Arcade Theatre

325 Clematis Street,
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Florida State Theaters Inc., Fox Circuit, Paramount Pictures Inc.

Architects: W. Manly King

Nearby Theaters

1940s photo via Shirley A. Menditto.

This was the second Arcade Theatre to operate in West Palm Beach, operating by 1922.

Contributed by Jack Coursey

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

JackCoursey
JackCoursey on June 5, 2007 at 6:51 pm

The Arcade was once part of both the Paramount and Fox theatre circuits.

Patsy
Patsy on June 3, 2009 at 8:03 pm

Any photos, anyone?

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 13, 2012 at 12:23 am

This appears to have been the second Arcade Theatre in West Palm Beach. The first, operating by 1915, was the house on Narcissus Street that later became the Rialto. The Clematis Street Arcade might have been the projected theater that was mentioned in the May 18, 1922, issue of Manufacturers Record:

“Fla., West Palm Beach—Williams & Nichols, Inc., Palm Beach Tobacco Co., will erect theater on Clematis Ave. nr. Poinsettia St.; cost $50,000; 88x84 ft.; steel columns and trusses, hollow tile walls; 5-ply built-up roof; interior tile; wire glass; concrete floors; steel sash; ventilators; W. Manly King, Archt.; bids opened about May 25.”
Poinsettia Street has since been renamed Dixie Highway, which crosses Clematis Street a few doors west of the site of the Arcade Theatre. I’ve found no evidence that the second Arcade was actually in operation as early as 1922, but as the building has been demolished and its replacement is old enough to have developed a good-sized crack in the facade, it doesn’t seem unlikely that the theater would have been built that early.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 13, 2012 at 1:14 am

Fagan Arcade was the name of a West Palm Beach shopping arcade developed in the 1920s. I’m not sure the name was ever an AKA for the Arcade Theatre, and the two might not have been related at all, even though they were on the same block.

An advertisement for the proposed arcade development appeared in the Palm Beach Post of March 23, 1925, and made no mention of a theater as part of the project. The advertisement can be seen here at Google News.

Patsy
Patsy on July 13, 2012 at 6:51 am

Enjoyed seeing a photo of this former theatre location in downtown WPB! When I lived in that area I recall going to the Paramount Theatre though it is no longer there either.

rivest266
rivest266 on May 6, 2016 at 1:44 pm

October 7th, 1927 grand opening ad in photo section.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on May 30, 2018 at 6:55 pm

1940s photo added via Shirley A. Menditto.

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