Ilex Theatre
Lee Street,
Quitman,
GA
31643
Lee Street,
Quitman,
GA
31643
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I have very limited knowledge of this theatre but wish to get it listed so that others might contribute additional knowledge. The theatre was built around 1928 and was designed by Valdosta architect Lloyd Greer for Interstate Enterprises, owned by the Young Estate. The theatre was erected adjacent to the Bank of Quitman and featured many architectural ideas that later materialized in Greer’s design for the Moultrie Theatre in Moultrie, GA, in 1929.
The Ilex (named for a cattle species raised in South Georgia) featured two urns resting upon two almost moderne pilasters that ran the heighth of the building. Where Greer used a large Palladian window on the third story of the Moultrie, he placed three smaller windows with neo-Gothic headers as a design feature on the second story of this much smaller theatre.
The marquee of the Ilex was never modernized and, in its original format, resembled the front of a much earlier nickleodeon with its arched canopy and Gothic denticulation on the underside. A large and well-executed head of a stylized Ilex bull was used for the central support chain of the marquee.
A stone course of what appeared to be intertwined reels of film separated the two levels of the theatre on the facade.
The theatre was demolished sometime after June, 1971 (when I photographed the then-closed house).
Contributed by
John Clark McCall, Jr.
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
1986 photo of the Ilex Theatre. Now Tommy’s Garage.
View link
Photo from January 2010.
Was it demolished in the past couple of weeks then? At the NW corner of S. Culpepper and E. Johnson St.
Seems there are a number of conflicts as to which is the Star and which is the Ilex.
Google Maps and photo shows the same building in the photo links posted and the address matches that given by Silicon at S. Culpepper and E. Johnson St. If these photos are truly of the former Illex Theatre then the address in the header is incorrect.
In the photo posted by Major on 1/24/2010 he states the the photo is of the former Illex on Culpepper, so that would match with what Silicon posted. Then WillieP commented on 1/27/2008 that the old Star theatre was converteed to a Garage. The American Classic photo shows the building as a garaage. If the Illex was demolished in 1971 then the theatre featured in the photos would be the Star. Need someone in Quitman to straighten this out.
Maybe John Clark McCall needs to dig up that 1971 photo he took!
My information came solely from this website and Google Maps. I’d never been to Quitman before the day I took that picture.
Major, my comments were directed at the last line in the introduction at the top of the page. The one that says a photo was taken before it was demolished.
The description in the intro sounds nothing like this theater. Next to the Quitman Bank, gothic architecture, three small windows, fancy stone facade…. My money says the building pictured is actually the Star like WillieP says in his post.
I have the photo of the Ilex taken in 1971 but, as you know, Cinema Treasures will not accept a downloaded photo. The pictures taken of the present “Tony’s Garage” are defnitely of the former Star Theatre or some other theatre; NOT the Ilex.
Click on my name, and send me the photo to my contact information e-mail address. I can then put it up on a hosting service so the photo can be online. If you want to that is…
Or join a hosting service like Photobucket to be able to post picture here.