Retlaw Theater
23 South Main Street,
Fond du Lac,
WI
54935
23 South Main Street,
Fond du Lac,
WI
54935
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The Retlaw property is currently for sale:
http://zacommercial.com/files/Download/Retlaw%20%26%20Main%20St.%20Properties%20-%20Brochure.pdf
From the early 1900s a postcard view of the Retlaw Theatre with Fond du Lac Theatre sign visible up the street from the Retlaw.
1982 Photo
Here is a photo of the Fusion Restaurant.
I can tell you the Retlaw NEVER had a balcony. At the time it was built, one of its claims to fame was that it was the largest single-floor theater in Wisconsin (around 1140 seats). The benefits of a single-floored auditorium were excellent sight lines and lower construction costs. The down-side was higher cost for land because the auditorium occupied more space per seat. All in all, it was a pretty house, but not very ornate along the side and back walls. The proscenium arch, faux-boxes fronting the organ chambers, and the ceiling were quite attractive. All of this ornamentation survives to this day, but I do not have any photos to show it.
Norm, Thanks for the inforamtion on the current status of the Retlaw. Its encouraging that there is a move to restore the theatre for the community, hopefully it will come to pass.
One question for anyone who may know…does/did the Retlaw have a balcony? The Sanborn maps that I’ve seen seem to indicate that it did not.
Here’s a link to contemporary photos of the Retlaw Theater’s exterior: http://webpages.charter.net/nlenburg/retlaw/
The building has a new owner. Chuck Boyd wants to restore the theater, but I don’t know what kind of progress he has made or what his timeline might be. He now refers to it by it’s original name: Retlaw,“ rather than Bravo Performing Arts Center. Nothing has changed in the signage, as the name above the canopy is "Fusion,” the name of the restaurant inside. I do not live in Fond du Lac and haven’t been inside the building for five years or more. I will be going to the city sometime in May, and will try to visit the theater.
Here’s a link to the restaurant web site:
http://www.fusionbymark.com/
Here’s a link to a story that appeared last fall regarding a commemorative holiday ornamant featuring the Retlaw:
http://www.actiononline.net/feature10_28.html
A photo of the theater from late 1956 or early 1957 is included with the ornamnet design superimposed. The windows seen above the canopy were covered over sometime after the photo was taken in a remodel and remain covered today. There is a brief reference at the end of the “Retlaw Theater memories” article to Mr. Boyd and his plans for the theater.
Since the Bravo Productions site does not appear to work, what is the current status of the former Retlaw? Has there been any movement towards restoration?
Here’s a link to an early post card view of the Retlaw Theater:
http://webpages.charter.net/nlenburg/Retlaw.htm
A Barton theater organ size 3/11 was installed in the Retlaw Theater in 1925.
One of my best memories from my childhood in Fond du Lac was going to see Disney’s Pinocchio at the Retlaw when it was still one large grand theater. This was in the late 70’s and the Retlaw seemed larger than life and breathtakingly beautiful with it’s ornate lighting and gilded ceilings and the grand lobby.
One correction I need to note about the theater’s history is that it was actually split into three screens in the mid-80’s. There was one larger theater in the middle with two small theaters on either side. In the later 80’s, two additional screens were built onto the back of the original building making it a five-screen. Each theater replicated and preserved the decor of the original. I was proud at the time to say my hometown had preserved and modernized a gorgeous, historical downtown movie house maintaining its original splendor.
My heart broke when I learned the Retlaw was closed in the late 90’s following the opening of the new (and un-originally named) Fond du Lac Theater multiplex on the west side of town by the freeway. When my parents told me the Retlaw was being re-opened as a performing arts center, my hopes were high that it would succeed and future generations could see how wonderful a place it truly is. I’m going to see my niece in a play there and will see it for the first time in years. I pray the new owners have done the old Retlaw justice.