Lincoln Theatre
6923 Fourteenth Avenue,
Kenosha,
WI
53143
6923 Fourteenth Avenue,
Kenosha,
WI
53143
1 person
favorited this theater
This modest neighborhood theatre was built by G. A. Stella and opened May 30, 1920. It had a small pipe organ. In 1922 it was leased to Charles Collins for one year, after which G. A. Stella resumed management for one year. Stella sold the Lincoln Theatre in 1924 to Charles Kerchma who operated it until 1929, when it closed. In 1933 it reopened under Hugo Vogel’s leadership; he operated it until May, 1935 when it was sold to Charles Secord (who managed) and Eugene Sturzenegger. The Lincoln had a small but attractive vertical sign of backlighted milk-glass letters.
In its final years it was an art-film and repertory house, playing “Black Narcissus”. One of its final programs was the Kroger Babb exploitation feature “Prince of Peace”. After closure in April 1952 it was donated to the Lakeshore Tabernacle, which stuccoed the Lincoln’s facade and removed the theatre signage, and then in turn donated the building to another small church when it could afford a bigger sanctuary. The current church, the Ultimate Trumpet, has been worshiping there for twenty years.
Contributed by
Louis Rugani
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A 2 Manual Barton Pipe Organ made in Oshkosh, Wisconsin was installed in this theater. It is not know what happened to the organ??
“Gee Dad, it "WAS” a Barton!"
The LINCOLN opened at 6:30 PM on May 28, 1921, not as indicated above in an erroneous article from a local daily newspaper. The opening-night feature photoplay was “The Heart of Humanity” starring Dorothy Phillips. The LINCOLN was equipped with a pair of Simplex projectors and a new Fotoplayer instrument that could, it was claimed, reproduce the sounds of a piano, a reed organ and a pipe organ, and was said to cost $10,000. The Chicago Statuary Company furnished ornamental plaster wall medallions and a lobby statue. (They’re gone now.) Eugene Fonte decorated the theatre and W. I. Brenner Electric furnished and installed the lighting fixtures. At first the LINCOLN’s format was a new program every day. “The Great Redeemer” was the next feature to play there.