Colón Theater

507 S. El Paso Street,
El Paso, TX 79901

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 25, 2021 at 12:27 am

The papers of architect Otto H. Thorman show that he designed alterations for the Colon Theatre in 1943. The original architect of the 1919 theater was Percy W. McGhee.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on September 3, 2020 at 9:53 pm

Teatro Colon appears to have gone out of business after over 60 years of operation on December 31, 1980 although could have continued past that date. Eduardo Diaz, Sr. served as its main projectionist there for over 40 years. It also housed a district office of Azteca Films Distributing which sent Spanish language films to theaters in the Southwest. Much as happened with the Hollywood studios, Azteca was sued when a competing theater in another city said the Azteca run theatre controlled 90% of its own bookings which they felt was an antitrust violation.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 1, 2018 at 1:24 pm

This opened on November 27th, 1919. Grand opening ad in the photo section.

Driveintheatre2001
Driveintheatre2001 on January 24, 2012 at 6:27 am

A Photo of the Colon Theatre I took in Jan 2012..

Randy A Carlisle – Historical Photographer

Silicon Sam
Silicon Sam on April 14, 2011 at 12:40 am

Is that the crest hanging above what was the screen in the 1/24/09 shot I posted earlier?

rebe3
rebe3 on April 13, 2011 at 10:04 pm

I am a Colon… It was really awesome for me and my family to get a tour of this theater. The family crest hangs in the theater today. I’m glad I got to share this experience with my mother, to remember when she and my father, Joseph Blas Colon used to go on dates during their youth in El Paso. My father is now deceased but I have many memories and proud to be a Colon. By the way… The accent mark is supposed to go over the second “o.”. (iPad does not have special characters so I can’t type it here.)

rayrojas
rayrojas on March 27, 2011 at 12:11 am

El Colon is described in detail in Cynthia Farah Haines “Showtime! From Opera Houses to Picture Palaces in El Paso” (Texas Western Press 2006).

larrygoldsmith
larrygoldsmith on June 7, 2010 at 5:03 pm

tisloews……..You’re absolutely right, a whole lot better!!

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on June 7, 2010 at 3:54 pm

Thanks Larry, COLOGNE does smell better.

larrygoldsmith
larrygoldsmith on June 7, 2010 at 3:21 pm

Please note spelling of theatre, in neon, above marquee. There is an ACCENT mark between the L & O. It would be pronounced the same as COLOGNE.
This theatre has nothing to do with the human bowel system.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on February 25, 2010 at 4:15 pm

Nice shots of the COLON THEATRE no pun intended.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 10, 2009 at 12:14 am

Here is an October 1972 ad from the El Paso Herald-Post:
http://tinyurl.com/osqyzv

larrygoldsmith
larrygoldsmith on January 24, 2009 at 6:56 pm

The above photos are a sad commentary to what was a pretty decent movie theatre. Very haunting, in a sense.

Silicon Sam
Silicon Sam on January 24, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Here’s a shot of the interior taken Jan 2009. At least they didn’t gut out the interior…. The portholes for the projector are still on the back wall. Taken from the balcony.

View link

hondo59
hondo59 on August 13, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Colon is the Spanish name for Columbus, the explorer. As indicated above, it is pronounced with the accent/emphasis on the second ‘o’ syllable.

Cristobal Colon is Christopher Columbus. There is also an accent in the first name – over the “o” so that’s where the emphasis is.

This theater was open as a movie house in 1976. It was a store when I last saw it in 1995.

rebe3
rebe3 on August 13, 2008 at 4:26 pm

I appreciate someone taking the time to explain the true pronunciation. Since I am of the Colon heritage, I am use to people not pronouncing my name properly. We take pride in our last names and our family ties, that anyone would want it pronounced as it should be. So thank you!

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on July 21, 2008 at 2:50 pm

I agree. It’s high time we cleansed this page of all the colon jokes.

larrygoldsmith
larrygoldsmith on July 21, 2008 at 2:34 pm

OK guys!!! The colon comments were, I have to admit, very funny.However, did it occur to anyone that there is an ACCENT mark between the L and O to change the pronunciation. The theatre name would be pronounced the same as COLOGNE.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 7, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Was that from a colonoscopy?

Cube
Cube on February 19, 2008 at 10:12 am

Wow, it’s hard to believe the street in that area is completely clear of both cars and pedestrians. I passed by there this past Saturday and it’s always swamped. To be fair, it is very close to a major border crossing.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on February 14, 2008 at 4:51 pm

Here are two undated photos from the Library of Congress:
http://tinyurl.com/2ke53f
http://tinyurl.com/34erhq

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on April 13, 2007 at 5:37 pm

The Colon was recently twinned – it’s now the Semi-Colon.

BrooklynJim
BrooklynJim on August 16, 2006 at 4:58 pm

If I had owned this theater back in its heyday… Dunno. Would really have rethought long, hard and diligently for a name change. “Colon” may very stand for “Columbus,” but it’s way too easy a cheapshot target, as we have seen above.

“Colony?” “Cologne?” “Color?” (as in “De Colores” and in keeping with the Tex-Mex flavor of the city?) Too late for it now, but it was a thought… :(

CHICTH74
CHICTH74 on July 12, 2006 at 7:24 pm

This theatre is in the opening credits for “The Orginal Latin Kings Of Comey” it goes by quick but if you stop the DVD you will see that it is the Colon. Thank You for you time :)