Cricket Theater
114 W. Main Street,
Collinsville,
AL
35961
114 W. Main Street,
Collinsville,
AL
35961
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Good luck to them.
The Historic Cricket Theatre in Collinsville, Alabama was recently purchased by The Collinsville Historic Association. A major restoration process is now underway to preserve and restore this beloved timepiece. The Annual Collinsville Quilt Walk Sept 24 & 25, 2010 will feature a tour of the progress. The Annual Collinsville Turkey Trot Nov 13, 2010 will be a major event this year with the proceeds going to help fund the restoration of The Cricket Theatre. The New Library in Collinsville was the first restoration project for the town beginning in 2002, completed and opened in 2009. Updates can be viewed on Collinsville Alabama Net. All donations for The Historic Collinsville Cricket Theatre can be accepted by The Collinsville Historic Association, PO Box 849, Collinsville, AL 35961
Boxoffice of May 22, 1948, ran this item datelined Collinsville: “Millard G. Weaver, owner of the Cricket and the Sandy theatres here, has announced his candidacy for mayor. Weaver opened his first theatre in Collinsville in 1924 and three years ago replaced it with a modern house.”
Boxoffice of January 29, 1968, referred to the Cricket as “long closed” when it was mentioned in an article about houses that had been reopened the previous year. The Cricket was in operation at least as late as 1977, when it was mentioned in the April 4 issue of Boxoffice.
The Cricket actually operated intermittently well into the 1970s. Boxoffice of January 29, 1968, listed the Cricket as one of several dark theatres in the region that had been reopened the previous year. But the very next issue of Boxoffice, February 5, said: “Gay Johnson, it has been reported, has closed his Cricket Theatre in Collinsville, Ala.”
The Cricket shows up again in Boxoffice of December 8, 1975, which reported that Jim Tripp, operator fo the DeKalb Theatre at Fort Payne, had reopened the Collinsville house. Tripp operated the Cricket at least until spring of 1977, when the April 4 issue of Boxoffice mentioned it again. I haven’t found it mentioned any later than that.
Need to update the header with the address
114 W. Main St.
I hit the wrong key, it should have been 114 W. Main St.
Address:
113 W. Main St.
Collinsville, AL. 35961
This is a 2008 close-up view.
why the name ‘cricket theater’? could someone explain please…
Here is an updated link for the 2007 photo.
This is a 2007 photo of the Cricket Theater building taken by Shani. The clock has been removed.
At least the clock is still working….
“Collinsville Historic Association:
One current project of the Historic Association is restoration of the Collinsville “Town Clock” which has long been a symbol and trademark of Collinsville ~ the fate of the Seth Thomas clock that once sat atop the Cricket Theatre, is no longer in jeopardy. In cooperation with the Town, CHA was instrumental in finding help in the form of a qualified restorer of classic time pieces. The clock has recently undergone a total restoration to its original condition and is currently on display at the Town Hall".
The first Cricket Theater may have had a Reproduco, which was a self-playing piano/organ combination instrument used for silent films, especially in the 1920’s.
I never knew the theater as being named anything other than the “Cricketâ€. The Cricket’s days did not end completely in 1964. In 1966-1967 Millard Weaver, more for nostalgia than profit, reopened the Cricket on Friday and Saturday nights to show mostly “second run†movies (recent films that had completed their showings in major theaters.) Unfortunately, television, automobiles (driving to Gadsden or Ft. Payne to see a current movie wasn’t that big a trip,) and demographics (Collinsville is in a rural area and only had slightly over 1,100 residents) fairly much doomed this venture. The city of Collinsville itself is slowly wasting away, so it is likely that the Cricket will never again open in any capacity.
I am the Jim Dalrymple in the posting above. I did, indeed, see “Gone With the Wind” in THIS Cricket Theatre. However, it was around 1950 when it was in re-release NOT the original realease. (I was only two years old when it was first released.)
I used to ride at lease weekly with Mr. Millard Weaver to the Sandy Theatre in nearby Crossville. He also owned that theatre.
The following is from the Collinsville, Alabama History and Archive site concerning movie theater history in that town.
“Collinsville’s first picture show was operated by Emory Williams. It stood on the north side of Main Street near the railroad and was an "Air Dome Theatre”. The Cricket Theatre, operated by Millard Weaver, ran its first show in 1925 in the building currently slated to become the Collinsville Library. The Cricket was moved to a new building equipped to seat 800 in 1946. It closed in 1964. A place in peril, the theatre is located in the heart of Collinsville on Main Street, and cost $60,000 to build. The theatre building is 66 x 140 feet, constructed of brick, concrete and steel. The Collinsville New Era described the new theatre in 1945 as “having the latest theatre chairs, modern rest rooms and complete year round air conditioning. The projection room will contain the latest in theatre projectors, strong hi-intensity arc lights, best projection lens that money can buy, and the sound installation will be complete range wide fidelity matched system by RCA. The air in the theatre will be washed, dehumidified, temperature controlled both summer and winter and circulated throughout the building by two giant 30,000 cfm air blowers. Not only will a patron breathe clean, fresh air, sit in a new spring bottom, upholstered seat, but the seating layout has been designed to give perfect vision of the large 15 x 20 foot plastic screen. The theatre will also contain a large stage complete with curtains, draperies, footlight and dressing rooms which will be furnished and decorated by the Scenic Studio of Knoxville. Temperature controlled drinking water will be available at a large foyer and lobby dispenser. The quaint name will be spelled out in dazzling neon lights, supported above the marquee by a giant V-type steel support 30 feet high. This modern marquee and neon structure will give off more illumination than the balance of the main street”.
The Cricket Theater operated by Millard Weaver was the first Cricket theater in Collinsville. It opened in 1926 and closed in the mid forties. The building was demolished and replaced by a library. The second Cricket theater was located on another part of Main St. Details are a litle sketchy on both theaters as far as dates go but the second Cricket opened around 1945-46. It was an 800 seat theater and cost $60,000 to build.
Both theaters are listed as being on Main Street. The second Cricket theater closed in 1964. I can’t find anymore info on it after it closed in 1964. From what I have read, both theaters were always known as the Cricket theater. Did the Cricket re-open as the Ritz theater? I have no idea, maybe someone else has more info on it.
In the post above, it is most likely that Jim Dalrymple saw “Gone With The Wind-1939” in the first Cricket theater that Millard Weaver owned.
The correct name of this theatre is The Cricket – NOT the Ritz. I first saw “Gone With The Wind” in this theatre as a ten year old boy. It also housed the local telephone exchange, complete with “number please” operators, in rooms upstairs. The owner, Millard Weaver, also owned the phone company.