Iris Theatre
612 Travis Street,
Houston,
TX
77002
612 Travis Street,
Houston,
TX
77002
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Welling’s book gives the date of the last show at the Iris as July 26, 1965. The Iris and the Rivoli Theatre, around the corner on Capitol Street, were demolished on August 15, 1965.
This house opened as the Travis Theatre on April 13, 1913, according to Cinema Houston: From Nickelodeon to Megaplex, by David Welling. Welling says the name was changed to Iris Theatre in 1919, when Will Horowitz took over the failed vaudeville house and converted it to movies. The impression the 1956 Boxoffice article gives that the name change took place with the 1956 remodeling is the result of careless wording by the writer of the article’s headline.
Horowitz actually named the theater Iris after his daughter, but he was apparently also motivated by pecuniary concerns. Welling says that Horowitz had the T in Travis altered into an I, and removed the A and V. Grouping the remaining letters together changed the theater signage to read IRIS at minimal cost.
Renovations and re-naming described in this 1956 trade report: boxoffice
Three additional photos can seen here.
Interesting article here:
http://tinyurl.com/5qox47
There is a nice photo of the Iris on this page:
http://tinyurl.com/2tadbk
hello…I purchased a building that once was the IRIS movie theatre many years ago..I have converted it into a banquet hall. but I want to put back some of the old movie theatre look. There are no pictures of the interior of my IRIS. So if anyone has any old pictures of their IRIS theatre please send me a copy. What I want to do is perhaps take some of each of the pictures of the IRIS and reconstruct the look of the old time theatre. I even want to put back a front markee of the IRIS…Thanks for any help…Joe Hig
Hello. Did you happen to bookmark the spot where you found the IRIS photograph in the Center for American History?
Thanks……….
Don