Colonial Theater

I worked at the Colonial Theater in Bluefield, WV from 1955 to 1960. This theater was owned and operated by Newbold Kessling at that time. I started working part-time as an usher while attending Bluefield High School. The projectionists, Rufus French and Charlie Brewer taught me how to run the Super Simplex Projection machine. I later became the manager. This grand old theater holds many, many great memories for me. While there, I explored every corner from top to bottom. I live in Florida now but have friends and family there and always make time to go by the theater when I am there. Ben McGraw

When the Colonial Theatre was a movie theatre it seated 1200 people.

I travel through the Bluefield W VA area enroute to NYS each fall and spring so may just stop and take a look at this art deco theater.

My dear friends. It is my desire to purchase the Colonial Theater in Bluefield and get it reopened. I would hope that the people in the Bluefield area will take advantage of this Grand Historic Building that Graces the downtown area. We are currently appealing to local business as well as individuals to assist in its restoration. We did it once with the Greater Bluefield Community Center, let's do it again.

Greetings, Get It Open. I am local to you and would be interested in assisting your efforts to revive the Colonial Theater. I remember visiting it as a child and marveling at the intricacy of it's decor. The movies shown on it's screen are secondary to the building itself in my memory. Please provide me with contact information so that I may join in the fight. Thank you.

Greetings Billy. Thankyou for your interest in efforts to restore and open the Colonial Theater. I can be contacted at the following number 304-960-1489 or you can e-mail me at selim36@hotmail.com Currently I have been in touch with the 2 sign companies in the area about restoring the current theater sign. And Mr Tibbs, the current owner has expressed a desire to assist with it's restoration as well. I have been attempting to contact the National Register for Historic Places regarding getting grants for restoration. So far there has been no responce from either place. Just thought I would keep you updated with things thus far.

This is a fantastic looking theater,from my memories of seeing it about 12 years ago.Is there anyway to get interior shots posted?When possible,please update any way to contribute.I remember a 2nd old theater nearby.What is it's state?

The other theater that You are speaking of is the Granada which closed about the same time as the Colonial. However it was re-opened as Bo's of Bluefield. It has never done well since it was reopened as a night club. And has recently been sold again to reopen as another night club. I will be posting what people can do to contribut to the opening of the Colonial in the next week. So keep your eyes peeled.

I once played an old theater in Bluefield With my band, it must have been in the late 80's. It wasn't a club at the time, it was more like a one-night gig that someone had set up. The theater was beautiful, very ornate, but very run-down. I think there were a couple of opera boxes on the wall either side of the stage. The stage area was wooden, with heavy curtains hung all around the back walls. During a set that night, there was a loud crash and lots of dust, we had to stop playing until the air cleared. The vibrations had brought one of the walls behind the curtains down! Gave us a scare, but the person in charge told us to keep going.

So much of that time is a blur, and I can't remember the name of the theater. I'm obsessed with older buildings, and I can't get this one out of my mind. Can anyone tell me if this is the theater I remember? Anyone have photos?

Just curious, who owns the theatre now and what is going on inside/around it?

I passed by and photographed the Colonial right after Christmas. It is closed and vandalized and, according to what is left of the marquee, for sale. It appears to have been used as a thrift store before it closed

Martin: Sounds like a very sad scenario to a once quaint art deco theatre in rural West Virginia. Are thoughts are prayers are with the miner's families and the lone survivor.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with the miner's families and the lone survivor, Randal and his family.

the theatra is now for sale for $48,000. after a divorce, i just don't have the heart or means to keep up with this building. this is a great building that needs to be restored.

Does anyone have photos of this theatre, that they'd care to share?

This is a recent photo of the Colonial Theater and here is another.

Interesting photos and a theatre that has sadly been neglected for far too long. Perhaps a buyer will come along!

steve: Yes this theatre needs to be restored as I can see that it was once a fine small town theatre.

Yes, the Granada Theater and the Colonial Theater are theaters I grew up with. I now own the Wurlitzer theatre organ from the Granada Theater and it is currently installed in the grand Keith Albee Theater in Huntington, WV. It is the only theater organ built for the State of WV that is still in the state. It would definately be fabulus if we could raise enough money to restore that lovely Art Deco theater...I remember it well. I used to work for the owners of the theater in the 1960s. I'd be willing to work to restore a Wurlitzer for the Colonial if funds ever are available.

Here is a 1960 article about integration and the Colonial:

Negro Pickets March Quietly In Bluefield

West Virginia's first demonstration in the current wave of Negro protests against segregated seating practices came yesterday in Bluefield when long, silent lines of Negro college students picketed two local theatres. There were no Incidents and the demonstration barely attracted a crowd. City police were on hand, they said primarily to protect the demonstrators in case of any reactions.

The Negroes, who identified themselves as students at Bluefield State College, formed a line outside the Colonial Theater about 4 p.m. For an hour they paraded back and forth from the marquee front entrance used by whites to a rear entrance off a parking lot where Negroes are admitted to segregated rear balcony. "We Are Through Walking Alleys and Entering Back Doors" and "Civil Rights Mean Human Rights" were inscriptions on some of the signs worn by the 22 demonstrators in the first group. They dispersed voluntarily at 5 p.m.

About two hours later the Negroes reappeared, wearing the same signs, but their numbers more than doubled. The second group were bundled against the icy night winds and falling snow. After parading around the Colonial, they made two trips to the Granada Theater, about a block away, where segregated seating also is enforced. At the Granada, Negroes enter a front door, also leading to an all-Negro upper balcony section.

Colonial theater co-owner Rodney Keesling said his seating policy was in keeping with local custom. He said ninety percent of his customers were white and they-not the theater-dictate the separation of races. Neither theatre was closed nor did there appear to be any interruption of patrons entering.

The only reaction from whites apparent nearby were signs hastily posted in two grills near the Colonial. They said "Prices Subject to Change at Any Time." One owner explained he took the step "just in case" - the Negroes should attempt to enter and ask for service. Bluefield State was an all-Negro college until the 1954 Supreme Court desegregation decision when integration was allowed in all West Virginia state-supported colleges.

Mr. Tibbs

How may you be contacted?

steve tibbs roast2@comcast.net 304-327-6979

hi guys, this is steve tibbs, the owner of the Colonial Theatre in Bluefield west virginia. I need help, be it money, building supplies or free labor, in order to save this grand old theatre. it will take about $400,000 to put the place in working condition. this would be a usable condition not a fully restored job. anyway, i need 400,000 people to care enough about the old girl to give a dollar. that sounds simple enough, a dollar from a lot of people would save this full theatrical showhouse for future generations. bear in mind that this was a full theatre that was converted to a movie house. i need people who will show up to clean, haul off garbage, and a dozen other things. my email is "roast2@frontiernet.net" my mailing address is "steve tibbs 120 summers st bluefield wv 24701" and my phone number is "304-327-6979"
so, in short if you have any ideas about fundaising, restoration or feel like working up a sweat, contact me.

This is my first posting at Cinema Treasure's. I've been a viewer and reader for many years. I am and have been a theatre owner for over 40 years. I own an historic theatre built in 1920, and redone in the art-deco style in 1933.

While reading the posts about the Colonial Theatre in Bluefield, W.V., and checking the links to the pictures of the same... I thought to myself, what a great marquee that theatre has, but wait a moment... I've seen that marquee somewhere before? Where? It's a very unique design, one that I would not easily forget. Then it hit me. It was featured in one of the Exhibitor yearly Theatre Catalogs that was published from 1940 through 1957 hardbound, and then with a soft cover until about 1968. Somewhere in one of those hardbound copies I known that I have seen that marquee. So I started searching as I have all of those catalogs. It took me about an hour, but I
finally found it in the 1942 eition.

It was included in a section about Theatre Remodeling and Renovating. It has two pictures. One of the new front and marquee, and one of the newly enlarged lobby. Each photo has a small insert with a photo of what it had looked like before.

Looking at what that marquee looked like when it was brand new, and seeing what it is like today... oh what a shame. Since the catalog that featured it came out in 1942, I would assume that the marquee was probably installed in 1941.

If Mr. Tibbs and the folks down there are successful in restoring that theatre, I hope they keep and restore that marquee as well.

hey roxy. what are the chances of getting a copy of those photos? steve

This is a circa 1939 photo.

Here are undated photos of the lobby and the concession stand.

The Colonial Theater was damaged on Feb. 27 2009 by the Milner-Matz Hotel collapsing next door. The marque was destroyed. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph has the story today with history and ownership.
http://www.bdtonline.com/homepage/local_story_058210716.html?keyword=leadpicturestory

Dave - Palm Coast, FL

A story about the hotel published yesterday in the Daily Telegraph included this 1953 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cmqc7j

This story was posted by the Charleston Gazette:
http://tinyurl.com/cjp2au

Nice photo.

not looking good - photo of collapsed hotel which crushed the marquee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12321385@N05/3322366515/

some of the undated photos, it looked so grand back in its day. this theatre will never be Forgotton.

I wrote an article about the Colonial -describing the theatre when Steve let me peek inside a few years ago. I found out days before the collapse about some of the performers who took to the stage in vaudeville acts - Bob Hope, Fred & Adele Astaire, Mae West, Helen Kane the boop-boop a doop girl (the original Betty Boop), Sally Rand with her feather dance, Gypsy Rose Lee with her famous burlesque act and Steve told me that Roy Rogers and Trigger came to the Colonial too! www.themartinhouseproject.blogspot.com

Something really important was left out of all the newspaper articles - Mr. Tibbs hasn't given up on the Colonial's auditorium. We're all holding our breath, waiting to see if the demolition of the Matz will damage the Colonial further. I hope to help him - I'm part of a team restoring a historic home in Bluefield, it's the most difficult place you could try such a thing. There are so few people there who know how to fix modern buildings - and nobody there or in the surrounding area who specializes in restoration. So everyone trying to restore anything in or around Bluefield,WV has to get really creative.

Does anyone know if the city of Bluefield or Mr. Tibbs will be selling items in the Old Colonial's auditorium. I would be especially interested in some of the seats. Thank you!

Here is another recent article about the Colonial:
http://tinyurl.com/dbo679

Interior view, auditorium in its sad shape.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36145965@N07/3375089625/in/photostream/

Here is the Colonial in 1981.

Here is another 1981 photo.

Was there a theater built at Bluefield in 1917 or 1918? The March 6, 1917, issue of The Ohio Architect Engineer and Builder has this item: "Architects C.C. and E.A. Weber... have completed preliminary plans for a theater and arcade.... The structure will be two stories and basement, 129x62 feet and will be erected in Bluefield, W. Va...."

A cursory search of Boxoffice turns up half a dozen theaters in Bluefield not yet listed on Cinema Treasures. The Weber brothers' project might have been any of them, or might have been the Colonial. I found one Boxoffice item about a fellow who began his theater career working at the Colonial in 1919, so it must have opened in the teens, not the twenties.

Chris and Edward Weber were well known architects in the region in the early 20th century, and designed Kentucky's governor's mansion, among other notable structures.

The local papers are implying that the Colonial is gone. It would help if this could be confirmed by someone in the area.