25th Street Theatre

1006 N. 25th Street,
Waco, TX 76707

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Showing 151 - 164 of 164 comments

rej25th
rej25th on March 27, 2004 at 7:16 pm

kelly, you said you had pics of people from the club. do you happen to have any of me, or of richard – michael – keith – christopher – thurman – matt – horry – etc.?

rej25th
rej25th on March 27, 2004 at 7:13 pm

i have forwarded a couple of pics to jake and he has posted them on this website under news. just type 25th street theatre in the box – check news – and select search, and you will be taken to the site with the pics. one of the pics is 25th at night with my car, little richard’s car, and big richard’s car in front. in the pic, the green outline neon on the sign is not on, just the pink letter neon. but the orange racing neon on the front of the building is on. that is my favorite neon on the club. it was very art-deco. we could turn on certain parts of the marque or all of it, depending on our mood! do i know kelly samford? if you went to 25th, you certainly have to know me!

ksamford
ksamford on March 27, 2004 at 1:45 pm

Edward, the pictures I have include people that used to go to the club. Were you considered a regular at 25th St?

edward
edward on March 27, 2004 at 11:39 am

Michael, you should take your bad attitude, your repeatedly dumb symphony hall comments and step in front of the next moving vehicle.

As to photos of this theatre, can someone post them online and add a link here?

ksamford
ksamford on March 27, 2004 at 11:02 am

Hi Jake! I have some old pictures of 25th St but none show any of the architecture inside. I’ll be e-mailing them to you shortly. If you or Rob-Bob have a picture of the 25th St marque you should really post it on this website. It looks so bare without it.

JV2k4
JV2k4 on March 6, 2004 at 9:51 am

my new email is

rej25th
rej25th on March 4, 2004 at 11:43 pm

girl, michael just hasn’t consumed enough ecstasy during his lifetime and is in a bad mood. apparently, he just was not part of the “in-crowd” and is a little horsey-torsey! oh, mr. ed! a note to michael: you should do a little history project and determine the value that this theatre has provided to the city of waco. i am sure you would have the same tired attitude had you seen the mighty hippodrome before it was brought back to her glory. now, go take some ecstasy, and call somebody who cares in the morning!

JV2k4
JV2k4 on March 4, 2004 at 1:44 pm

nice attitude man, are you taking anger management?

JV2k4
JV2k4 on March 1, 2004 at 7:02 pm

Yes I do remember you.
I think it can be saved……I have the city inspectors reports and to me it seems like that its able to be better than before. Most of the violations were electrical, and a small part of the roof has caved in over one of the rooms next to the projection room, air conditioning system is shot, rats and roaches everywhere, and the carpet and mural have severe water damage and are moldy, also the windows in the box office and front doors are gone and have been boarded up.
Have your mom email me at
thanks for replying

creigm
creigm on March 1, 2004 at 6:25 pm

Jake, you probably don’t remember me – I’m a friend of Rob-Bob’s from the OL – Tallulah’s days. Didn’t hang much at 25th, as I was living in Dallas (mostly lived at Starck!), but hit it a few times. I just got this site address from him. Is there ANY chance 25th can be saved? I’m in Tucson, but my parents are still in Waco, and my mom loves civic projects. Is it realistic, or is it time to let the old girl die?

Creig Miller

JV2k4
JV2k4 on March 1, 2004 at 1:33 pm

He owns the property on the southside of the Theatre, that housed the Mikes Print Shop & 25th St. Beauty Salon, and also the parking area behind the theatre, but from what I read, the records didnt state the property on the north was owned by him.

JV2k4
JV2k4 on March 1, 2004 at 1:54 am

I recently went to the Waco city hall and did an open records request concerning this building. It has been RED TAGGED and is now slated for demolition, although no definite date was provided, so maybe there is still time to save it. I viewed pictures the city inspector took and the place is a disaster, amazing enough the mural of the Chariots on the south wall is still intact, but bady water damaged.
The current owner Mr. C.E. Olsen Jr. of Las Vegas NV has kept up taxes on the property but that is it, which makes no sense. Why pay taxes on a building you are letting deteriorate? Sell it, or donate it.
Here is the Bldg. Inspctors Comments word for word dated 3/8/01……..
THIS IS A HISTORICAL BUILDING AND SHOULD BE PRESERVED AS A LANDMARK. REAL POOR CONDITION. ROOF HAS SEVERAL WATER LEAKS. ALL AC DUCTS ARE ROTTED AND HAVE STARTED FALLING DOWN. WALL COVERING FALLING FROM SEVERAL WALLS. LARGE MARQUEE (NEON VERTICAL SIGN) HAS LARGE CRACKS AND IS IN DANGER OF COLLAPSING. NEEDS AN ENGINEER TO LOOK AT THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE.

I will be calling the Historic Waco Foundation to see if there is a way to get the building granted landmark status and somehow stop the demolition before its too late.

rej25th
rej25th on December 27, 2003 at 9:38 pm

The 25th Street Theatre in Waco, Texas, was built around 1946 by Interstate Theatres, a chain with headquarters in Dallas. I don’t know the name of the architect, but whoever he was he designed a number of houses for the chain, including the Inwood, Wilshire, Esquire, Forest, and Circle in Dallas, Texas which were built at about the same period as the 25th Street Theatre. In fact, the Wilshire and Circle were built on the same blueprint design as the 25th Street Theatre, except the Wilshire and Circle had balconys. The Arcadia is an old house, built in 1926, (not by Interstate), for vaudeville and silent pictures. It had a theater organ and the loft that held the pipes on each side of the proscenium can still be seen, although empty. The organ was donated by the owner to Baylor University in 1935. It was modified and installed in Waco Hall on the Baylor campus. Little Richard and I used to sneak in and play it. The Arcadia was leased and operated by Interstate in the ‘30s until they opened the Lakewood, when the operation of the Arcadia reverted back to it owner. The Wilshire continued to operate profitably until the value of its land became so high that it was steel balled and a shopping center was built on the site. This happened about 1978. It was a luxury house with an animated neon facade that has never been duplicated that I know of. I wish I had a picture of it. After the money grubbers got through destroying the beautiful things, the only theatres, mentioned above, left standing are the Inwood, (still a first run art house), the Circle, (a bingo parlor), and the Forest, (now a black theatre that operates off and on and is in a bad neighborhood).

rej25th
rej25th on December 14, 2003 at 7:07 pm

hello jake. this is robert-bob. of course, i have a pic of 25th.