Tivoli Theatre
208-210 North Main Street,
Mishawaka,
IN
46554
208-210 North Main Street,
Mishawaka,
IN
46554
2 people
favorited this theater
The Tivoli Theatre was opened on May 21, 1925 by the Mishawaka Theater Corporation, as the city’s premier entertainment venue of its day for both vaudeville acts and silent films.
Designed by Chicago architect Edward P. Rupert in an Italian Renaissance/Neo-Classical blend, it could originally seat 1,400.
Its facade, made of red brick decorated with ornate cream-colored terra cotta, was highlighted by a large arch-shaped window with two smaller windows on either side.
Besides the theater, the Tivoli Building held several stores and apartments upstairs.
In 1929, the theater was wired for sound, and from then on, it featured movies only.
It remained Mishawaka’s largest and most popular movie house for nearly three more decades, until closing in 1958.
The Tivoli Theatre reopened in the late-1960’s as an adult theater called the Cinema Art and remained so until closing in 1991.
It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 and its exterior retains most of its original decorative elements.
Sadly, after a valiant struggle since the early-1990s to save the Tivoli Theatre by several groups, the theatre was razed in February 2005, to clear the site for future redevelopment.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 43 comments)
That signature window, alone, had to have been worth more than a few pennies on the open antique market!
I read some posts wanting to see interior photos of the Tivoli. I have the next best thing. If you go to www.washingtoncentral.org and click on “theater brochure” you can see old interior shots of the Washington Theater in Quincy, IL which was a near twin to the Tivoli. I had peeked through the windows of the Tivoli before it was razed. The lobby of the Washington looked quite similar, though it was a one-story vs. the Tivoli’s soaring two-story lobby. And judging from a photo of the Tivoli’s auditorium, I think the Washington’s was quite similar as well.
Here is a link from the city of Mishawaka:
www.mishawakacity.com/histivoli.asp
Another photo of the former Tivoli Theater while it was closed and still standing can be seen here.
Lost Memory: Thanks for the Tivoli photo that really shows off the top facade that was simply beautiful though the doors and surrounding area were not kept the same….sure would love to see a photo of what that area looked like before the bad changes were made. It would be interesting to see what type of original doors were part of the original theatre facade. There are many theatres that have appeared on CT in various stages and I had great interest in this one being saved, but unfortunately it was not.
While viewing the March 16 photo I clicked on ‘copy’ and pasted it into an email window then enlarged it to see the facade tile work and to my amazement it ‘was’ very ornate. The folks of Mishawaka should be ashamed of themselves for letting this architect be lost, forever in their Indiana town!
And what is there now?
I was in Mishawaka today, and it appears that they’re building a condo complex or apartment building of some sort.
abby: Thanks for this update since my post of last March.
1980 Photo
1983 Photo