Auburn Theater
78 Court Street,
Auburn,
ME
04210
78 Court Street,
Auburn,
ME
04210
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The Auburn Theatre’s grand opening was on October 2, 1928 with William Haines in “Excess Baggage” following a pre-opening the night prior. The venue closed for movies on November 6, 1954 with a double-feature of “Four Guns to the Border” and “Terror Ship. For its swan song, one last vaudeville show was staged there over two nights on February 24 and 25, 1961. A last minute preservation effort in March of 1961 failed and demolition began at month’s end.
An article about the demolition of the Strand Theatre in Lewiston and the possible demolition of the Auburn Theatre appeared in the February 4, 1961, issue of the Lewiston Evening Journal (Google News. A photo can be seen on this page of the same issue.) The article said that the Auburn Theatre had been closed since 1954, and was currently owned by the local municipal parking authority which intended either to convert the building to indoor parking or demolish it to make way for a conventional parking lot.
A 1928 photo of the Auburn Theatre is here.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report card for this theater, it’s Card # 390.There is an exterior photo dated May 1941. Address is Court St., and they call the town “Lewiston Auburn”.Condition is Good. The theater is over 15 years old, and was showing MGM films. There were 760 orchestra seats and 390 balcony, total 1,150.
October 1st, 1928 ad posted here.
Checked out Google. I don’t see anything that looks like a former theatre. There’s a large brick building that looks like a former fire station, and a couple small commercial buildings. Across the street is a parking lot.
The Auburn Th. in Auburn Maine is listed as part of the Maine @ New Hampshire Theatre Co. of Boston in the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac.
Check out 150 Court St. as an address as looks it looks like an old theater style building from Google Street View
OPENING ADD
AUBURN
AND
LEWISTON
Join
Hands
In Welcoming
The
AUBURN
THEATER
To This
Comunity
Opening
Feature
William Haines
In
“Excess
Baggage"
Comedy News
Thurs-Fri-Sat
Lon Chaney In
"While The City Sleeps"
Public Opening Tuesday
Pre-Opening Mon Oct. 1 – 8 P.M.
Opened October 1, 1928, PERHAPS closed in 1954, PERHAPS opened again in 1958 and closed again in 1959?
The Maine & New Hampshire Theaters Company of Boston owned this theater from 1930-1961?
If we don’t know an address, how do we know the building is demolished?
It would be great if someone could answer the question marks?