Virginia Theatre
186 S. State Street,
Shelley,
ID
83274
186 S. State Street,
Shelley,
ID
83274
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The Virginia Theatre opened in the late 1920’s with seating for 450. The theatre closed in 1990. It re-opened on 13th July 2007.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
This is a 2005 article about a Virginia theater in Shelley, Idaho that might reopen. I assume that it’s this theater.
Status should be Open. Here is the Virginia Theater website.
This is a photo of the Virginia Theater.
I used to work at the Virginia in 1980 as a projectionist on Sundays when this theatre used to perform Hispanic movies for the Hispanic community that were contain in Bingham County.
Rest of the week, the theatre performed regular 1st run movies that were released at the time..
This was the Virginia Theater in 1984.
Here is a nice 2009 photo.
The Idaho Falls Post-Register said in 1965 that Francis M. Davis built the Virginia Theatre in 1918, and that Ralph Davis was the current owner. Later news say that Stanley Johnson bought the theatre from Davis in 1971 and gave it a $15,000 remodeling. At that time it was noted that Davis had operated the theatre since 1940. Included in the updating were reupholstered seats, new carpets and tiles, a larger lobby and a new concession stand. There was also a seating reduction since the theatre was formerly said to have seating for 500. Women would be admitted free on Tuesdays with another paid admission.
A brief biography of Francis M. Davis appeared in Volume 4 of “History of Idaho: Gem of the Mountains” by James H. Hawley, which was published in 1920. Here is the part pertaining to the theater: “Since the fall of 1915 Mr. Davis has been engaged in the moving picture business. In the spring of 1918 he erected a modern theatre building on an elaborate scale, costing thirty thousand dollars, and which would be a credit to a larger town than Shelley. The theatre is splendidly equipped and is well supported by the citizens.”