Terrace Theater
3508 France Avenue N,
Robbinsdale,
MN
55422
3508 France Avenue N,
Robbinsdale,
MN
55422
8 people
favorited this theater
When it opened in 1951, at the beginning of the television era, the 1,300-seat Terrace Theater in Robbinsdale was the first (and largest) suburban movie house to be constructed in the Minneapolis area since the end of WWII. It was opened for Sidney and William Volk (who also operated the Riverview, Nile and Camden Theaters) at a cost of over $600,000, one of the most dramatic and elegant movie palaces built since the 1920’s in the Twin Cities.
The Terrace Theater was built on a small hill, overlooking a sprawling landscaped area, with a huge parking lot, with room for more than 1,000 cars. The International-style theater’s exterior was made up of a series of rectangles, with the only vertical one serving as a tower-like marquee, topped by the theater’s name in bold letters, visible from both highways the theater sat between.
The Volks spared no expense in making the Terrace Theater the most luxurious, comfortable and up-to-date theater in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul. Like the palaces of two and three decades before, it contained a good-sized auditorium, sweeping foyers, a large lobby space, but with the casual look of an upper-middle class 1950’s home, complete with a sunken “garden style” lounge containing plant boxes and a huge copper fireplace. Overlooking the rolling lawn outside on the far end of the lobby was a wall of floor to ceiling windows.
One unusual and very popular feature of the Terrace Theater was its television room, complete with sofas, chairs and a large color television. It was common for husbands and fathers to watch a ball game here while their wives watched a romantic tear-jerker or their children the latest Disney offering.
In the 1970’s, the Terrace Theater had 70mm equipment installed, and became one of the best of the suburban theaters to see the big action-filled blockbusters of that decade, which were better appreciated on a huge screen.
During the late-1980’s, the Terrace Theater was triplexed. Unfortunately, this rare 1950’s movie palace has been shuttered now for many years, its fate still undecided.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 36 comments)
While I was waiting in the lobby at the Heights Theater recently, an old woman approached me and my girlfriend’s family, and started talking with us about old Twin Cities theaters. She said this one — the Terrace, in Robbinsdale — was the most opulent. My girlfriend’s dad was a young guy in the 50s and 60s, and he said he remembered it being a big event when he and his friends would go there. A few days later, I caught this archived MPR interview with a Twin Cities historian whose latest book is called “Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing.” Apparently the Terrace was his favorite, too. Here’s part of the interview.
First, a caller said: “I grew up in North Minneapolis, and the movie theater we always went to was the Terrace. That was a very nice movie theater, and it even had a special TV room where you could go and watch and wait for the movie. I remember seeing some great movies there…”
The historian, Kenney, commented: “The Terrace, I have to say, is my favorite theater. It was this, what they called ‘ultra-modern’ — a wonderful place, sort of a cross between your living room and a country club and a movie theater. As he said, they had the TV screening room, these wonderful snack bars there, it was just a beautiful, beautiful place. People who were in the movie business came from all over the country to see this thing. It was one of the first post-War theaters that really showed how you could draw audiences in during what was actually a difficult time in the movie business…It’s sitting there, unused, right now. It has plywood over its old windows and doors — it’s just waiting for someone to come in and bring it back to life, and I hope it happens, because it was a wonderful place.”
Since I never saw the Terrace in its heyday, all I can go on are the old photos. Clearly it was a very classy theatre. However I would have to say that the most opulent of the Twin Cities post 1945 cinemas, were the Cooper Cinerama and the Mann Southtown. Both of those are long gone.
I do find it odd that for much of the Terrace’s, it played second run films.
I love to imagine watching a football game in the ultra modern lounge! Or on the big screen for that matter. It’s great to see continued support and positive memories of this landmark. Perhaps someday day soon, I’ll have the pleasure of watching a Sunday Vikings game in a restored and updated 2008 version of “Ultra-Mod”.
Anyway, I noticed a lack of photos of the Terrace online, so I recorded some video of the exterior this past summer. I just got around to creating an edit last night to share with you all reading this thread. I think it turned out well. Please enjoy and don’t hesitate to show it to excitable investors. :) ~Ray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ePbIQvKecM
I was a employee of the terrace from 1976-1986 and i knew Sidney Volk. It was a pleasure to work there and I made many friends while working there. There are some movies that would have been perfect for the theater but they never got them. I would have loved to see star wars there. I remember seeing battlestar galactica there and they had put in new speakers to make the chairs shake from the sound.
Is there any recent hope for this gem? It truly is a beauty!
First, let me tell the usher that I saw Star Wars at the Terrace, in ‘81 or '82 as a rerun after “The Empire Strikes Back” was released.
Anyhow, I would love to see the Terrace fixed up and used as a theater or similar venue. I have seen a lot of other people come and go that would also like this. It seems like everyone who wants it has no way to pay for it. Some even think the city should pitch in. I am not a fan of government intervention in such things, and I also know that the City of Robbinsdale does not have the resources to finance it at this time.
Maybe a group could start raising funds for it and get something going. I would love to meet with interested parties, if they are willing to do the work.
1982 photo of the Terrace Theatre.
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Another 1982 photo of the Terrace Theatre.
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Nice photos of the Terrace Theatre.
Thanks Chuck 1231 for the pictures.
A co-worker & I were talking about how it would keep in tradition with the theater to turn it into a Educational/Production Studio where Jr. High & Sr. High school students could come and learn about film and audio production.
As where it would be an educational opportunity, there may be funding available in the form of Grants. If the City of Robbinsdale would have an interest in joining in, it would be a way to keep kids off the street and give them a positive thing to do while learning what it takes to make a film or video like the ones shown at the theater.
Time will tell?
S.P. Dworakoski
Future CEO
Westar Pictures LLC.