Grace Theater

The Grace Public Library says the Grace Theatre was at 19 North Main Street, where the post office is today. The Pocatello Idaho State Journal noted in 1961 that Henry Fernstein opened the theater as the Grace Opera House in 1914. On April 15, 1915, Charlie Chaplin made his Grace debut in Mack Sennett’s “Tillie’s Punctured Romance.” In 1916, Bert Orr purchased the opera house and ran it for 33 years. In 1949 it was taken over by Lyle Tuttle, who managed it until the time of a fire on May 16, 1956. After the 1956 fire the Grace development Association was formed and sold stock in a new venture to 150 investors. The new Grace had all modern amenities including a Cinemascope screen. The screen could be rolled away to make way for stage productions and local events. On its opening night it presented a small town favorite, “The Kettles in the Ozarks.” (Does anyone remember Marjorie Main?) Fifty people had to be turned away from the first showing in the 350-seat theatre. The 1940 Film Daily Yearbook listed a Grace Opera House with 400 seats so 50 seats may have been lost in the remodel. On July 3, 1961, a photo of the theatre’s demolition appeared in the Idaho State Journal. Mayor Alton Lowe, the owner, said he would use the lumber to construct barns on his farm.