Garrick Theatre
20 N. 2nd Avenue W,
Duluth,
MN
55802
20 N. 2nd Avenue W,
Duluth,
MN
55802
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Finkelstein & Ruben, Publix Theaters Corporation
Architects: Abraham Holstead, Jack J. Liebenberg, William J. Sullivan
Firms: Holstead & Sullivan, Liebenberg and Kaplan
Previous Names: Rex Theatre
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The Rex Theatre was opened on August 14, 1913 with Robert Z. Leonard in “Robinson Crusoe” & Margaret Fisher in “When the Prince Arrived”. It was designed by architectural firm Holstead & Sullivan, with interior decorations by interior designer Henrik B.D. Holmboe. In 1920 it was renamed Garrick Theatre. By 1926 it was operated by the Finkelstein & Ruben chain. It was the first cinema in Duluth to present sound motion pictures, Vitaphone on October 16, 1927.
In 1940 the exterior was given a makeover to the plans of architectural firm Liebenberg & Kaplan. The Garrick Theatre was closed on February 8, 1956 with Anne Baxter in “The Spoilers”. It was demolished on June 1, 1956. A parking garage now sits on the site.
Contributed by
Kirk J. Besse
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
The Liebenberg and Kaplan Papers collection at the University of Minnesota has photos and plans of the Garrick. I have just purchased copies of some of these photos for a project I am working on. As a child growing up in Duluth I attended movies at this theatre and remembered when it was torn down.
This web page about Duluth’s smaller movie theaters says that the house at 18-20 2nd Avenue West opened in 1913 as the Rex Theatre. The building was razed in 1956.
Closed 2-8-56 “The Spoilers” (the remake). I have 6-1-56 as the date of demolition. Don’t know my source on that. The closing date is confirmed by newspaper ads.
The Google photo does not look right to me. Unless there has been some recent changes in downtown Duluth, the site of the theatre was a parking ramp for decades called “the Garrick Ramp”. You couldn’t miss it. The Google photo does not look like a parking ramp to me. It was half way up the block, up the hill from Superior Street.
Street View has indeed been set in the wrong place. The Garrick Theatre was on the east side of 2nd Avenue on the north corner of the alley between Superior and 1st Streets.
Here is one of the photos from the Liebenberg & Kaplan collection that ThomJP referred to in an earlier comment. It is dated 1940, which must be when the firm worked on the theater. This was the facade after the firm redesigned it. Click on the name Garrick in the description on either page to see several more photos from both before and after the alterations.
The links Joe Vogel provides in his 7-26-2014 post: do some more searching on that site and you will find photos for many of the downtown Duluth theatres – there are 1963 photos of the Granada, Norshor, Strand; there is a late 50’s photo of the closed World Theatre (fka Lake), and there are Lyric and Lyceum photos.
Actually, the Garrick began showing Vitaphone sound movies October 16, 1927.
Opened as Rex on August 14th, 1913