Fox Theatre

I believe the address is wrong as it is the same address as the Royal. The Fox I believe was right across the street from the Royal. Checking from the back side of the building I can see the wall of the auditorium with its reinforcement columns. There is an Ace Hardware in there at this time.

This is from the Atchison Daily Globe on October 30, 1962:

A steam boiler exploded in the furnace room of the Fox Theater about 9 o’clock last night, but there were no injuries, according to Jake Aslinger, chief of the fire department. Dwight Perrey, manager of the Fox, estimated damage to the stage area and furnace room at between $5,000 and $10,000. “Repairs are already underway”, Perrey said today, “and the theater will be open for business as usual tonight”.

When the explosion occurred, Miss Ruth Hoadley, cashier, was in the box office with the door open. “I didn’t feel anything”, Miss Hoadley said. “The glass in the ticket window just cracked and fell out.” Miss Hoadley said there were 30 patrons in the theater for the second showing of “The Children’s Hour”, an adult film.

Chief Anslinger said an investigation last night did not reveal the cause of the explosion. The steam boiler was “blown to pieces”, according to Anslinger.

Unless you were Ruth Hoadley and her ticket booth was disintegrating. Probably not her best night at the movies.

Ms. Hoadly said the glass cracked and fell out nothing about it disentrgrating.