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The latest movie theater news and updates
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February 18, 2010
Efforts to restore Sioux Falls' State Theater boosted by $200,000 grant
SIOUX FALLS, SD — The ongoing drive to restore and reopen the State Theatre has made major progress as the result of a matching grant made by the Interior Department’s Save America’s Treasures program. The grant is worth up to $200,000 in matching funds. A capital campaign is being launched to raise additional funds. The theater’s Board of Directors hopes to reopen the theater for movies in 2011.
That could account for about 40 percent of the theater’s $5.7 million restoration budget, Stacy Newcomb Weiland, president of the State Theatre board of directors, said Tuesday.
That includes finished work such as roof replacement, faade restoration, marquee repair, asbestos removal and plumbing and electrical work. Long-range goals include restoring the balcony and repairing the original organ.
Read more here in the Argus Leader.
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February 17, 2010
Save the Watson Theatre!
WATSONTOWN, PA — Save the Watson Theatre, a non-profit initiative is running a Kickstarter campaign soliciting monetary pledge donations to purchase and preserve the 70 year-old, single-screen movie theatre in Watsontown, Pennsylvania. From February 15 – March 15, 2010, donors can make pledges on http://www.kickstarter.com/ (search: Watson Theatre) or directly through http://kck.st/bxp6MQ This is a pledge drive, and donors are not required to issue any funds unless the entire project goal is achieved. With less than 300 single-screen movie theatres remaining in the United States, it is vital to small cities and towns across the country to preserve the legacy of the theatre as a cultural cornerstone of the community.
The Watson Theatre is located at 131 Main Street, Watsontown, Pennsylvania, a location that has been home to a theatre since 1912. The current Watson Theatre opened in 1940 and closed in September 2009. The Save the Watson Theatre project was launched by area native, Matthias Sundberg in February 2010 to raise funds to purchase the theatre and its equipment to establish The Watson Theatre Foundation, a non-profit community organization. Future projects include special programming such as a featured filmmaker series, midnight movies, and a local filmmaker showcase, as well as film festivals, and community film classes on history and technique.
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Happy 85th Anniversary, Wheaton Grand Theatre
WHEATON, IL — When the Wheaton Grand Theatre opened its doors on May 25, 1925, it was a landmark event that brought theatrical excitement from the major cities into the western suburbs.
Designed by Chicago architect, Norman Brydges, The Wheaton Grand was a showcase theatre where talented vaudeville performers graced the stage, silent movies brought laughter and tears to the screen. Once restored, the theatre will obtain a rare 4/26 Robert Morton Theatre Organ console from the historic Loew’s Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York.
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LAHTF’s February 20th “All About the Academy”
INGLEWOOD, CA — The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation (www.lahtf.org )
in association with The Historic Sites Preservation Committee of Inglewood
presentAll About The Academy and Fox Inglewood
An overview of Inglewood’s Historic Theatres and a photographic tour of the FoxSaturday, February 20, 10:30 am; Doors open at 10:00am
Free Admission — The Public is Invited
The Academy Cathedral
3141 W Manchester Blvd. (at Crenshaw)
Inglewood CA 90305
Parking available behind the Cathedral
Visit www.lahtf.org for additional information -
February 16, 2010
Huge D.C. snowfall prompts recollections of 1922 Knickerbocker Theater tragedy
WASHINGTON, DC — In 1922, over two feet of snow collapsed the roof of one of the District’s most palatial movie theaters, the Knickerbocker. Scores of people were killed and injured. The recent big snowfall in the nation’s capital inspired this reminiscence of the disaster from theWashington Post.
The roof, covered with 28 inches on Jan. 28, pressed down on a faulty truss. One edge of the truss slipped off the wall and fell onto the crowd of 300 Saturday night filmgoers below. Then the entire roof — girders, beam, trusses, concrete — collapsed like a sheet cake.
“After I fell quite a way the floor of the balcony seemed to open from under me and then I dropped through with nothing under me,” survivor George Brodie wrote to his sister a few days later. “The screams around me woke me up… . I was practically buried under plaster and pieces of the chairs. Everything was pitch dark and as soon as I could I squirmed around and crawled out into a place that reminded me of a cave.”
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Historic renovation of Masonic Lodge
Nestled in the quiet downtown of the historic town of Enfield North Carolina has sat a relic of a prior life. Unobtrusive to passers by for many years, the beautiful art deco Masonic Temple of Enfield, built in the early 20’s, will soon become the home of a cultural arts center.
A masterpiece of architectural significance and the tallest building in Enfield, the former Masonic Temple will be renamed “The Lodge at Roanoke Valley” and will be a multi media entertainment and dining establishment unrivaled in Eastern North Carolina.
The Lodge will utilize existing features of the building to introduce a new and exciting reuse that will feature theatre, dance, yoga and health programs, film retrospectives, film and video soundstage facilities, studio space for artists and dancers, a museum dedicated to the history of the long lived Masonic Temple and its leaders, lecture hall, and dinner theater. It will be a prominent addition to the live music scene that is burgeoning in the region.
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Vintage Marquee Letters A thru Z and Numbers 0 thru 9 for sale
What a great find! Own a piece of history! All marquee letters and numbers from the 1926 Hiland Theater of Ft. Thomas, Kentucky now for sale for the first time. Nice antique piece that will add character to any room in your house!
Great to spell out a word for decorating… Spell out M-O-V-I-E for your Home Theater, or F-U-N for a game room, or E-A-T for a kitchen, or J-A-C-O-B for a boy’s room, or N for a last name…. the possibilities are endless!! Get creative and order as many letters or numbers as you need!
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February 15, 2010
How a search for a lecture hall led to the rescue of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square theaters
CLEVELAND, OH — One of the nation’s most successful theater restoration projects had a very simple beginning: the search of a Cleveland Board of Education worker looking for a place that could be used as a temporary lecture hall. Borrowing the keys to the closed, soon-to-be demolished State Theater on Euclid Avenue, Ray Shepardson unwittingly began the effort that would culminate in the rescue and restoration of the State, Ohio, Palace, Allen, and Hanna theaters over the next forty years, as well as changing the direction of his life forever.
It had been stripped of its Greek, Roman and Baroque filigrees in preparation for its demolition. But Shepardson, a former Mercedes salesman with no experience in theater or historic preservation, was impressed.
“I was in awe,” Shepardson, now 66, said from Wheaton, Ill., where he has been trying for five years to restore another historic theater.
Read the story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
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Binghamton, NY theater named to endangered list
BINGHAMTON, NY — The Stone Opera House, which opened in 1892 and which operated as a movie house from 1930 to 1978 as the Riviera Theatre, has been named to the annual list of most endangered historic resources by the Preservation League of New York State. The inclusion of the theater on the list will permit the League to work with local officials and other agencies in the effort to restore and reuse the theater.
As movie theater crowds diminished with the growing popularity of television, Binghamton’s theaters closed, many to be torn down. The Stone Opera House shut its doors in 1978. While the ground floor commercial space has been occupied sporadically, the theater has been largely vacant for three decades.
“Seven to Save designation has a proven record of mobilizing community leaders and decision-makers to take action when historic resources are threatened,” said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League. “Through this program, we provide targeted support to seven of New York’s most important and endangered historic resources, which are threatened by insensitive, ineffective or insufficient public policies, general neglect, and, in some cases, outright demolition.”
The Preservation League will help municipal and non-profit leaders seek an appropriate and sustainable reuse for the Stone Opera House, which could boost Binghamton’s ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.
There is more at Newschannel 34.
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Oakland T&D Theater lights for sale
Four large art deco? chandeliers. Must be picked up in SF Bay Area.
Provide email address for photos.