Laurel Theater
2310 San Pedro Avenue,
San Antonio,
TX
78212
2310 San Pedro Avenue,
San Antonio,
TX
78212
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I worked at the Theatre for about 3 years; usher for 1 and Asst Mgr for 2. If you search other sites you can find Pictures. I was there from 1961 to 1964. Manager was Mr. Kruger. When I was Assistant Mgr. I made sure we had the prettiest Candy Girls (Concession Stand) in town… LOL
I can remember many movies, but the best I actually loved was West Side Story. Can you believe it…. a Musical ! LOL After seeing it many times, I finally really got to enjoy. Oh, I always wore Cowboy boots, not that you would remember, lol.
When I first hired in the Manager was Mr. Blankenship. A Mr. Powers was the BIG boss over the San Antonio chain. Office was over the big theatre downtown close to the SA river.
I graduated from Lee in 62 and also went to SAC before joining the AF in 64
Sad to say, it was torn down in 80’s.
Jim
Beat City,Great story,You had it made,reminds me of a story of a friend who’s dad was a projectioinst in Tampa,During the summer my friend,Michael, would watch double features everynight on the roof of the one of the many Drive-ins in Tampa,hope your grades didn’t suffer,you lucky kid.Lol.
His name was A.C. and he used to take me to the theater all the time when I was a kid, my sisters and I would sit up in the balcony, which was usually roped off and watch movies. I can’t remember how many times I saw Rocky and The Pink Panther movies. I believe they showed Rolling Thunder there as well as One flew over the Cuckoos Nest and Carrie, he did let us watch the end of Carrie when she reached up from beyond the grave. I think they also show The Exorcist there, but he wouldn’t let us watch that one, we left SA in 78 and I was 9 yrs old, so you can see why he wouldn’t let us watch certain movies. I remember going with him to Mr. Braha’s office and there was another guy with silver hair, can’t remember his name right now. I have vague memories of The Aztec, my memories are mainly of the New Laurel, I remember he brought home a lot of promotional stuff, t-shirts, 45’s posters and autographs. After watching movies in the balcony all day he would take us to the Century South to watch more movies, Jaws, Star Wars, The Incredible Melting Man, Manitou etc.
Nice vertical on the LAUREL THEATRE.
If you have any stories of your dad please post them.Most of us were theatre managers.
If anyone has any more pics of the place I’d love it if you posted them. My dad’s passed away now and I don’t have many pics of the theater, it’d be crazy if someone had pics of him at the theater.
My dad managed this theater in the 70’s, all the up until 1978. I saw Rocky and all The Pink Panther movies there in the balcony over and over again. It was the coolest thing when you’re a 7 yr old.
Was this theater known as the New Laurel? Here are some 1984 photos:
Photo1
Photo2
Photo3
I am correcting myself a second time. It must be age. The Laurel was razed in Sept. 1986 rather than 1987.
On a previous post I gave the website of the Laurel Theatre and I entered it without cap letters. To go to the site, go to: http://www.satheatres.com/Laurel_Theatre.php
There are some comments about a fish tank. According to John Igo, the Uptown had a foutain in the lobby. The reason it was in the center of the lobby was due to an incident in the 1930’s. The union was at war with the owners, Community Theatres and set off a bomb in the lobby. With creative thinking, the owners took the hole in the floor which was close to some drain pipes and created a fountain in the center.
The Laurel Theatre was built by Interstate Theatre Circuit and was designed by John Eberson. It opened in January 1945. The owner was Joseph J. Barshop. It continued to be an Interstate Theatre showing second run movies until it was sold to Maurice Braha in 1978, who renamed it the New Laurel Theatre. Braha closed the theatre in 1982 and razed it in 1987. The theatre had a balcony and the total seating was 918. For more information go to http://www.satheatres.com/laurel_theatre.php
Submitted by Gary W. Yantis, San Antonio Theatres: Now & Then
Eberson also designed the Woodlawn Theatre in San Antonio which opened August 17, 1945. Both theatres were similar in design.
The Laurel seated 750 people, not 350. It was built in 1940 and was operated by Interstate Theatres, Tom Sumners, Cinema Arts Theatres, Theatre Corporations, and Braha Theatres. It was extremely well built. It was all concrete and steel. It was not an easy theatre to demolish!
The “New” Laurel was what Maurice Braha renamed the Laurel after he bought and renovated it in the mid 70s. The New Laurel had quite a few exclusive United Artist runs because of problems UA had at the time with some of the other chains. The renovation modernized the Laurel, but took away a lot of it’s charm. It was the first San Antonio theatre to install Dolby stereo!
The Laurel had a small balcony, and never had a curtain in front of it’s massive screen. It was always one of my favorite theatres when I was a kid, and I worked at the Laurel off and on throughout the 70s. When the UA problems with other chains were solved, the New Laurel became a 99 cent theatre.
The theatre was known back in the mid and late 70s as the place where “exclusive engagements” were held. The CBS affiliate in town KENS ran frequent promotion of releases at “the NEW Laurel Theatre.”
I went to a good number of very pleasant single-screen theatres in San Antonio in the latter half of 1966 when I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base. I know I went to the Laurel a couple of times. I can’t remember what I saw, but “The Moment of Truth” is one possibility, and “The Bible” is another. I can’t be sure.
I tried to buy the Laurel in the early eighties. I was going to adaptively reuse it into lofts, but the owners were adamant about tearing it down so they could get their taxes lowered. Another treasure lost.
Hi Dick:
Even though I was born and raised here in S.A., I was away for many years. Sorry, but I don’t remember the lobby you describe. I’m not even sure I was ever in the Uptown. It was not the Josephine, at least in 1953, because I worked there that year. While the Josephine is not in the Cinema Treasures database, it is in current use as a home for Musical Theatre productions.
Emory,
There was a San Antonio theater that had a large round goldfish tank in the center of the lobby. The outer walls of the tank were black and white tile. I think the theater was either the Josephine or the Uptown. Does this ring any bells with you?
I worked for Interstate Theaters in the early 1950s, at the Texas, Majestic, Empire, Laurel, and Woodlawn. I was at the Laurel in 1951, so I know it predates that. At the time, it seemed fairly new, so I suspect (but am not sure) that it went up shortly after WWII.
The address for the Laurel Theatre is correct at 2310 San Pedro. But it wasn’t a corner building so the building you pulled up on map quest is not the Laurel. Here is a link that will take you to a pic of the Laurel. http://www.geocities.com/missy78214/laurelid.html
When did it get the name New Laurel Theatre though.
I recently came across a picture of the Laurel Theatre and it was a very nice single screen theatre. There were two poster windows on each side. In the picture, the movies that were showing were “Girl Rush” and “March of Time” with a cartoon. Sadly, I read somewhere it is now the parking lot for the school across the street after it was completely demolised. I also thought like Michael and believed it was the structure on the corner with a tall odd tower, but someone informed me that it was incorrect also.
I think the building you see there now is an interesting and really old structure that’s housed a variety of buisnesses over the years. It’s still there. The Laurel Theater was south of that building—the last time I drove past there I remember seeing parts of the theater’s foundation. When I was attending San Antonio Jr. College in ‘65,'66 & '67, I drove past it everyday. Now I go by there once every couple of years but I’ll try to swing by there this weekend to take another look.
I’m curious about this theater. My family lived on Mulberry near San Pedro in 63-64. I remember walking to a theater nearby and seeing movies such as “Flipper” and some grade B movie called “Rhino”. According to CinemaTour.com there was a “Laurel Theater” at 2310 San Pedro, which is about where I remember the theater according to a MapQuest search. There is still a building there with an odd tower and a corner entrance. Are we sure the theater was torn down? The building could pre-date the supposed 80s demolition. CinemaTour cites the theater as closed, not demolished.
Michael
Puyallup, Washington
Great theater on San Pedro Road a couple of miles south of the Olmos theater which is now a school of some sort. Hated to see the Laurel torn down years ago —went to alot of movies there. There and the Broadway (now a bank building) and the Woodlawn (on Fredericksberg Road) and the Josephine. San Antonio had a bunch of great “independent” single screen theaters. Downtown we had the Majestic (still standing with live plays and concerts), the Aztec (now closed), the Texas (closed), the State (long time closed) and the Prince (closed) and the Empire (both well known to myself and my high school classmates for the late 1950’s and early 1960’s nudie movies).