Broadway Theater
816 East Broadway,
Louisville,
KY
40204
816 East Broadway,
Louisville,
KY
40204
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Described as the New Broadway in this 1915 trade article: archive
Photo of the Broadway Theatre, click to enlarge.
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The original East Broadway Theatre opened as a movie house in April, 1908, and originally seated 300. It was the third movie theater in Louisville. According to an article about the house in the July 5, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World, the house was rebuilt twice over the next few years, expanding its seating capacity first to 500 and then to 700. During its five years of operation, the theater had not missed a single performance despite the alterations to the building, and despite a fire that had destroyed the stage area.
At the time the article was published, architects Joseph & Joseph were working on the plans for another major remodeling which would more than double the size of the theater. The operators had acquired an additional 15 feet of frontage to expand the existing 30-foot wide building.
This is where it gets a bit tricky. I’ve been unable to find any articles explaining the delay in the project, or why the Broadway as completed in 1915 was considerably smaller than the project as planned in 1913. I’m not even sure the new theater was at exactly the same location as the original, which the magazine gave only as Shelby Street and Broadway (the theater today is much closer to Logan Street, at the other end of the block.) Is the existing Broadway Theatre an entirely new building, or is it the final remodeling of the original East Broadway Theatre? We won’t know until additional information surfaces.
In the meantime, here’s a small photo of the original East Broadway, ca.1913. It looks nothing like its successor.
Some history on the Broadway Theastre, now on the National List of Historic Places.
Today ORI is located in the historic Broadway Theater Building at 816 East Broadway in Louisville. The building was designed by the local architectural firm of Joseph & Joseph and constructed in 1914-1915. The building opened in May of 1915 with a seating capacity of 800 and was reported to have acoustics as perfect as any building of its kind.
Live performances were featured from its very beginning and featured stars such as John Barrymore. From 1930 until 1959 the Broadway Theater building operated as a popular movie house.
In 1960 the Catholic Theater Guild purchased the building for $25,000. The Guild used the building for amateur productions and had a vision to restore the ornate auditorium and stage to its original grandeur. But it was not to happen and the Guild held it’s last performance on February 14, 1970.
Shortly thereafter, the old building became the Mad Hatter’s Nightclub and featured several prominent rock and roll bands of the seventies-Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Santana among them. Later in the 1970’s Charles Beckham ran for congress and used the theater as his campaign offices.
By the early 1980’s the building had been unoccupied for several years and was in poor condition. On January 1, 1985 ORI (then known as Business Office Supply Company) purchased the Broadway Theater. Later that year the building became the office supply and budget furniture division of the company.
Today the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyum/5024185741/
1983 photo of the Broadway Theatre. From the loks of the photo it had been shuttered for some time.
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This site has photos of the Broadway Theater.
A Wurlitzer organ opus 53 style 3 was installed in the East Broadway Theater on 1/29/1915. Status: Sold for parts.
Here is a 1915 photo and this is the website of the current occupant.