Plaza Theater

1018 Hidalgo Street,
Laredo, TX

2 people favorited this theater

The Plaza, with its large, Art Moderne style vertical marquee visible up and down Hidalgo Street, was carved into three small auditoriums in the early 70s (two on the main floor and one by closing off the balcony) when it was operated by United Artists.

The Plaza is currently closed.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 23 comments)

longislandmovies on March 21, 2008 at 7:46 pm

a little old school with a modern touch…very nice1

lostmemory on March 12, 2009 at 10:48 am

Plaza Theatre Renovation Funding Estimated cost would be $6,172,430.

DavidZornig on March 12, 2009 at 2:29 pm

Wow, 6 mil. I almost want to say they should seek a second opinion.
Sounds like an awfully high figure.
Seems like four of those things in the itemized breakdown should be included in the first figure.

lostmemory on March 12, 2009 at 3:25 pm

I’m curious what the “Testing” consists of for $86,180. And what is the $430,900 “Contingency” money going to be used for. Is that for a contingency plan in case they can’t raise the $6,172,430.

fantom on March 12, 2009 at 4:04 pm

You know Laredo, everyting is a rip-off. The theater was bought to benifit the few who think live theater will be attended by the masses. But it seems they ran into a little unforeseen problem by the name of asbestos. So where will the money come from to clean up the asbestos first; only the shadow knows. Seems the only winner here was United Artist who cleverly got rid of a dilapitated building in need of much repair.

lostmemory on March 12, 2009 at 4:26 pm

I forgot about asbestos removal. That could be costly. Maybe asbestos removal is included in the contingency money. The plan still seems to be kind of expensive.

DavidZornig on March 12, 2009 at 5:20 pm

Ahhh-sbestos. I completely forgot about that too. As I recall they used to lace it through the plaster back in the day. Covered by lead paint of course.

I always wondered how they preserved original plaster work, when asbestos was in it’s very fiber of being.
I’ve heard the term “encapsulate” used, but that was basically just covering the offending area up.

Not sure what they can do to remove it, and still keep any given plaster’s detail.
Maybe they could just coat it with some type of clear epoxy. That should work. Cough, cough.

fantom on March 12, 2009 at 5:26 pm

The figures we see on that site relate to estimates made in 2003, if we figure in inflation, I think 6 million dollars might not be enough. Not now not in the future. With things being the way they are at the moment, I think it will be very hard to aquire funds. What the site does not reveal either, is the fact that the theater was purchased using re-programed funds earmarked for South laredo projects. As always the rich slicking the poor. I say forget expanding the theater to live performances and leave it as a movie theater only. Much of the expense will go into purchasing adjacent properties to accomodate space needed for live theater. Now how many of you are dying to go downtown to see a live performace; when we have brand new facilties at both the community college and TAMIU.

lostmemory on April 30, 2009 at 9:36 am

Here are some 1984 photos: