Penobscot Theatre
131 Main Street,
Bangor,
ME
04401
131 Main Street,
Bangor,
ME
04401
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Webpage mentions that restoration is underway; theatre is remaining open during restoration.
The original Bangor Opera House, which Joe Vogel mentions above, was listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The seating was 1,100; the theater was on the ground floor (there are no street addresses in this Guide, unfortunately),Frank and David Owen ran it. The proscenium opening was 31 feet square, and the stage was 38 feet deep. The theater had gas illumination, and 5 musicians in the house orchestra. The 1897 population of Bangor was 25,000.
This article from a Bangor newspaper says that the Opera House was designed by architect Edward J. Bolen.
I don’t know if the opera house it replaced, which burned down in 1914, ever ran movies, but it had been built in 1881 and had been designed by architect Arthur H. Vinal.
In the 1942-43 Motion Picture Almanac, the Opera House in Bangor is listed as part of Mullins & Pinanski circuit of Boston, which was affiliated with Paramount. M&P also ran the Bijou and Park theaters in Bangor at that time. Regarding the info in the introduction above, it should be pointed out to younger CT members that all of these movie theaters were single-screen years ago. The concept of having two or more screens did not start until the 1960s and 1970s.
STYLE:
ART DECO/EGYPTIAN REVIAL.
AKA:
BANGOR OPERA HOUSE.
Your geography lesson for today. The name of the theater is the name of the river that runs through Bangor. “Join the Navy and see the world”.
Opened in 1920.
Saw something about it once being a church?
Some rough dates that need to checked out?
Opera House 1920-1964
Bangor Cinema 1969-1980
Owners:
1920 Alfred S. Black Circuit
1930-1945 Mullins and Pinanski Theaters (Publix)
1950-1964 New England Theaters Incorpated (Paramount) of Boston
1975-1980 Graphic Theater Circuit of Boston
1985 Cinema Centers Corporation