Madison Theater

http://www.kypost.com/2004/10/14/madis101404.html

The Madison Theater opened in September of 1912 as the Lyric Theater. Seating at that time was 960. In 1927 the Lyric Theater was purchased by the Ernst Realty Company (L.B. Wilson, George L. Hill, Frank P. Thorpe and Richard P. Ernst). The building was completely remodeled and the theater re-opened in October 1928 as the L.B. Wilson Theater. New management took over the operation of the L.B. Wilson Theater in 1942. At that time, the building underwent a $30,000 renovation. The name was also changed to the Madison Theater.

On December 1, 1944, the Madison Theater was nearly completely destroyed by a devastating fire. Losses reached the sum of $150,000. War-time construction restrictions delayed plans to rebuild the theater. Construction on the new art deco building did not begin until 1945. The new Madison Theater was open to the public on March 29, 1946. The new theater offered seating for 1000 on the main level and 350 in the balcony.

In the early 1960s, the Madison Theater was purchased by Mid-States Theaters Inc. The new owners showed for the most part second run productions. New theaters in the suburbs resulted in declining attendance rates at the Madison. On September 28, 1977, the last motion picture was shown in the Madison Theater. The building was eventually boarded up and left vacant.

In 1985, the City of Covington purchased the old Madison Theater in the hope of attracting a developer to restore its fading beauty. The city eventually sold the building to a private developer. The developer rebuilt the interior and restored the facade with some of the financing provided by the city. The Madison re-opened on New Years Eve 2001.

The address listed for this theater is 730 Madison Avenue. Their website is here:
http://www.madisontheateronline.com/index.html

Things don't look to rosey for the Madison Theatre. Here is an article from the Kentucky Post.
Theater bankruptcy petition is dismissed

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By Jeanne Houck
Post staff reporter

A bankruptcy court judge on Wednesday dismissed a reorganization petition developer Esther Johnson filed in June in hopes of saving the Madison Theater in Covington.
Judge William Howard, presiding in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lexington, found that Madison Entertainment, the company Johnson formed to operate the theater, failed to provide monthly operating reports and other documents requested by the bankruptcy trustee assigned to the case, failed to follow an operating order he approved and was not using Madison Theater accounts properly.

Johnson did not return phone calls Wednesday.

But the judge's order appears to clear the way for Provident Bank of Cincinnati, which is trying to collect on a $2.8 million mortgage, to resume foreclosure proceedings in Kenton Circuit Court.

The proceedings were by law automatically put on hold when Madison Entertainment filed a petition in bankruptcy court, seeking to work out a plan to make overdue payments to creditors while keeping the theater open.

The theater at 728 Madison Ave. and an adjoining office and apartment building at 730 Madison Ave. have an assessed value of $750,000. But Provident Bank and other creditors have filed claims totaling more than $3 million.

Among the creditors is the city of Covington, which gave Madison Entertainment a $149,000 loan to help renovate the theater, which reopened in December 2001.

The building, which dates to 1911, sat empty for nearly 25 years after it closed as a movie theater in 1977. Johnson bought it in 1988 to save it from razing. She spent nearly $3 million to transform it into a showplace for live entertainment.

Johnson has said Madison Entertainment got into financial trouble because the theater cost more than estimated to renovate and because after it opened, it generated less revenue than expected.




Publication Date: 10-14-2004
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This is a 2004 photo of the Madison Marquee in Covington.

A 2006 photo of the Madison Theater can be seen here.

Here is a 1948 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ysabcq

In 1946 the Madison theater was a rebuild by F&Y Building Services out of Columbus,Ohio.

A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 1510 style 109 was installed in the Lyric Theater on 11/17/1926.

This is a recent night view of the Madison Theater.

Here is a working link for the Madison website.

A 2008 photo can be seen here.

A good time was had by all at the recent Bob Weir and Ratdog show at the Madison. Caution: Mr. Dog seems to be encouraging you to perform some illegal activity while listening to his music.
http://tinyurl.com/5qq9cx

Yawn

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyum/3207804256/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyum/3207804824/

1982 photo of the Madison Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c17%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=5&ProductID=27674

Another 1982 photo is here

This is a January 2009 photo.

Here is a recent shot of the Madison at night.

This is a picture of the Lyric, which eventually became the Wilson, then the Madison.
http://www.nkyviews.com/kenton/kenton319.htm

Boxoffice contradicts itself. The issue of January 5, 1946, said this: "The inclement weather has delayed work on the rebuilding of the Madison Theatre in Covington, Ky., gutted by fire several months ago."

Then the March 16, 1946, issue says this: "The Madison Theatre, Covington, Ky., which is being completely rebuilt after total destruction by fire, is now 70 percent completed."

Gutted, or completely destroyed? You decide.

But while Boxoffice apparently couldn't be bothered to report on the fire itself (at least I've been unable to find such an item,) a renovation of the Madison more than two decades later rated three photos in the November 20, 1967, issue.