The Broadway Theater opened May 25, 1941. The distinctive facade of the building was left over from the Farmers and Merchants Bank that left for a larger building in 1937. The theater was in operation until the late 50’s when the entire row of buildings were demolished to make way for an underpass extension. I have added a photo of the old Broadway Theater and the surrounding buildings that were razed.
The photo shown is not the old Metro theater. This building is still standing and is located at the north-west corner of Butternut St and South 20th St in Abilene. The Metro was deconstructed and moved south down Butternut to parts unknown. I know this as I watched it being moved down butternut by a house moving truck/trailer back in the early 80’s. The Metro was located on the west side of Butternut St. in the 800 block. The Salvation Army headquarters are located there now. You can see a vintage photo of the theater being constructed at the following link:
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth55156/?q=metro
Notice that the metro was a full quonset hut design (half tube) but the building shown above is a partial tube design.
The Broadway Theater opened May 25, 1941. The distinctive facade of the building was left over from the Farmers and Merchants Bank that left for a larger building in 1937. The theater was in operation until the late 50’s when the entire row of buildings were demolished to make way for an underpass extension. I have added a photo of the old Broadway Theater and the surrounding buildings that were razed.
This is not the Metro Theater. This building still stands today and is located several blocks south of where the Metro was.
The photo shown is not the old Metro theater. This building is still standing and is located at the north-west corner of Butternut St and South 20th St in Abilene. The Metro was deconstructed and moved south down Butternut to parts unknown. I know this as I watched it being moved down butternut by a house moving truck/trailer back in the early 80’s. The Metro was located on the west side of Butternut St. in the 800 block. The Salvation Army headquarters are located there now. You can see a vintage photo of the theater being constructed at the following link: http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth55156/?q=metro
Notice that the metro was a full quonset hut design (half tube) but the building shown above is a partial tube design.