Avalon Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on March 7, 2019 at 4:01 am

Technically, the Royal Theatre – a one-story wood framed building – burned down and its remains removed after a January 25, 1924 fire. Brandt and Dutton rebuilt a brick structure (see photos). Their new theatre launched as the Rosebuds Twins on April 12, 1924 though quickly was known as the Rosebud Theatre as the “twin” appears to be an adjoining candy store and soda fountain. Its moniker derives from the 1920 novel by Sinclair Lewis, “Main Street" and its adaptation to a 1923 feature film. In the novel, the name of the theatre in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota – and on its first edition cover – is the Rosebud Movie Palace. The film version prominently features the setting as the Rosebud Theatre. This Rosebud theatre opened about a year after the film version.

That theatre became the Reno Theatre and, under new ownership with new sound system, became the original Avalon Theatre. The Rosebud(s)/Reno/Avalon was also knocked down replaced by a new build theater, the “new” Avalon Theatre which was a 1,000-seat venue built on the lot beginning at the corner of Lake and 15th Street or 1500 Lake.