Nile Theater

It was originally a silent movie house.
http://www.seatadvisor.com/cgi/make_venue.pl?venue_code=1488&layout_code=23

Shoe might be onto something. Either this was a silent theater or it replaced a previous Nile Theater. A Wurlitzer organ Opus 841 Style B was installed in the Nile Theater on 6/5/1924.

The Nile Theatre opened on September 2, 1924. It was operated as a partnership between Mesa theatre operator Willaim Menhennet and Richards & Nace of Phoenix. Universal Pictures acquired an interest in the Richards and Nace company and Menhennet sold his interest in the Nile to Universal. The architect was Hugh E. Gilbert who designed a number of theatres for Rickards & Nace. Rickards & Nace sold out to Paramount-Publix in late 1929. There is a history of the Rickards & Nace company in Marquee Vol. 37, No. 1. The Nile closed as a movie thaetre in 1951.

The building in 2005 uses the auditorium as a church and the lobby as a book store.

Barry, thanks for all the additional information on the Nile Theater, I appreciate it! I have updated the page accordingly.

The Niles did indeed have a Wurlitzer which interestingly stayed in the theatre after it closed. The theatre apparently retained much of its interior architecture and became a dress shop for quite a few years. The Wurlitzer was used to play for style shows in the store. After that it was moved to a Catholic church in downtown Phoenix until I think the late Bill Brown aquired it and parted it out but still had the console until fairly recently. Don Story

The church website has a photo of the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/2x5ybh

I would love to see a photo of this theatre when it opened in 1924. Interior photos of when it had a Wurlitzer would be special to view, too.

Here is a 2003 report on the annoying teens at the Nile club:
http://tinyurl.com/55rca8

Here is an updated link for the church site:
http://tinyurl.com/5vxy9l

In the 2003 report it sounds like this theatre and area went through difficult times.