Alliance Theatre
410 Box Butte Avenue,
Alliance,
NE
69301
410 Box Butte Avenue,
Alliance,
NE
69301
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Opened in 1937, the Alliance Theatre, located on Box Butte Avenue in Alliance, is an Art Moderne style movie house which is still operating today showing first-run films.
It is shown as open in the 1945 Film Daily Yearbook, with seating for 869 and at that time operated by a subsidiary of Fox Theatres.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Here is a 2008 photo.
The Alliance looking sharp in 1989 – how did this single screen venue acquire four more auditoriums by 2009?
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Easy – Chop Chop Chop
This is the 1982 photo.
The Alliance was a 1937 rebuild of an older theater called the Imperial. Fox Intermountain had recently opened the rebuilt and renamed house, according to Boxoffice of November 20 that year. The Imperial had already been completely remodeled before, as reported in Movie Age of January 19, 1929.
Fox Intermountain was still operating the Alliance when the house was reseated in 1956, reducing capacity from 900 to 756, according to Boxoffice of June 2.
Updated and remodeled again in 1976, the Alliance was then being operated by Commonwealth Theatres, as reported in Boxoffice of October 11.
I’ve found nothing in Boxoffice about the multiplexing of this theater.
Joe, it had to happen somewhere along the way, you can’t have 5 movies starting at the same time in one auditorium. Looks like it had to happen since 1982 since it was a single screen then from the photo posted by LM on 5/23/09.
I’m not doubting that the theater was multiplexed, just saying that I can’t find anything in Boxoffice about it. I had hoped to find an item that would reveal the year that it was done, and that might give the new seating capacity.
Joe I think you mis-understood what I was trying to say, no date has shown up as to when it was multiplexed and nothing shows up on the internet in searches, from the photos it looks like the original auditorium had to have been split up since there are no additions visible at street level. It had to have been done sometime after 1982 as the photo in that year shows one screen.
The photo on the May 2009 message was taken in 1989 – so sometime after then for the renovation.
Splitting an approximately 750-seat auditorium into five separate rooms – that’s an interesting puzzle!
I received this email from Lyle in Alliance with a little history on the Alliance Theatre, it should clear up some questions.
I an not good at details but I can give you some “relative” answers that may
help. If it is important that you have the exact dates, I can get them for
you. If you just need the general information, I hope this will be of help.
Gerald Bullard bought the theatre and added first the balcony theatre; then
he added #3, the left half of the old JCPenny building. At that time there
was a video store in the right half (or so) of the building. Then he added
4 in the right part of the Penny building with the fifth screen in back of
the fourth theatre. It holds a couple dozen or so and is really just a
screening room. He uses it when the contract calls for showing a picture
even there is no one there. (or at least nearly that circumstance). They
don’t always use all of the screens, but that is how they run.
Theatre #1, the main and largest theatre, is equipped with very comfortable
seating, digital equipment for both flat and 3-D video and multi-channel
sound.
The name of the company is The Geju Theatres with screens in Newcastle, WY;
Hot Springs, SD; Chadron, NE; and Alliance, NE. In addition to the screens
in Alliance that I have already mentioned, there is also an outdoor drive-in
near the golf course which has just the one screen; it is called the
Sandhills Drive-In.
Geju stands for Gerald and Judy Bullard. Currently, Gerald is not as active
in the organization as in previous times. He still keeps in close contact
with his son Craig who with his wife Janine, runs all of the theatres in
Alliance.