Pollard Theatre
118 West Harrison,
Guthrie,
OK
72044
118 West Harrison,
Guthrie,
OK
72044
1 person
favorited this theater
Built in 1901 of brick and native stone it was originally the home to Patterson Furniture and a funeral parlor. In 1919 it was purchased by George Pollard and converted to a vaudeville house.
In 1926 Mr. Pollard leased the building to A.R. Powell who played vaudeville and silent films until 1929. In 1929 with the coming of talkies Mr. Powell remodeled the building adding a large stage, hand painted wall murals, equipped the theatre for sound pictures, and put seating in for 800. At this time it was given the new name Melba.
The Powell family operated the theatre until 1986. Then in 1986 it went through a $620,000 renovation enlarging the stage area, preserving and restoring the wall murals, installed new seats, a new stage hoist system and redoing the lobby and wrought iron chandeliers.
The Pollard Co. took over in 1987 and finished the restoration. It went back to its original name of the Pollard Theatre. It is now the home of the Pollard Co. and the home of live performances.
Contributed by
Chuch Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
Exterior of the Pollard Bldg was designed by Joseph Foucart, a renouned French architect from Paris. Foucart migrated to Indian Territory to get a fresh start, participated in the Great Land Run of 1889, and set up practice in Guthrie.
November, 1988, issue of Oklahoma Today Magazine has a contemporary write-up about the Pollard, but no architectural photos.
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This is a circa 1932 photo of the Pollard Theater. Near the top of the building it reads “Patterson” and not “Pollard” as it does today.
On this site are vintage exterior shots, and a rare view of the handsome auditorium …
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Oh yes, to view images on above post type in name “Melba”!
Here is a photo of the Pollard Theater.
1982 Photo of the Melba Theatre.
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Here is a 1985 photo. The marquee is gone.
http://tinyurl.com/lmrpa2
Modern images and a history on the Pollard Theatre can be found on this site;
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/385
The Cinema Section of Roadside Oklahome is closed, they no longer have theatre photos according to the site. See their home page for more info. Lauren has pretty much posted all her photos on CT.