistoricTheatres.org by clicking on the link ANNUAL on the sidebar on the first page, and then paging down to the list of them.
There are many other sources of information on the subject available from them by inquiring of the Executive Director listed on their first page at the bottom. You can also find vintage photos and articles about them in the magazine “Signs of the Times” which is at many libraries, and is still in operation, and they may have their own internal index, if you inquire of them at their Cincinnati offices.
The THSA also has many thousands of photos of theatres with marquees, as well as interior views, and you would do well to give them an exploratory call, or inquire via E-mail at the address/phone numbers on their first page.
Some of the old sign companies, such as Everbrite here in the Milwaukee area, still retain drawings/photos of the elaborate designs (and modern versions) of marquees they have done over the years. They had in 1990 the 1929 drawing of the 10-story-high Vertical Sign and of the Marquee they did for the RIVERSIDE Theatre here, as an example. The state supreme court case involving their marquee is a fascinating read, if I do say so myself.
You might also like the ongoing discussions of marquees in modern terms as found at the site: http://www.bigscreenbiz.com under their FORUM “Cinema Design” where there is currently a discussion of someone wanting to reproduce a marquee. Use the SEARCH function with the term ‘marquee’ there and you will find a number of threads about them over the years.
Best Wishes, Jim Rankin () Member of THSA since 1976. Former Archivist/Historian to our PABST theater.
Here is the latest action in the on-going saga of the AVALON. I am not sure how much help it will be, beyond the symbolic, since local landmark law only protects the EXTERIOR of a building, not the INTERIOR, which the owner is still free to gut if the city otherwise must grant the permits. I will probably not be able to be there, so I hope any others nationwaide interested in this fine Spanish atmospheric can attend to at least preserve its facade, though the facade is NOT complete as built in 1929.
A resolution designating the Avalon Theater at 2469-83 S.
Kinnickinnic Ave., a historic structure will be heard before ZND [Zoning And Development/Landmarks committee of the Common Council] on
Wed. Feb. 25 at 9:00 A.M., room 301-b, [third floor, end of south corridor]City Hall, 200 E. Wells. St.[across the street from the PABST theatre]
This is Milwaukee’s last remaining example of an atmospheric
theater. It is the first theater in WI. to be built for the
new “talking” and “sound” pictures.
The theater is a major work of a prominent local architect, Russell
Barr Williamson. Best known for his Prairie Style residential designs
another prominent commercial work in addition to the theater was the
Eagles Club on W. Wisconsin Avenue [at 24th St.].
The owner of this building has objected to the theater being
preserved in its present state. He has requested the organ society to
remove the theater organ from the building.
Your presence is needed to save this theater. If you do not wish to
speak you are still important [the room has seats for about 30, so come early! It is likely to be televised on the local cable channel 26]. Come and show your support for this
very significant example of Milwaukee’s history.
Donna Schlieman
These Comments, originally in the EVENTS section, should be reproduced here:
Mr. Enk, you are very right to be alarmed by the rumor that the ORIENTAL will be
demolished. I heard that the three Pritchett brothers who have owned it since 1972 are now
elderly and retired and about to will the building to their children, who evidently made it clear
that they would immediately demolish and sell the site to a condos developer. The brothers
didn’t want that to happen to their beloved theatre, so they quietly offered it for sale, and in a
conversation this Saturday with Mel Pritchett I was told that they have a prospective buyer
who they are “95% certain” will complete the purchase by the end of March. He would not
tell me the name of the buyer(s), but says that they are committed to continue the operating
theatre. There is also a lease with Landmark Theatres, the operator, to be completed, but I do
not know the term. Mr. Pritchett did not know if there would be a press announcement at the
time of sale.
It should be noted, however, that even though the ORIENTAL is a local landmark, that law
only protects the EXTERIOR of the building, and any new owner could turn right around and
gut it for any other use the city allows. Therefore, there is no ‘absolute’ assurance that the
theatre will always be with us. As Mr. Pritchett said, the building is over 80 years old now and
needs some major investment in repairs, as witnessed by that episode last December when
they had to evacute the place when a damper on the boiler froze and allowed masses of
poisonous carbon monoxide to drive the patrons from the theatre. Bad enough publicity, but
an indicator of the expense to be met by any new owner. With the movie makers/distributors
now offering DVDs of films on almost the same day and date of theatrical release, and
on-demand ordering of titles on-line almost here, the handwriting is on the wall as to the future
of exhibition, and it is not good. Any new buyer will have to figure out how to pay the
bills/taxes without films in the not too distant future, sad to say. Jim Rankin (
posted by Jim Rankin on Feb 9, 2004 at 2:13pm
If the Pritchett brothers indeed do sell the Oriental to a new owner “committed to continue the
operating theatre,” Milwaukee’s movie-palace gem, one hopes, will remain operating for
years—decades—to come.
It is certainly better than the situation that, for example, Milwaukee’s Avalon Theatre currently
faces. (See this site’s entry for the Avalon for more information. And many, many thanks,
Mr. Rankin, for all your research and input about Milwaukee-area theaters on this Web site!
That, you, and your dedication are deeply appreciated! What is the latest on the Avalon? If
Mr. Rankin or anyone else who reads this knows, please post it under that theater’s extensive
entries.)
Thanks, too, Jim, for your detailed information about the Oriental at its respective place on
this Web site. Don’t anyone be surprised if you, I, or someone else soon posts to Cinema
Treasures about other “neighborhood” Saxe Brothers theaters in Milwaukee, including the
Tower (which Larry Widen and Judi Anderson, in their book Milwaukee Movie Palaces,
called a sort of “sister” to the Oriental), the Plaza, and the unusually decorated but intriguing
(at least for the Midwestern, as opposed to the Eastern, United States) Colonial.
Yesterday (February 10), a representative of the Milwaukee-area Kimball Theatre Organ
Society informed me that Angela Lansbury had to cancel her Milwaukee appearances in
connection with Broken Blossoms on February 14. Broken Blossoms, and all the rest of
the KTOS’s wonderful “Silents Please” program set for that day, however, is still on. Ms.
Lansbury, I was told, might still well appear at a future “Silents Please” program, perhaps later
this season.
Hope to see all you “Third Coast” silent-film fans at Broken Blossoms. _Bring a friend—or
two or more! Spread the word—silent film is cool!
This has to be one of the strangest ‘Signatures’ the Theatre Historical Soc. (www.HistoricTheatres.org) has ever received in its Guestbook:
“Tue February 10 2004 – 16:11:52
Name: Ismael Leyva
E-mail address:
City and State/Country: New York, NY
I’m a THSA member!:
How did you find out about our website?: I’ve been here before
What is your favorite type of historic theatre?: I like all of them!
Comments/Suggestions: I’m proud of the work my firm has just done on the Sutton theater on 57th Street. We started with a lovely Ionic stone facade, and with the excuse of a "repair” smashed everything that gave the building any distinction. Please e-mail me at or call me at (212) 290-1425 (w) or (212) 582-9364 (h) to suggest more theaters that I can vandalize for a profit
Mr. Enk, you are very right to be alarmed by the rumor that the ORIENTAL will be demolished. I heard that the three Pritchett brothers who have owned it since 1972 are now elderly and retired and about to will the building to their children, who evidently made it clear that they would immediately demolish and sell the site to a condos developer. The brothers didn’t want that to happen to their beloved theatre, so they quietly offered it for sale, and in a conversation this Saturday with Mel Pritchett I was told that they have a prospective buyer who they are “95% certain” will complete the purchase by the end of March. He would not tell me the name of the buyer(s), but says that they are committed to continue the operating theatre. There is also a lease with Landmark Theatres, the operator, to be completed, but I do not know the term. Mr. Pritchett did not know if there would be a press announcement at the time of sale.
It should be noted, however, that even though the ORIENTAL is a local landmark, that law only protects the EXTERIOR of the building, and any new owner could turn right around and gut it for any other use the city allows. Therefore, there is no ‘absolute’ assurance that the theatre will always be with us. As Mr. Pritchett said, the building is over 80 years old now and needs some major investment in repairs, as witnessed by that episode last December when they had to evacute the place when a damper on the boiler froze and allowed masses of poisonous carbon monoxide to drive the patrons from the theatre. Bad enough publicity, but an indicator of the expense to be met by any new owner. With the movie makers/distributors now offering DVDs of films on almost the same day and date of theatrical release, and on-demand ordering of titles on-line almost here, the handwriting is on the wall as to the future of exhibition, and it is not good. Any new buyer will have to figure out how to pay the bills/taxes without films in the not too distant future, sad to say. Jim Rankin (
Mr. Williamson, if you are still going to “go on a personal crusade” regarding the WARNER/GRAND, I suggest that you contact me for more information. I can be reached at It is interesting to note that the Marcus people were approached twice about having it declared first, a local, and then a state landmark, but both times they blocked that in order to keep their options open to make maximum financial use of the property. The land owner has 20 years remaining on the lease with Marcus, so they cannot demolish without his permission, which he pledges not to give. The land owner says that he is keeping an eye on the property from a distance (he winters in Florida) and making sure that Marcus keeps the building somewhat heated to forestall decay, but what happens in 20 years if it is not purchased, remains to be seen. It now seems unlikely that the Symphony will purchase it since the man there in favor of that has left. The theatre and land are appraised at less than a million, but there don’t appear to be any takers in the forseeable future. It is ironic that the very pipe organ that was removed from it in 1973 before the theatre was devided into the the GRAND CINEMAS I&II would it if were there today, increase its value and perhaps induce a hesistant buyer to buy the theatre if for nothing more than a concert hall as the Symphony intended. That organ is now much enlarged and doing well in the ORIENTAL, but that theatre’s future is also in doubt The GRAND also includes some 12 floors of offices which are largely vacant, so there is potential for someone to rehab them to interest new businesses downtown, though it would be imperative for him to buy the corner lot and demolish to create an attached parking structure there, thus owning the entire quarter block. Jim Rankin, member: Theatre Historical Society of America (www.HistoricTheatres.org
The late Irvin R. Glazer was a life-long Philadelphian and a past president of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America, where there held in their Archive many of the images on this site, copies of which can be purchased for a lesser price from them. Mr. Glazer’s many writings are also cataloged at this location and can be copied for you by noting the fees and contact on the ARCHIVE page on their site: www.HistoricTheatres.org If you have a specific need, inquire of them via the Executive Director’s E-mail as listed on their home page. You can also send a letter, of course
Great news from “Menutia” about the ‘restoration’ of the CHICAGO’S marquee, and I hope that it will be the ornate original design, and I am equally glad that he used the figurative term “flag” for the vertical sign, since some who should know better are using the slang term ‘blade’ for the properly-called Vertical Sign. Some even confuse the Vertical with the Marquee! If we don’t keep accurate terms for our thoughts, how will we keep an accurate handle on our thoughts?
May the CHICAGO continue as one of the nation’s last, great operating palace
I checked CinemaTour and they have no listing for the VICOR, so your best bet is to contact the Theatre Historical Soc. of America which has a vast archive. Go to their site: www.HistoricTheatres.org and click on the Executive Director’s link on the first page, and inquire of him. Best Wishes. (this assumes that you have, of course, checked all local records, including city, county, libraries, and universities, as well as historical societies and chambers of commerce, etc.)
This is a most unusual and original Art Moderne (streamline) design, but I wonder if it is really all original to 1926, since there appear to be fluorescent back-lit fixtures on the auditorium walls, according to the many photos on the www.CinemaTour.com site. Also notable is the unusual placement of the retrofit air conditioning outside the auditorium wall with the compressors and cooling tower in an enclsure on the top soil of the adjoining lot, a lot that apparently had a building on it in 1926. The vivid color scheme of lighting as shown in their photos is memorable, but the small stagehouse will hamper any live-action use. Still, the large 4/21 pipe organ is in use and is a great asse
The Iroquois Theatre fire was a landmark event that caused cities across the nation to institute or increase their theatre safety laws. It was this event with so many glaring failures in design and procedure that caused the designing and making of such safety devices as the AUTOMATIC fire curtain, the Crash Bar opener on exit doors that were thereafter REQUIRED to open outward onto a free space, and the deployment of the Stage Vent (or Smoke Vent) in the tops of stages to open automatically via the then new fusible links, as were the fire curtains. There have been several books written about that theatre’s fire, and the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America also did a long article about it and other theatre disasters. It was the first issue I received when I joined them in 1976, so it was a rather rude awakening to the dangers in theatres. I was looking for photos of opulent movie palaces, but instead got a crash course in how dangerous theatres can be! They reprinted on their cover the painting of actor Eddie Foy in costume trying to calm the panicking audience as flames swept under the proscenium arch and bean to suffocate the remaining audience. The dramatic painting was reproduced from an “Esquire” magazine of 1946. The society’s “Marquee” magazine of 3rd Qtr. 1976 devoted nine pages to such disasters and included five photos of the Iroquois. The Society (www.HistoricTheatres.org) has the books on the subject, but that issue of “Marquee” is out of print. It is nice that the city chose to memorialize the tragic event and the progress we have made in preventing theatre fires, which are rare these days. There are rumors of a portion of the rebuilt Iroquois (the Colonial)’s stage wall being saved and added to the ORIENTAL now on the site, but no evidence to support that exists, and movie palaces customarily removed all of a preceding structure to allow sinking the heavy foundation needed for the much larger and heavier structures. Therefore, only the gullible will believe the stories of supposed ‘crying’ being heard near the stage wall at night by the supposed ‘ghosts’ of the perished. There are no such things as ‘ghosts’ since there is no such thing as an immortal soul to survive death, hence the deception comes from other sources. The IROQUOIS was a great theatre, but is now remembered as a monument to mans' greed and foolishness. Let us hope that the lesson is forever learned
The Iroquois Theatre fire was a landmark event that caused cities across the nation to institute or increase their theatre safety laws. It was this event with so many glaring failures in design and procedure that caused the designing and making of such safety devices as the AUTOMATIC fire curtain, the Crash Bar opener on exit doors that were thereafter REQUIRED to open outward onto a free space, and the deployment of the Stage Vent (or Smoke Vent) in the tops of stages to open automatically via the then new fusible links, as were the fire curtains. There have been several books written about that theatre’s fire, and the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America also did a long article about it and other theatre disasters. It was the first issue I received when I joined them in 1976, so it was a rather rude awakening to the dangers in theatres. I was looking for photos of opulent movie palaces, but instead got a crash course in how dangerous theatres can be! They reprinted on their cover the painting of actor Eddie Foy in costume trying to calm the panicking audience as flames swept under the proscenium arch and bean to suffocate the remaining audience. The dramatic painting was reproduced from an “Esquire” magazine of 1946. The society’s “Marquee” magazine of 3rd Qtr. 1976 devoted nine pages to such disasters and included five photos of the Iroquois. The Society (www.HistoricTheatres.org) has the books on the subject, but that issue of “Marquee” is out of print. It is nice that the city chose to memorialize the tragic event and the progress we have made in preventing theatre fires, which are rare these days. There are rumors of a portion of the rebuilt Iroquois (the Colonial)’s stage wall being saved and added to the ORIENTAL now on the site, but no evidence to support that exists, and movie palaces customarily removed all of a preceding structure to allow sinking the heavy foundation needed for the much larger and heavier structures. Therefore, only the gullible will believe the stories of supposed ‘crying’ being heard near the stage wall at night by the supposed ‘ghosts’ of the perished. There are no such things as ‘ghosts’ since there is no such thing as an immortal soul to survive death, hence the deception comes from other sources. The IROQUOIS was a great theatre, but is now remembered as a monument to mans' greed and foolishness. Let us hope that the lesson is forever learne
JimRankin
commented about
#on
Nov 20, 2003 at 3:23 am
It may be helpful to add to the formal listing of the Theatre Historical Society of America, these details: It was founded in February of 1969 by Ben M. Hall (1921â€"1970), author of the landmark book: “The Best Remaining Seats: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace” (1961 and subsequent reprintings; available from www.Amazon.com or via Inter-Library Loan) and some 60 others nationwide. It became a registered 501c3 (not-for-profit) corporation in Washington DC, and is a membership organization where the fee includes receipt of their glossy quarterly “Marquee” plus their quarterly “Newsletter” usually mailed between issues of the magazine. They also include the “Annual” as a special, horizontal glossy booklet devoted to one topic each year, most often a notable theatre, but also such topics as: “Decorative Theatre Lighting,” or “Grand Drapes, Tormentors and Teasers” (types of theatre draperies), or “Marquees,” those grand, giant signs that illuminated many a streetscape in days past. One can also subscribe for free to their theatres bulletin service “NewsFlash,” which is available only via E-mail. Its 1000+ members in several nations are also invited to their annual “Conclave” convention in a different city every summer, where they tour numerous theatres, attend a banquet where a slide show of members' theatres slides, plus occasional film clips are viewed and commented upon. Often special arrangements are made to savor the locale, as when they were admitted a Broadway show when the Conclave was in New York City. While it is a membership group, they offer assistance to others wanting to learn of their own theatre and many other related subjects when people contact their offices above the York Theatre in Elmhurst Illinois, about 15 miles west of Chicago. At that location is open free to the public, the American Movie Palace Museum where a giant walk-in model of the now-closed former AVALON TH. of Chicago can be enjoyed along with videos of many theatres and artifacts of theatres across North America and elsewhere. Their huge archive is the largest source of information on the physical theatres to be found anywhere. Go to the ARCHIVE link on the sidebar of their site and one will see information on visits and fees. A membership brochure is available, as are back issues of most of their publications.
The AVENAL Theatre fire is sad news, but in another post somewhere, someone comments that it is the neon that is to blame, as though neon were somehow a much greater threat to safety than other electrical devices. Neon does operate at much higher voltage than other devices, and that can generate arcs of greater length that might touch a combustable, but other devices fail and cause fires too if not maintained. Since neon can be lighted for decades without attantion, some assume that it can be ignored except for throwing the switch at night time. The truth is that neon needs periodic maintenance as much as any other service. Not only do neon tubes crack and break, but the transformers do suffer magntostriction stress over time, as well as the usual damage to be expected from weathering. Even transformers potted in tar or plastic can suffer degredation leading to failure and possible short circuiting to nearby grounds. During rain, it is all the more likely that ill-maintained neon will reveal that fault. If that neon or other electrical service in the marquee of the AVENAL is also 66-years old, then it certainly needed inspection and maintenance as much as the theatre! Don’t blame the neon; blame naive or negligent people!
There are two theatres in Milwaukee currently looking for new owners: the 1700-seat AVALON ( /theaters/1768/ )
and the downtown former WARNER, now called the GRAND:
( /theaters/1903/
a 2400-seater of exceptional beauty, but as with the Avalon, no parking (though one could buy the low building next door and create a parking structure.) Actually, most theatres in most cities are ‘for sale’ if one approaches with enough cash or equivalent. The 1881 WARD MEMORIAL THEATER here is also ‘for sale’ in the sense that its 1000 seats could be used by an operator, but it is on the Veteran’s Administration grounds on National Ave. at 47-50th Sts., so the feds own it, but are threatening to demolish it if an operator/fundsraiser cannot be found. A most historic and unusual theatre if you can make it work. A few parking lots are within walking distance on these 125 forested acres. I will direct you to poeple who can help if you are interested.
“Improvements” in an historic movie palace is a scary word! This is a charming cinema, and lawyers are not known for sensitivity, legalities — yes, sensitivity to beauty and historicity — no.
I have copied my post here from the www.CinemaTour.com site’s FORUM, and believe that it will be of help to any who want to rescue the AVALON, especially Mr. Davidson, for whom I cannot find a contact number in the Directory here.
“It was good of Mike Garay to post the Journal-Sentinel article about the seemingly doomed AVALON, a charming 1600-seater with small balcony, Spanish atmospheric with a large Wurlitzer. I panicked at that article too, but it was not entirely unexpected, since I had attended the city’s common council committee meeting called to grant or refuse a liquor (beer) license to the theatre. A man who turned out to be a surrogate for the owners was applying even though the owners had been refused before. The committee refused again because the neighbors in this older section of Milwaukee, called Bay View, are very nervous about rowdy rock concert goers wandering drunk down the narrow side streets of this 1850s area in search of their cars (there is no parking lot nearby). Now the county supervisor for the area has called a last minute meeting at the Beulah Brinton Community Center not too far from the AVALON. It will be at 7PM on the night of Wednesday, the 29th, at 2555 S. Bay St. (at Russell St.). He and others will speak of some last minute measures under way to forestall the owners already begun conversion of the property (they have removed the name signs above the marquee, as well as removed the box office, but it hadn’t been used for 20 years anyway.) The original single screen was not successful even when a makeshift screening room was created back stage without permit by placing fold-out seats behind the speakers and a plywood partition and punching a hole in the wall of one of the dressing rooms to make it into a backstage projection room. Not a nice place, but the owners were trying to pay the bills. Now, that area’s county supervisor, Tony Zielinski (.com), says that the owners (Craig Ellsworth 1-414-852-3555 and Greg Cepanica) want about a million for the theatre, its 19 second story apartments, and seven store fronts. I personally think that they will settle for a LOT less. The city is considering a Tax Incremental Financing district be set up to aid it, and it is possible that any new owner will be given the coveted ‘liquor’ license if a proposal includes some way to avoid rowdy crowds looking for parked cars. If someone wealthy enough is to step forward, he might be wealthy enough to buy some surrounding property and create a parking lot for around 500-700 cars. These measures have already been discussed with the present owners, but they have not been forthcoming, nor easy to work with! Anyone dealing with them must proceed with tact, patience, caution, and a THICK skin.
The 20-some rank Wurlitzer in there is owned by the Dairyland Theatre Organ Soc., and they would no doubt like to keep it there and present the concerts twice yearly that they used to. I have already mailed three letters of inquiry and a proposal for a ‘Friends-of-the-Avalon’ group to be set up there to construct and replace the artificial foliage that once graced the balustrades above the exit aisle arcades, but got no reply to my detailed package of instructions and samples. It is a nice ‘stars and clouds’ auditorium of great intimacy under the still twinkling ‘stars’, but it needs attention, an owner not too overly concerned about profits in the short term, and a willingness to work with the alderwoman as well as the county supervisor and business leaders there. Certainly a challenge, but also a reward. See the AVALON’s article at cinematreasures.org to get more details. Jim" () member: www.HistoricTheatres.org
What a great trendsetter! So many cities now realize that the old marquees did add excitement and zip to the dark streets and wish they had not legislated them out of existance in the ‘60s. With today’s electronic animation allowing truly spectacular effects, we can only hope that more theatres will return their lights to brilliance (and I’m sure the electric sign shops agree with me!) It was also nice of Ross to post that photo rather than just a description; after all, a picture is worth a thousand words! For those interested in marquees in the grand manner of days past, the Theatre Historical Soc. of America has an entire ANNUAL on the subject titled: MARQUEES, and can be obtained through their web site at: www.HistoricTheatres.org on the sidebar link PUBLICATIONS>ANNUAL. No color photos there (there was no color still photography back then) but still worth it for the dozens of b&w photos and drawings!
This is a great piece (click on the blue link in the paragraph; the brown link at the top does not work) that may be hearlding a resurgence in SHOWMANSHIP again in exhibition. Heaven knows we have long needed it! Let’s hope it comes to a theatre near each of us. Maybe the actual old movie palaces can’t return, but at least the new multiplexes can look like them.
Of all the fabulous movie palaces in the US, many consider the FOX once in San Francisco to be the most ornate and lavish, while others place that estimate of the finest on New York city’s long gone ROXY. For its 6,000 seats, its fine pipe organ, its innovations of a hospital room, playland room for the kiddies with matron on duty, its rising and falling stage and orchestra pit elevators, and its general vastness of Spanish theme decor, it may be the acme of movie palaces that many experts consider it to be. But the French themed FOX was unique in its own ways, and is the only theatre to have both a fabulous book to match the fabulous 5,000-seat theatre, but also now a special publication of the Theatrical Historical Society of America (http:\www.HistoricTheatres.org) to record the FOX’s unforgettable presence in the history of theatres.
That 1979 book, known as a difficult-to-find keepsake by many searchers, is titled: “FOX… The Last Word, Story of the World’s Finest Theatre” by the late Preston J. Kaufmann. Here, in almost 400 heavy, glossy pages are hundreds of photos of the FOX, which was demolished in 1963. The author documented thousands of details of the theatre, from its rise to its fall, as a lesson we should all learn from its demise. He replicated the blueprints as well as the opening day programme, and even includes a chapter on all the theatres which preceded it, pre and post the 1906 earthquake and fire. Another chapter details the artistry of casting the plaster and bronze used in the theatre and its bronze marquee. If the FOX was a landmark, so is this 7-pound, hardbound book! Since the death of the author and thus the demise of his publishing company a few years ago, the prospect of reprinting the book is slim, indeed (though used copies are sometimes available at www.Amazon.com))
Because the book is no longer generally available, the Society has produced in their ANNUAL for 2003, a 36-page softbound collection of some of the photos which appeared in the book, and a few which did not. The dozens of black and white photos cover all the major areas and are preceded by several hundred words by Steve Levin, a former San Franciscan for whom this was no doubt his favorite theatre. The ANNUAL is titled: “FOX THEATRE, San Francisco” (Thomas W. Lamb, architect) and is available through their web site: www.HistoricTheatres.org has a PUBLICATIONS link in their navbar with the instructions on how to order it.
These publications and others are a due Memorial to this, perhaps the most luxurious of America’s movie palace heritage.
Well, I must echo the others in their praise of evident effort in creating this new format for your site. The new and expanded tools will help us all find that favorite theatre, and to learn so much more about those we are new to.
If there is a photo gallery feature in the works for each theatre, I am certainly looking forward to it! It is difficult to appreciate a theatre from just one (usually exterior) view, and a succession of views will help greatly. This will also allow some detail shots of unusual features that some houses had/have which takes them beyond the mundane. And it would be SO NICE if you could make each image ‘clickable’ to allow enlargement to virtually full screen size!!
One thing I do miss is the banner logo (name of Cinema Treasures). I realize that you want to adopt an entirely new look, but you do NEED some sort of name sign, at least on the front page, so people will know where they have landed without searching about. I would think it would be at the top, or directly to the right of that date window. You really could use the old graphic, since it really is the same site, and that graphic logo helped lend identity to your image.
I also look forward to the elimination of those “&hellip” or “&bull” notations now so common to the new site. No doubt they are very meaningful to those in web site construction, but for the rest of us they are just confusing. I imagine that you are looking for a program bug so you can eliminate them.
And like the others, I also look forward to the return of ALL the original COMMENTS. Will they all be returned?
It is a little known fact that the area under the GRAND’S lobby is reachable only from the office building’s lobby, and that basement area is fitted out as a 100-some seat viewing room used by local film distributors as a preview venue for them and selected guests, thus an area exists for a new owner to use as he wishes, and not necessarily as the restaurant space it was intended for on the 1931 original blueprints by Rapp & Rapp.
A woman working at the Bay View library related to me that she had attended the AIRWAY many times in her youth both for movies and also on Sunday mornings when it served for years as a church. Whether or not this was the Goderski’s congregation, or whether or not such services produced rent for the AIRWAY is unknown.
I didn’t send in this story because it is not the end of the story; the common council must still vote on this recommendation. No date for that has been given. Jim Rankin
RedDawg is perfectly correct as to the sad depredations done to theatres in the guise of “restoration.” True restoration does not include such odious intrusions as he describes that are now common in today’s ‘modern’ theatres. Sad to say, modern stagecraft is all about technology and virtually worships it. Ever since President Kennedy called for the heavy promotion of science and mathematics in our schools to the virtual exclusion of arts and history, we have had an ever more crass population without the moral and artistic grounding that our forebears had. People born since then often have no real historic or social reference, and science is touted then as the ‘god’ to emulate. From this stock we get not only technicians/engineers, but also the architects and ‘artists’ that are competent to duplicate by consulting vintage photographs the artistry of earlier days, but are quite without the cultural frame of reference to understand the ‘whys’ of the graciousness of earlier days. The godless generations from that time have replaced artistry with efficiency, and restraint with a greed for quick money in all they do. Could we expect this not to influence the theatres they are called upon to ‘restore’? To them, the calls of the modern thralls of science in the form of countless technical consultants are the calls of the gods of their day and age. The old designs may be quaint to them, but they are never taken seriously, so if an ‘authority’ on theatres and stages calls for a monstrous truss to hang in bold view with cables dangling through holes punched in murals, it is only to increase ‘usability’ they say. With only a profit motive ever in view, it is easy to justify the desecration of any space, no matter how revered. You ask for more “subtle” solutions? Do not hold your breath. In a day and age of crass and brazenness, we cannot expect them to take the time to devise artistic and subtle (or “transparent” as current lingo goes) means to hide the devices really necessary to achieve a good show. Trouble is, a good show is as the movies these days: no real story or artistry, but a vapid display of special effects at deafening sound levels. To a populace raised on such, what is a few more holes in the plaster? When a style is promoted called ‘High Tech’, are we to expect it to be to us appreciators of beauty, other than ‘High Ugly’? Resign yourself to this audacity, RedDwag, since to criticize the blatancy of High Tech is to disavow the worship of their real gods: money and power. They have the power now, and the Hipp and many other theatres will become their victims, all in the name of keeping their doors open at any cos
Your inquiry is answered by the ANNUAL of 1980 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America: “MARQUEES: A Pictorial History”. It is a 30-page, 8-1/2x11 booklet of vintage b&w photos of different types of marquees on theatres across the land. You can order it for $12.50 plus postage from the Society at http://www.HistoricTheatres.org by clicking on the link ANNUAL on the sidebar on the first page, and then paging down to the list of them.
There are many other sources of information on the subject available from them by inquiring of the Executive Director listed on their first page at the bottom. You can also find vintage photos and articles about them in the magazine “Signs of the Times” which is at many libraries, and is still in operation, and they may have their own internal index, if you inquire of them at their Cincinnati offices.
The THSA also has many thousands of photos of theatres with marquees, as well as interior views, and you would do well to give them an exploratory call, or inquire via E-mail at the address/phone numbers on their first page.
Some of the old sign companies, such as Everbrite here in the Milwaukee area, still retain drawings/photos of the elaborate designs (and modern versions) of marquees they have done over the years. They had in 1990 the 1929 drawing of the 10-story-high Vertical Sign and of the Marquee they did for the RIVERSIDE Theatre here, as an example. The state supreme court case involving their marquee is a fascinating read, if I do say so myself.
You might also like the ongoing discussions of marquees in modern terms as found at the site: http://www.bigscreenbiz.com under their FORUM “Cinema Design” where there is currently a discussion of someone wanting to reproduce a marquee. Use the SEARCH function with the term ‘marquee’ there and you will find a number of threads about them over the years.
Best Wishes, Jim Rankin () Member of THSA since 1976. Former Archivist/Historian to our PABST theater.
Here is the latest action in the on-going saga of the AVALON. I am not sure how much help it will be, beyond the symbolic, since local landmark law only protects the EXTERIOR of a building, not the INTERIOR, which the owner is still free to gut if the city otherwise must grant the permits. I will probably not be able to be there, so I hope any others nationwaide interested in this fine Spanish atmospheric can attend to at least preserve its facade, though the facade is NOT complete as built in 1929.
These Comments, originally in the EVENTS section, should be reproduced here:
Mr. Enk, you are very right to be alarmed by the rumor that the ORIENTAL will be
demolished. I heard that the three Pritchett brothers who have owned it since 1972 are now
elderly and retired and about to will the building to their children, who evidently made it clear
that they would immediately demolish and sell the site to a condos developer. The brothers
didn’t want that to happen to their beloved theatre, so they quietly offered it for sale, and in a
conversation this Saturday with Mel Pritchett I was told that they have a prospective buyer
who they are “95% certain” will complete the purchase by the end of March. He would not
tell me the name of the buyer(s), but says that they are committed to continue the operating
theatre. There is also a lease with Landmark Theatres, the operator, to be completed, but I do
not know the term. Mr. Pritchett did not know if there would be a press announcement at the
time of sale.
It should be noted, however, that even though the ORIENTAL is a local landmark, that law
only protects the EXTERIOR of the building, and any new owner could turn right around and
gut it for any other use the city allows. Therefore, there is no ‘absolute’ assurance that the
theatre will always be with us. As Mr. Pritchett said, the building is over 80 years old now and
needs some major investment in repairs, as witnessed by that episode last December when
they had to evacute the place when a damper on the boiler froze and allowed masses of
poisonous carbon monoxide to drive the patrons from the theatre. Bad enough publicity, but
an indicator of the expense to be met by any new owner. With the movie makers/distributors
now offering DVDs of films on almost the same day and date of theatrical release, and
on-demand ordering of titles on-line almost here, the handwriting is on the wall as to the future
of exhibition, and it is not good. Any new buyer will have to figure out how to pay the
bills/taxes without films in the not too distant future, sad to say. Jim Rankin (
posted by Jim Rankin on Feb 9, 2004 at 2:13pm
If the Pritchett brothers indeed do sell the Oriental to a new owner “committed to continue the
operating theatre,” Milwaukee’s movie-palace gem, one hopes, will remain operating for
years—decades—to come.
It is certainly better than the situation that, for example, Milwaukee’s Avalon Theatre currently
faces. (See this site’s entry for the Avalon for more information. And many, many thanks,
Mr. Rankin, for all your research and input about Milwaukee-area theaters on this Web site!
That, you, and your dedication are deeply appreciated! What is the latest on the Avalon? If
Mr. Rankin or anyone else who reads this knows, please post it under that theater’s extensive
entries.)
Thanks, too, Jim, for your detailed information about the Oriental at its respective place on
this Web site. Don’t anyone be surprised if you, I, or someone else soon posts to Cinema
Treasures about other “neighborhood” Saxe Brothers theaters in Milwaukee, including the
Tower (which Larry Widen and Judi Anderson, in their book Milwaukee Movie Palaces,
called a sort of “sister” to the Oriental), the Plaza, and the unusually decorated but intriguing
(at least for the Midwestern, as opposed to the Eastern, United States) Colonial.
Yesterday (February 10), a representative of the Milwaukee-area Kimball Theatre Organ
Society informed me that Angela Lansbury had to cancel her Milwaukee appearances in
connection with Broken Blossoms on February 14. Broken Blossoms, and all the rest of
the KTOS’s wonderful “Silents Please” program set for that day, however, is still on. Ms.
Lansbury, I was told, might still well appear at a future “Silents Please” program, perhaps later
this season.
Hope to see all you “Third Coast” silent-film fans at Broken Blossoms. _Bring a friend—or
two or more! Spread the word—silent film is cool!
Scott Enk
(A Devoted Silent-Film Fan Since 1963!)
posted by Scott Enk on Feb 11, 2004 at 6:07pm
This has to be one of the strangest ‘Signatures’ the Theatre Historical Soc. (www.HistoricTheatres.org) has ever received in its Guestbook:
“Tue February 10 2004 – 16:11:52
Name: Ismael Leyva
E-mail address:
City and State/Country: New York, NY
I’m a THSA member!:
How did you find out about our website?: I’ve been here before
What is your favorite type of historic theatre?: I like all of them!
Comments/Suggestions: I’m proud of the work my firm has just done on the Sutton theater on 57th Street. We started with a lovely Ionic stone facade, and with the excuse of a "repair” smashed everything that gave the building any distinction. Please e-mail me at or call me at (212) 290-1425 (w) or (212) 582-9364 (h) to suggest more theaters that I can vandalize for a profit
Mr. Enk, you are very right to be alarmed by the rumor that the ORIENTAL will be demolished. I heard that the three Pritchett brothers who have owned it since 1972 are now elderly and retired and about to will the building to their children, who evidently made it clear that they would immediately demolish and sell the site to a condos developer. The brothers didn’t want that to happen to their beloved theatre, so they quietly offered it for sale, and in a conversation this Saturday with Mel Pritchett I was told that they have a prospective buyer who they are “95% certain” will complete the purchase by the end of March. He would not tell me the name of the buyer(s), but says that they are committed to continue the operating theatre. There is also a lease with Landmark Theatres, the operator, to be completed, but I do not know the term. Mr. Pritchett did not know if there would be a press announcement at the time of sale.
It should be noted, however, that even though the ORIENTAL is a local landmark, that law only protects the EXTERIOR of the building, and any new owner could turn right around and gut it for any other use the city allows. Therefore, there is no ‘absolute’ assurance that the theatre will always be with us. As Mr. Pritchett said, the building is over 80 years old now and needs some major investment in repairs, as witnessed by that episode last December when they had to evacute the place when a damper on the boiler froze and allowed masses of poisonous carbon monoxide to drive the patrons from the theatre. Bad enough publicity, but an indicator of the expense to be met by any new owner. With the movie makers/distributors now offering DVDs of films on almost the same day and date of theatrical release, and on-demand ordering of titles on-line almost here, the handwriting is on the wall as to the future of exhibition, and it is not good. Any new buyer will have to figure out how to pay the bills/taxes without films in the not too distant future, sad to say. Jim Rankin (
Mr. Williamson, if you are still going to “go on a personal crusade” regarding the WARNER/GRAND, I suggest that you contact me for more information. I can be reached at It is interesting to note that the Marcus people were approached twice about having it declared first, a local, and then a state landmark, but both times they blocked that in order to keep their options open to make maximum financial use of the property. The land owner has 20 years remaining on the lease with Marcus, so they cannot demolish without his permission, which he pledges not to give. The land owner says that he is keeping an eye on the property from a distance (he winters in Florida) and making sure that Marcus keeps the building somewhat heated to forestall decay, but what happens in 20 years if it is not purchased, remains to be seen. It now seems unlikely that the Symphony will purchase it since the man there in favor of that has left. The theatre and land are appraised at less than a million, but there don’t appear to be any takers in the forseeable future. It is ironic that the very pipe organ that was removed from it in 1973 before the theatre was devided into the the GRAND CINEMAS I&II would it if were there today, increase its value and perhaps induce a hesistant buyer to buy the theatre if for nothing more than a concert hall as the Symphony intended. That organ is now much enlarged and doing well in the ORIENTAL, but that theatre’s future is also in doubt The GRAND also includes some 12 floors of offices which are largely vacant, so there is potential for someone to rehab them to interest new businesses downtown, though it would be imperative for him to buy the corner lot and demolish to create an attached parking structure there, thus owning the entire quarter block. Jim Rankin, member: Theatre Historical Society of America (www.HistoricTheatres.org
The late Irvin R. Glazer was a life-long Philadelphian and a past president of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America, where there held in their Archive many of the images on this site, copies of which can be purchased for a lesser price from them. Mr. Glazer’s many writings are also cataloged at this location and can be copied for you by noting the fees and contact on the ARCHIVE page on their site: www.HistoricTheatres.org If you have a specific need, inquire of them via the Executive Director’s E-mail as listed on their home page. You can also send a letter, of course
Great news from “Menutia” about the ‘restoration’ of the CHICAGO’S marquee, and I hope that it will be the ornate original design, and I am equally glad that he used the figurative term “flag” for the vertical sign, since some who should know better are using the slang term ‘blade’ for the properly-called Vertical Sign. Some even confuse the Vertical with the Marquee! If we don’t keep accurate terms for our thoughts, how will we keep an accurate handle on our thoughts?
May the CHICAGO continue as one of the nation’s last, great operating palace
I checked CinemaTour and they have no listing for the VICOR, so your best bet is to contact the Theatre Historical Soc. of America which has a vast archive. Go to their site: www.HistoricTheatres.org and click on the Executive Director’s link on the first page, and inquire of him. Best Wishes. (this assumes that you have, of course, checked all local records, including city, county, libraries, and universities, as well as historical societies and chambers of commerce, etc.)
This is a most unusual and original Art Moderne (streamline) design, but I wonder if it is really all original to 1926, since there appear to be fluorescent back-lit fixtures on the auditorium walls, according to the many photos on the www.CinemaTour.com site. Also notable is the unusual placement of the retrofit air conditioning outside the auditorium wall with the compressors and cooling tower in an enclsure on the top soil of the adjoining lot, a lot that apparently had a building on it in 1926. The vivid color scheme of lighting as shown in their photos is memorable, but the small stagehouse will hamper any live-action use. Still, the large 4/21 pipe organ is in use and is a great asse
The Iroquois Theatre fire was a landmark event that caused cities across the nation to institute or increase their theatre safety laws. It was this event with so many glaring failures in design and procedure that caused the designing and making of such safety devices as the AUTOMATIC fire curtain, the Crash Bar opener on exit doors that were thereafter REQUIRED to open outward onto a free space, and the deployment of the Stage Vent (or Smoke Vent) in the tops of stages to open automatically via the then new fusible links, as were the fire curtains. There have been several books written about that theatre’s fire, and the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America also did a long article about it and other theatre disasters. It was the first issue I received when I joined them in 1976, so it was a rather rude awakening to the dangers in theatres. I was looking for photos of opulent movie palaces, but instead got a crash course in how dangerous theatres can be! They reprinted on their cover the painting of actor Eddie Foy in costume trying to calm the panicking audience as flames swept under the proscenium arch and bean to suffocate the remaining audience. The dramatic painting was reproduced from an “Esquire” magazine of 1946. The society’s “Marquee” magazine of 3rd Qtr. 1976 devoted nine pages to such disasters and included five photos of the Iroquois. The Society (www.HistoricTheatres.org) has the books on the subject, but that issue of “Marquee” is out of print. It is nice that the city chose to memorialize the tragic event and the progress we have made in preventing theatre fires, which are rare these days. There are rumors of a portion of the rebuilt Iroquois (the Colonial)’s stage wall being saved and added to the ORIENTAL now on the site, but no evidence to support that exists, and movie palaces customarily removed all of a preceding structure to allow sinking the heavy foundation needed for the much larger and heavier structures. Therefore, only the gullible will believe the stories of supposed ‘crying’ being heard near the stage wall at night by the supposed ‘ghosts’ of the perished. There are no such things as ‘ghosts’ since there is no such thing as an immortal soul to survive death, hence the deception comes from other sources. The IROQUOIS was a great theatre, but is now remembered as a monument to mans' greed and foolishness. Let us hope that the lesson is forever learned
The Iroquois Theatre fire was a landmark event that caused cities across the nation to institute or increase their theatre safety laws. It was this event with so many glaring failures in design and procedure that caused the designing and making of such safety devices as the AUTOMATIC fire curtain, the Crash Bar opener on exit doors that were thereafter REQUIRED to open outward onto a free space, and the deployment of the Stage Vent (or Smoke Vent) in the tops of stages to open automatically via the then new fusible links, as were the fire curtains. There have been several books written about that theatre’s fire, and the journal of the Theatre Historical Society of America also did a long article about it and other theatre disasters. It was the first issue I received when I joined them in 1976, so it was a rather rude awakening to the dangers in theatres. I was looking for photos of opulent movie palaces, but instead got a crash course in how dangerous theatres can be! They reprinted on their cover the painting of actor Eddie Foy in costume trying to calm the panicking audience as flames swept under the proscenium arch and bean to suffocate the remaining audience. The dramatic painting was reproduced from an “Esquire” magazine of 1946. The society’s “Marquee” magazine of 3rd Qtr. 1976 devoted nine pages to such disasters and included five photos of the Iroquois. The Society (www.HistoricTheatres.org) has the books on the subject, but that issue of “Marquee” is out of print. It is nice that the city chose to memorialize the tragic event and the progress we have made in preventing theatre fires, which are rare these days. There are rumors of a portion of the rebuilt Iroquois (the Colonial)’s stage wall being saved and added to the ORIENTAL now on the site, but no evidence to support that exists, and movie palaces customarily removed all of a preceding structure to allow sinking the heavy foundation needed for the much larger and heavier structures. Therefore, only the gullible will believe the stories of supposed ‘crying’ being heard near the stage wall at night by the supposed ‘ghosts’ of the perished. There are no such things as ‘ghosts’ since there is no such thing as an immortal soul to survive death, hence the deception comes from other sources. The IROQUOIS was a great theatre, but is now remembered as a monument to mans' greed and foolishness. Let us hope that the lesson is forever learne
It may be helpful to add to the formal listing of the Theatre Historical Society of America, these details: It was founded in February of 1969 by Ben M. Hall (1921â€"1970), author of the landmark book: “The Best Remaining Seats: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace” (1961 and subsequent reprintings; available from www.Amazon.com or via Inter-Library Loan) and some 60 others nationwide. It became a registered 501c3 (not-for-profit) corporation in Washington DC, and is a membership organization where the fee includes receipt of their glossy quarterly “Marquee” plus their quarterly “Newsletter” usually mailed between issues of the magazine. They also include the “Annual” as a special, horizontal glossy booklet devoted to one topic each year, most often a notable theatre, but also such topics as: “Decorative Theatre Lighting,” or “Grand Drapes, Tormentors and Teasers” (types of theatre draperies), or “Marquees,” those grand, giant signs that illuminated many a streetscape in days past. One can also subscribe for free to their theatres bulletin service “NewsFlash,” which is available only via E-mail. Its 1000+ members in several nations are also invited to their annual “Conclave” convention in a different city every summer, where they tour numerous theatres, attend a banquet where a slide show of members' theatres slides, plus occasional film clips are viewed and commented upon. Often special arrangements are made to savor the locale, as when they were admitted a Broadway show when the Conclave was in New York City. While it is a membership group, they offer assistance to others wanting to learn of their own theatre and many other related subjects when people contact their offices above the York Theatre in Elmhurst Illinois, about 15 miles west of Chicago. At that location is open free to the public, the American Movie Palace Museum where a giant walk-in model of the now-closed former AVALON TH. of Chicago can be enjoyed along with videos of many theatres and artifacts of theatres across North America and elsewhere. Their huge archive is the largest source of information on the physical theatres to be found anywhere. Go to the ARCHIVE link on the sidebar of their site and one will see information on visits and fees. A membership brochure is available, as are back issues of most of their publications.
The AVENAL Theatre fire is sad news, but in another post somewhere, someone comments that it is the neon that is to blame, as though neon were somehow a much greater threat to safety than other electrical devices. Neon does operate at much higher voltage than other devices, and that can generate arcs of greater length that might touch a combustable, but other devices fail and cause fires too if not maintained. Since neon can be lighted for decades without attantion, some assume that it can be ignored except for throwing the switch at night time. The truth is that neon needs periodic maintenance as much as any other service. Not only do neon tubes crack and break, but the transformers do suffer magntostriction stress over time, as well as the usual damage to be expected from weathering. Even transformers potted in tar or plastic can suffer degredation leading to failure and possible short circuiting to nearby grounds. During rain, it is all the more likely that ill-maintained neon will reveal that fault. If that neon or other electrical service in the marquee of the AVENAL is also 66-years old, then it certainly needed inspection and maintenance as much as the theatre! Don’t blame the neon; blame naive or negligent people!
There are two theatres in Milwaukee currently looking for new owners: the 1700-seat AVALON ( /theaters/1768/ )
and the downtown former WARNER, now called the GRAND:
( /theaters/1903/
a 2400-seater of exceptional beauty, but as with the Avalon, no parking (though one could buy the low building next door and create a parking structure.) Actually, most theatres in most cities are ‘for sale’ if one approaches with enough cash or equivalent. The 1881 WARD MEMORIAL THEATER here is also ‘for sale’ in the sense that its 1000 seats could be used by an operator, but it is on the Veteran’s Administration grounds on National Ave. at 47-50th Sts., so the feds own it, but are threatening to demolish it if an operator/fundsraiser cannot be found. A most historic and unusual theatre if you can make it work. A few parking lots are within walking distance on these 125 forested acres. I will direct you to poeple who can help if you are interested.
“Improvements” in an historic movie palace is a scary word! This is a charming cinema, and lawyers are not known for sensitivity, legalities — yes, sensitivity to beauty and historicity — no.
I have copied my post here from the www.CinemaTour.com site’s FORUM, and believe that it will be of help to any who want to rescue the AVALON, especially Mr. Davidson, for whom I cannot find a contact number in the Directory here.
“It was good of Mike Garay to post the Journal-Sentinel article about the seemingly doomed AVALON, a charming 1600-seater with small balcony, Spanish atmospheric with a large Wurlitzer. I panicked at that article too, but it was not entirely unexpected, since I had attended the city’s common council committee meeting called to grant or refuse a liquor (beer) license to the theatre. A man who turned out to be a surrogate for the owners was applying even though the owners had been refused before. The committee refused again because the neighbors in this older section of Milwaukee, called Bay View, are very nervous about rowdy rock concert goers wandering drunk down the narrow side streets of this 1850s area in search of their cars (there is no parking lot nearby). Now the county supervisor for the area has called a last minute meeting at the Beulah Brinton Community Center not too far from the AVALON. It will be at 7PM on the night of Wednesday, the 29th, at 2555 S. Bay St. (at Russell St.). He and others will speak of some last minute measures under way to forestall the owners already begun conversion of the property (they have removed the name signs above the marquee, as well as removed the box office, but it hadn’t been used for 20 years anyway.) The original single screen was not successful even when a makeshift screening room was created back stage without permit by placing fold-out seats behind the speakers and a plywood partition and punching a hole in the wall of one of the dressing rooms to make it into a backstage projection room. Not a nice place, but the owners were trying to pay the bills. Now, that area’s county supervisor, Tony Zielinski (.com), says that the owners (Craig Ellsworth 1-414-852-3555 and Greg Cepanica) want about a million for the theatre, its 19 second story apartments, and seven store fronts. I personally think that they will settle for a LOT less. The city is considering a Tax Incremental Financing district be set up to aid it, and it is possible that any new owner will be given the coveted ‘liquor’ license if a proposal includes some way to avoid rowdy crowds looking for parked cars. If someone wealthy enough is to step forward, he might be wealthy enough to buy some surrounding property and create a parking lot for around 500-700 cars. These measures have already been discussed with the present owners, but they have not been forthcoming, nor easy to work with! Anyone dealing with them must proceed with tact, patience, caution, and a THICK skin.
The 20-some rank Wurlitzer in there is owned by the Dairyland Theatre Organ Soc., and they would no doubt like to keep it there and present the concerts twice yearly that they used to. I have already mailed three letters of inquiry and a proposal for a ‘Friends-of-the-Avalon’ group to be set up there to construct and replace the artificial foliage that once graced the balustrades above the exit aisle arcades, but got no reply to my detailed package of instructions and samples. It is a nice ‘stars and clouds’ auditorium of great intimacy under the still twinkling ‘stars’, but it needs attention, an owner not too overly concerned about profits in the short term, and a willingness to work with the alderwoman as well as the county supervisor and business leaders there. Certainly a challenge, but also a reward. See the AVALON’s article at cinematreasures.org to get more details. Jim" () member: www.HistoricTheatres.org
What a great trendsetter! So many cities now realize that the old marquees did add excitement and zip to the dark streets and wish they had not legislated them out of existance in the ‘60s. With today’s electronic animation allowing truly spectacular effects, we can only hope that more theatres will return their lights to brilliance (and I’m sure the electric sign shops agree with me!) It was also nice of Ross to post that photo rather than just a description; after all, a picture is worth a thousand words! For those interested in marquees in the grand manner of days past, the Theatre Historical Soc. of America has an entire ANNUAL on the subject titled: MARQUEES, and can be obtained through their web site at: www.HistoricTheatres.org on the sidebar link PUBLICATIONS>ANNUAL. No color photos there (there was no color still photography back then) but still worth it for the dozens of b&w photos and drawings!
This is a great piece (click on the blue link in the paragraph; the brown link at the top does not work) that may be hearlding a resurgence in SHOWMANSHIP again in exhibition. Heaven knows we have long needed it! Let’s hope it comes to a theatre near each of us. Maybe the actual old movie palaces can’t return, but at least the new multiplexes can look like them.
“THE FABULOUS FOX”
Of all the fabulous movie palaces in the US, many consider the FOX once in San Francisco to be the most ornate and lavish, while others place that estimate of the finest on New York city’s long gone ROXY. For its 6,000 seats, its fine pipe organ, its innovations of a hospital room, playland room for the kiddies with matron on duty, its rising and falling stage and orchestra pit elevators, and its general vastness of Spanish theme decor, it may be the acme of movie palaces that many experts consider it to be. But the French themed FOX was unique in its own ways, and is the only theatre to have both a fabulous book to match the fabulous 5,000-seat theatre, but also now a special publication of the Theatrical Historical Society of America (http:\www.HistoricTheatres.org) to record the FOX’s unforgettable presence in the history of theatres.
That 1979 book, known as a difficult-to-find keepsake by many searchers, is titled: “FOX… The Last Word, Story of the World’s Finest Theatre” by the late Preston J. Kaufmann. Here, in almost 400 heavy, glossy pages are hundreds of photos of the FOX, which was demolished in 1963. The author documented thousands of details of the theatre, from its rise to its fall, as a lesson we should all learn from its demise. He replicated the blueprints as well as the opening day programme, and even includes a chapter on all the theatres which preceded it, pre and post the 1906 earthquake and fire. Another chapter details the artistry of casting the plaster and bronze used in the theatre and its bronze marquee. If the FOX was a landmark, so is this 7-pound, hardbound book! Since the death of the author and thus the demise of his publishing company a few years ago, the prospect of reprinting the book is slim, indeed (though used copies are sometimes available at www.Amazon.com))
Because the book is no longer generally available, the Society has produced in their ANNUAL for 2003, a 36-page softbound collection of some of the photos which appeared in the book, and a few which did not. The dozens of black and white photos cover all the major areas and are preceded by several hundred words by Steve Levin, a former San Franciscan for whom this was no doubt his favorite theatre. The ANNUAL is titled: “FOX THEATRE, San Francisco” (Thomas W. Lamb, architect) and is available through their web site: www.HistoricTheatres.org has a PUBLICATIONS link in their navbar with the instructions on how to order it.
These publications and others are a due Memorial to this, perhaps the most luxurious of America’s movie palace heritage.
Well, I must echo the others in their praise of evident effort in creating this new format for your site. The new and expanded tools will help us all find that favorite theatre, and to learn so much more about those we are new to.
If there is a photo gallery feature in the works for each theatre, I am certainly looking forward to it! It is difficult to appreciate a theatre from just one (usually exterior) view, and a succession of views will help greatly. This will also allow some detail shots of unusual features that some houses had/have which takes them beyond the mundane. And it would be SO NICE if you could make each image ‘clickable’ to allow enlargement to virtually full screen size!!
One thing I do miss is the banner logo (name of Cinema Treasures). I realize that you want to adopt an entirely new look, but you do NEED some sort of name sign, at least on the front page, so people will know where they have landed without searching about. I would think it would be at the top, or directly to the right of that date window. You really could use the old graphic, since it really is the same site, and that graphic logo helped lend identity to your image.
I also look forward to the elimination of those “&hellip” or “&bull” notations now so common to the new site. No doubt they are very meaningful to those in web site construction, but for the rest of us they are just confusing. I imagine that you are looking for a program bug so you can eliminate them.
And like the others, I also look forward to the return of ALL the original COMMENTS. Will they all be returned?
Best Wishes fellows, on your noble effort.
Jim Rankin, Milwaukee
Member: www.HistoricTheatres.org
It is a little known fact that the area under the GRAND’S lobby is reachable only from the office building’s lobby, and that basement area is fitted out as a 100-some seat viewing room used by local film distributors as a preview venue for them and selected guests, thus an area exists for a new owner to use as he wishes, and not necessarily as the restaurant space it was intended for on the 1931 original blueprints by Rapp & Rapp.
A woman working at the Bay View library related to me that she had attended the AIRWAY many times in her youth both for movies and also on Sunday mornings when it served for years as a church. Whether or not this was the Goderski’s congregation, or whether or not such services produced rent for the AIRWAY is unknown.