Strand Theater
554 W. Broadway,
Council Bluffs,
IA
51501
554 W. Broadway,
Council Bluffs,
IA
51501
1 person
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The Strand Theater opening around 1920 and was owned by A.H. Blank Theaters (Paramount Publix), when the theater opened it seated 593. It was operated by Fox Midwest Theatres from 1940 through 1955, and from then until 1964 NTT Amusement. It reverted back to the Fox Inter-Mountain chain until the late-1960’s. It was finally operated by an independent operator into the 1970’s. The building was destroyed by fire on December 11, 1974.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
I think this is a duplicate of the Broadway Theater entry.
This is not a duplicate of the Broadway.
From the looks of the photo that ken mc links to on Feb 19,2007, I would assume asfter the hugh fire the building was demolished. Can anyone confirm this?
The Strand was demolished shortly after the fire on December 11, 1974.
I’ve been puzzling over the conflicting addresses listed for the Strand Theatre and the Broadway Theatre, as both are listed with odd numbers, which would put them on the south side of Broadway, but I remember the Strand Theatre and it was on the north side of ths street. I verified with a friend who grew up in Council Bluffs and he confirmed that the Broadway was on the south side. Finally, I found the following on a website of The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County: “In 1927, the Dohany Opera House at 554 West Broadway was remodeled into the Strand Theatre. In addition to movies, the Strand was also home to broadcasting studios of radio station KSWI in the late 1940s. The Strand was destroyed by fire in December, 1974.” At last, the mystery is solved! The Strand Theatre address is listed incorrectly!!!
Chuck M thanks for the address correction, I am sure that Ken Roe will correct it in the header right away.
Mann was not the last operator of the Strand. An article about the destruction of the theater by fire on December 11, 1974, was published in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of January 13, 1975. The operator at the time was Joella Cohen of Omaha.
She also operated the Crest Theatre across the street from the Strand as a porn house, using its profits to support the Strand, which she operated at a loss as a family theater. The night the Strand burned it had been closed early because no customers had shown up for the last feature. Ms. Cohen had operated the Strand for eleven months, having picked up the lease after Mann dropped the house.
The item also mentioned that the Strand had been built as an opera house in 1890 and had undergone a major renovation in 1927.
Here are before and after the fire photos from an online Google book “Council Bluffs” by Richard Warner and Ryan Roenfeld.
I saw “20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA” there in spring 1971.
With regard to the Dohany Opera House: the only listing for Council Bluffs in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide is Dohany’s Theatre, 1,226 seats, George Bowen, Mgr. It was on the ground floor. Unfortunately, there are no street addresses in this Guide. Tickets cost 25 cents to 75 cents, and it had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 30 feet square, and the stage was 39 feet deep. There were 7 to 10 musicians in the house orchestra. The 1897 population of Council Bluffs was 35,000.