To echo what was said above, the Oriental theater’s facade was MODELED after the Iriquois, but it IS NOT the one from the Iriqouis, it was demolished when the original building came down in 1921.
To inform you all, I am from the city of Burlington, IA, where the Capitol Theater is located, recently, they completely rebuilt the marquee to it’s ORIGINAL set up, and yes, the marquee is used, primarly, it’s rented out to announce retirements, graduations, job promotions, or other things of interest to certain people, and yes, they do turn it on occasionaly, the set up consists of the letters on the top of the marquee, which spelled the name of the theater, in the similar art deco design, painted in yellow, and set up with yellow neon lights, the rest of the marquee had yellow, and blue neon lights, and standard clear theater style “chase” bulbs that bordered the sign that was the centerpiece of the marquee, however, they still, as of yet, placed the bottom sheet metal into it, exposing the wooden 2x4 cross members that gave it the support needed to withstand the weather in the area … currently, they are working on the inside of the theater, attempting to restore it to its former glory, when it was first built … btw, the seating information here is wrong, it doesn’t seat 700, it seats 650.
Something else of note, the theater was deemed structurally sound by an independant firm that had come in, and checked the building out, it was bought by a non profit orginization, called Friends of The Capitol Theater, in 2005, and the rebuilding of the interior was underway, incidentally, it was the first theater in the city to have both a movie screen, and a full stage, and orchestra pit, although the stage only saw an hours worth of use, when it first opened in 1937, it was, and is, still there, as is the attached dressing rooms on the south end of the theater, and a still working elevator, that could take anyone with physical limitations to the mezzanine level, where a smoking lounge was located, that, incidentally, was closed in the mid 60’s, when smoking was banned in theaters by the federal government, due to fire hazards, it was also the first moviehouse in the city to be built specifically for talking pictures, it was closed in 1977, as the article here states, by a multiplex that had come in the Westland Mall, called the West I & II theaters, unfortunately, the seats were pulled out, and placed in a playhouse on the other end of town, called The Player’s Workshop, the theater was nearly completely gutted when it was closed, everything was taken out, and placed in the new theaters in the mall, the only things left, were the large red letters that adorned the marquee, announcing what was playing that day, the signs that hearlded patrons that the balcony was closed, and some old movie posters that have been long destroyed by mold, and mildew.
The current Mall 8 theaters still have one holdover that was once a part of The Capitol, the hanging lights behind the ticket counter.
To echo what was said above, the Oriental theater’s facade was MODELED after the Iriquois, but it IS NOT the one from the Iriqouis, it was demolished when the original building came down in 1921.
To inform you all, I am from the city of Burlington, IA, where the Capitol Theater is located, recently, they completely rebuilt the marquee to it’s ORIGINAL set up, and yes, the marquee is used, primarly, it’s rented out to announce retirements, graduations, job promotions, or other things of interest to certain people, and yes, they do turn it on occasionaly, the set up consists of the letters on the top of the marquee, which spelled the name of the theater, in the similar art deco design, painted in yellow, and set up with yellow neon lights, the rest of the marquee had yellow, and blue neon lights, and standard clear theater style “chase” bulbs that bordered the sign that was the centerpiece of the marquee, however, they still, as of yet, placed the bottom sheet metal into it, exposing the wooden 2x4 cross members that gave it the support needed to withstand the weather in the area … currently, they are working on the inside of the theater, attempting to restore it to its former glory, when it was first built … btw, the seating information here is wrong, it doesn’t seat 700, it seats 650.
Something else of note, the theater was deemed structurally sound by an independant firm that had come in, and checked the building out, it was bought by a non profit orginization, called Friends of The Capitol Theater, in 2005, and the rebuilding of the interior was underway, incidentally, it was the first theater in the city to have both a movie screen, and a full stage, and orchestra pit, although the stage only saw an hours worth of use, when it first opened in 1937, it was, and is, still there, as is the attached dressing rooms on the south end of the theater, and a still working elevator, that could take anyone with physical limitations to the mezzanine level, where a smoking lounge was located, that, incidentally, was closed in the mid 60’s, when smoking was banned in theaters by the federal government, due to fire hazards, it was also the first moviehouse in the city to be built specifically for talking pictures, it was closed in 1977, as the article here states, by a multiplex that had come in the Westland Mall, called the West I & II theaters, unfortunately, the seats were pulled out, and placed in a playhouse on the other end of town, called The Player’s Workshop, the theater was nearly completely gutted when it was closed, everything was taken out, and placed in the new theaters in the mall, the only things left, were the large red letters that adorned the marquee, announcing what was playing that day, the signs that hearlded patrons that the balcony was closed, and some old movie posters that have been long destroyed by mold, and mildew.
The current Mall 8 theaters still have one holdover that was once a part of The Capitol, the hanging lights behind the ticket counter.