Uptown Theatre

Mike Richardson on March 12, 2010 at 6:37 am

From Strand Newsletter 3/12/10

“The Strand Theatre Pipe Organ, endowed by the Shelby County Historical Society, has taken another step closer to rebuilding. The Strand’s organ was manufactured by the Louisville Pipe Organ Company (LPO) in 1928. It was one of a handful of instruments the firm made specifically for theatre use.

Our organ (Strand Theatre, Shelbyville, IN), Opus 531, was built in Terre Haute Indiana after LPO moved from Louisville. It was originally built for the Sipe Theatre in Kokomo, Indiana. The theatre never took the instrument, so it was installed in the Uptown Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky. This organ was removed from the theatre and installed in a church in Tell City Indiana. In 1977 it was removed from the church and placed in storage."

http://www.strand-theatre-shelbyville.org/

Scottoro on July 21, 2008 at 6:44 am

Though the Uptown was a second run theatre by the 1960s, for some strange reason Planet of the Apes opened here on an exclusive first run engagement in 1968.

lostmemory on October 14, 2007 at 1:13 pm

A Louisville theater organ opus 531 was installed in the Uptown Theater in 1928. Note: Originally planned for Sipe Theater in Kokomo, Indiana.

FilmWolf on May 2, 2007 at 3:39 am

That’s correct, kamiel, with the last being The Vogue in St.Matthews (itself now sadly gutted and converted to retail space.)…

FilmWolf on April 9, 2007 at 8:42 am

Many thanks for the info about the Schuster Building, “Lost Memory”. A few other points that I wanted to make in my initial entry about The Uptown was that it was probably the last theatre in Louisville to still be using carbon-arc projectors (it converted briefly to xenon lamps prior to its closing). Also, the marquee that hung over the front sidewalk since its opening in 1928 was destroyed by the tornado that struck the city on April 3, 1974. The restored Schuster Building currently has a pseudo marquee of similar dimensions hanging in its place.