The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist noted this theater project at 1419-1421 W. Madison Street. The architect was William F. Pagels.
The April 3, 1910, issue of The Economist said that the theater and store building to be built at 51st Street and Calumet Avenue for the Willard Amusement Company had been designed by architect Henry L. Newhouse.
An item in the February 19, 1910, issue of The Economist said that architects Hall & Westerlind had prepared plans for a project at North Clark Street and Farragut Avenue. It was to include stores, flats, and a theater on a parcel 117x160 feet. This must be the place.
Hall & Westerlind (Eric E. Hall and Carl W. Westerlind) also designed the 1914 Ideal Theatre in the Lincoln Park district.
This item is from the July 4, 1925, issue of Motion Picture News:
“The Marr & Colton Co. installed an organ in the West Park theatre, operated by Lefkowitz [sic] & Polster. This beautiful theatre was recently opened and is attracting excellent crowds.”
Then there is this item from the April 19, 1937, issue of The Film Daily:
“Cleveland — An 1,800-seat theater, to be called the New West Park, is now being constructed by Max Lefkowich and associates.”
The “New West Park Theatre” was built, but it opened as the Riverside Theatre.
I notice that the marquee of the Orpheum in our vintage photo advertises the Ginger Rogers movie Roxie Hart, which was released in 1942. If there was a fire in the Orpheum in 1936, the house clearly had reopened under the same name after that. It was the 1943 fire that led to the final closure the Orpheum.
Further evidence that the Orpheum did not close down permanently after a fire in 1936 is this from the Theater History page of the Eltrym Theatre’s web site, about events following the destruction of the Clarick Theatre by fire in 1937:
“The Buckmillers were not completely out of luck, however, as they had their other theaters to keep them busy. The Orpheum Theater operated in the former location of Marilyn’s Music, between the Lone Pine Cafe and Betty’s books. The Empire was located in the building that is next to what is now the US Bank parking lot.”
Obviously, the Orpheum did not close permanently until after the 1943 fire. Wartime restrictions of civilian construction probably prevented its rebuilding and reopening as the Baker Theatre until after the war.
The July 13, 1912, issue of Construction News said that architects Worthman & Steinbach were preparing plans for a 297-seat, one-story, brick, 5-cent theater, 25x125 feet, in Chicago Lawn. If this was the only movie house built in the neighborhood in 1912, the announcement must have been about the Lawn Theatre.
Broan: Is there a date for the Sanborn map? If it’s post-1912, it makes me think it even more likely that the 1912-13 structure was at least in part expanded upward rather than entirely demolished. Satellite view shows that the section fronting Pensacola Street, in the area that is unbuilt on the Sanborn map, looks like it is a separate but partly attached structure, though tied into the rest of the street front by a facade of light brown face brick. It seems like this configuration would not have been done had the building been entirely new in the 1920s.
The configuration of the storefronts is the same in the current building as on the map, with three narrower stores at 4334 through 4338, and the wider storefront at 4340 where the theater was, with a new door added at its south end for access to the apartments upstairs. The rear building on Pensacola has what looks like its own entrance, with a fancy white plaster or terra cotta surround. It looks like the corner storefront has a back door on Pensacola, too.
There’s also something odd at the rear of the theater’s footprint. A second floor section looks like it isn’t attached above the first floor to either building. I wonder if it might be small living quarters, or an office, for the storefront where the theater used to be, accessed only by a stairway within that store?
Architect Harry I. Dalsey was taking bids on a one-story brick building to contain three stores and a 300-seat movie theater at the corner of Western and Pensacola Avenue, for owners Kusel & Harns, as noted in the November 8, 1912, issue of Construction News.
If the Favorite Theatre was in operation by 1911, perhaps its original building was replaced in 1912-1913. And as the three-story building on the site today has four storefronts, perhaps the 1912 building was not demolished in the 1920s, but had the two floors of apartments added above the existing brick building, and the theater was converted into a fourth storefront?
The November 8, 1912 ,issue of Construction News said that architects Postle & fisher were taking bids on a one story brick building, 105x75 feet, to contain two stores and a theater, on Wentworth Avenue near 73rd Street. H, P. Waynan and J. M. Grossmith were the owners of the project.
A permit had been applied for to build a one-story brick theater, 140x50 feet, at 4346 W.Madison Street, according to the October 12, 1912, issue of Construction News. Owner of the project was Leopold Semon, the architect was C. W. Christiansen (or perhaps Christianson— I’ve seen both spellings, but can’t confirm either as correct.)
Damen Avenue was called Robey Street until 1927, so this item from the September 21, 1912, issue of Construction News must be about the Advance Theatre:
“Stores Offices & Theater— $30.000. Robey, Lincoln Av. and Irving Park Blvd. Archt. H.I. Dalsey 1123 Throop St. Owners Kusel & Harris, 30 N. La Salle St., taking bids to close at once. Brk., and re. conc., 2 stys.”
Architect Harry Dalsey was quite active during this period. If bids on the project were being taken in September, it’s possible that the project was completed before the end of 1912, but even if not the theater was surely open by early 1913.
The “Picture Theatres” section of Gus Hill’s National Theatrical Directory for 1914-1915 lists two movie houses in Baker City: The 600-seat Orpheum, a fifteen-cent house, and the 350-seat Grand, a ten-cent house. Both theater were managed by A. B. Hager. The guide also lists a 951-seat Baker Theatre, presenting music and drama, which was probably the Baker Opera House.
Oddly, the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Piture Directoy lists only the Grand at Baker City.
The September 17, 1917, issue of Motion Picture News had this item about the theaters in Baker City:
“THE Orpheum, Grand and Empire theatres at Baker City. Ore., have all been completely remodeled under the direction of J. P. Cotter, owner and manager. New equipment throughout has been installed, with a new pipe organ in the Orpheum. Contracts for the entire Artcraft. Paramount and Fox output have been made. The three houses have a combined seating capacity of 1,275, in a population of 8,000.”
The October 2, 1943, issue of Showmens Trade Review filed this brief report on a fire at the Orpheum:
“A spectacular fire at Orpheum Theatre block
in Baker, Ore., caused a loss of $75,000. The cause was undetermined. Frank Buckmiller, owner, was insured.”
Myrtle Buckmiller’s entry into the theater business at Baker City was noted in the January 5, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News:
“Mrs. Myrtle Buckmiller has purchased the interests of the Haselton Theatres, Inc., of Baker, Ore., consisting of the Clarick, Orpheum and Empire Theatres. She will be president of the company and also assume active management of the houses.”
The 1909-1910 Cahn guide lists the Baker Opera House as a ground-floor theater with a stage 30 feet deep from footlights to back wall and 59 ½ feet between side walls. There were 400 seats on the orchestra floor, 302 in the balcony, and 375 in the gallery.
The September 13, 1900, issue of Engineering News reported that the contract had been let to Grant & Haines for construction of the new opera house at Baker City, but no details were provided. A late 1900 opening is possible, but early 1901 is as likely.
The Local History Collections of the Saskatoon Public Library gives this sequence of the names for this theater:
Original Theatre built in 1913 and opened as Victoria Theatre. 1930-1965 it became the Tivoli Theatre. In 1965 it was modernized and opened as the Odeon Theatre. In 1992 the name changed to the Paradise Theatre and by 2009 the theatre was extensively renovated and became part of O'Brien’s Event Centre.
The library has several photos of the theater, but I’ve been unable to make any functional links to them. Start with this page and scroll down to the link that says “At the Movies: a Photographic Exhibition”. This gallery has links to additional galleries with multiple photos of many of Saskatoon’s theaters, including the Victoria and Tivoli.
The Empire Theatre was designed by the Regina architectural firm of Storey & Van Egmond (Edgar M. Storey and William Gysbert Van Egmond.) The house opened on December 29, 1910, with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “H.M.S. Pinafore” featuring members of the Saskatoon Amateur Operatic Society. Renovations in 1918 made it possible to show moving pictures more frequently, but occasional stage production were still mounted after the Empire became a full-time movie house.
W. B. Urling, one of the original partners in the Alpine Theater Circuit, was still active in operating the LaBelle and another South Charleston house called the Victory Theatre at least as late as 1960, when The February 1 issue of Boxoffice, mentioning both houses, said that he had recently visited West Palm Beach, Florida.
This page about the LaBelle says that the theater was renamed Cinema South in the late 1960s, and operated as a movie theater into the 1980s. It was used as a church through the 1990s, until being bought in 2003 by the City of South Charleston, who restored both the theater and its original name.
This photo from the Historic Wayne County Facebook page shows the Kenova Theatre on Chestnut Street, across the street from the Post Office. The Post office is still standing, but the theater building has been demolished and replaced by a senior citizens housing project called Roxanna Booth Manor, located at 1315 Chestnut Street.
This web page from the office of West Virginia’s Secretary of State says that the Martin Theater Company of South Charleston filed for incorporation on July 31, 1948. It was dissolved by court order on May 13, 1957.
As the company was incorporated in 1948 and the Martin first shows up in the FDY in the 1950 edition, the theater was probably opened in 1949, but not in time to notify the FDY’s publishers before that edition went to press. I don’t know when the yearbook went to press, but if the final date for making changes or additions to the 1949 edition was before the end of 1948, the Martin might even have opened in the latter part of that year.
Although the Film Daily Yearbooks list the Star with 550 seats, the building at 810 Hewitt (currently occupied by C & G’s Antiques) is far too small to have held a theater that size. I’m guessing it had 330 or 350, and somebody wrote at least one of their threes in a way that made it look like a five.
The lot the building is on also slopes up toward the rear, and as the roof is quite low at the back I am wondering if the Star might have been one of the rare breed called reverse theaters, with the screen at the entrance end of the auditorium. Of course the building might once have been taller and got cut down at some point.
On our Kearse Theatre page I found this comment about the Rialto, posted by kencmcintyre on November 16, 2006. Perhaps the Rialto had not yet been added to the CT database at that time, but the comment has a long quote from some publication (Ken didn’t cite a source, but it was probably one of Charleston’s local newspapers) which belongs here, and since Ken isn’t around anymore I’ll post it:
“THEATER WON’T DIE – ‘Closed’ Rialto Reopens Friday
“The last film at the Rialto was ‘13 Ghosts.’ But the 43-year-old theater in the Morrison Building on Quarrier Street is not one of them. After a shutdown of four days, the Rialto will reopen tomorrow with ‘The Apartment,’ the picture being shifted from the Virginian, also a unit of Stanley Warner Corp.
“Newspaper ads last week announced that the Rialto would be closed last Sunday night, ending the four-decade life of the theater. John Cox, the Rialto’s manager, was transferred to the Warner Fairmont theater. William Wyatt, manager of the Virginian, was ordered by the Pittsburgh region office to take over the closing of the Rialto.
“Last Monday, Wyatt moved dozens of large cartons into the theater for packing of the seats. A filing case was removed from the Rialto office to the Virginian. ‘All I can say now is that the lease for the Rialto has been renewed with the Stanley Warner Corp.’ said John Morrison, an owner of the Morrison building. He declined to discuss prospective remodeling of the building, which at its birth in 1917 was the pride of Charleston for its elegance.”
This web page devoted to Quarrier Street starts with a photo of the block the Rialto was on. The theater’s vertical sign is prominent, but I see no marquee. I am having a hard time figuring how the theater fit into this rather dense block.
The caption under the photo says that the Rialto was built in 1917, and says that the auditorium was entered from the side, with the orchestra floor and screen to the left and a stadium style “balcony” to the right. Given the location of the theater entrance and the configuration of the building the entrance was in, I just can’t see how a 783-seat theater was shoehorned into the space.
This item is from the Tuesday, January 3, 1928, issue of The Film Daily:
“Everett Opening Thursday
“Everett, Wash. — The new Granada, erected on the site of the old Rose, opens Thursday. It will have both Movietone and Vitaphone as features. R. F. Charles is general manager.”
R. F. Charles had previously been operator of the Star Theatre, a small house on Hewitt Avenue.
Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society’s Granada Theatre page says that a Wurlitzer Style B “Special” theater organ, opus #1769, was installed as part of the 1927 renovation.
I believe that most of the Balboa Theatre building is still
standing, though little, if any, of the theater remains intact inside the shell. The Balboa was built in conjunction with the adjacent Rumbaugh’s Department Store, on the corner of Wetmore Avenue and California Street. Rumbaugh’s was sold and re-branded as a Bon Marche store, a regional chain, in the 1940s. The Balboa closed in 1953 [May 3] and the department store expanded into the former theater space.
In 1994, three years after the Bon Marche closed, the building, under renovation and renamed the Port Gardner Building, was nominated for inclusion on Everett’s local historic registry. A document prepared at that time (PDF
here) had a bit about the theater:
“During work on the building, remnants of the Balboa Theater were uncovered. On the south side of the building, these remnants had to be removed for seismic strengthening, but on the north wall the remnants have been preserved and could be restored.
“The Historical Commission recommended that there be administrative review for minor changes. Major changes would require Historical Commission review. The Commission also noted that they would like to see the remaining decoration from the Balboa Theater maintained. Any change to the interior that would remove or destroy the last remnants of the Balboa would have to be reviewed by the Commission.”
I don’t know if the surviving decorative elements of the Balboa have been preserved though the two decades plus since this report was written, but that the building itself is still standing, except perhaps for a small section at the southwest corner, as can be seen in Google’s satellite view, is pretty obvious.
For a number of years the entire complex was occupied by Trinity Lutheran College, but more recently (August, 2017, according to this article on their web site) an outfit called Funko (“Purveyors of Pop Culture”) has installed its headquarters and a retail store in the complex. Perhaps someone living in, or near, or visiting Everett can check the place out and see if those remnants of the Balboa’s decor that were still intact in 1994 have survived.
Since Google Maps has chosen to do something weird and limiting with the street view image it fetches for this page, here is a quick link to a street view that can actually be moved around normally.
The “Building Permits” column of the January 8, 1910, issue of The Economist noted this theater project at 1419-1421 W. Madison Street. The architect was William F. Pagels.
The April 3, 1910, issue of The Economist said that the theater and store building to be built at 51st Street and Calumet Avenue for the Willard Amusement Company had been designed by architect Henry L. Newhouse.
An item in the February 19, 1910, issue of The Economist said that architects Hall & Westerlind had prepared plans for a project at North Clark Street and Farragut Avenue. It was to include stores, flats, and a theater on a parcel 117x160 feet. This must be the place.
Hall & Westerlind (Eric E. Hall and Carl W. Westerlind) also designed the 1914 Ideal Theatre in the Lincoln Park district.
This item is from the July 4, 1925, issue of Motion Picture News:
Then there is this item from the April 19, 1937, issue of The Film Daily:The “New West Park Theatre” was built, but it opened as the Riverside Theatre.I notice that the marquee of the Orpheum in our vintage photo advertises the Ginger Rogers movie Roxie Hart, which was released in 1942. If there was a fire in the Orpheum in 1936, the house clearly had reopened under the same name after that. It was the 1943 fire that led to the final closure the Orpheum.
Further evidence that the Orpheum did not close down permanently after a fire in 1936 is this from the Theater History page of the Eltrym Theatre’s web site, about events following the destruction of the Clarick Theatre by fire in 1937:
Obviously, the Orpheum did not close permanently until after the 1943 fire. Wartime restrictions of civilian construction probably prevented its rebuilding and reopening as the Baker Theatre until after the war.The July 13, 1912, issue of Construction News said that architects Worthman & Steinbach were preparing plans for a 297-seat, one-story, brick, 5-cent theater, 25x125 feet, in Chicago Lawn. If this was the only movie house built in the neighborhood in 1912, the announcement must have been about the Lawn Theatre.
Broan: Is there a date for the Sanborn map? If it’s post-1912, it makes me think it even more likely that the 1912-13 structure was at least in part expanded upward rather than entirely demolished. Satellite view shows that the section fronting Pensacola Street, in the area that is unbuilt on the Sanborn map, looks like it is a separate but partly attached structure, though tied into the rest of the street front by a facade of light brown face brick. It seems like this configuration would not have been done had the building been entirely new in the 1920s.
The configuration of the storefronts is the same in the current building as on the map, with three narrower stores at 4334 through 4338, and the wider storefront at 4340 where the theater was, with a new door added at its south end for access to the apartments upstairs. The rear building on Pensacola has what looks like its own entrance, with a fancy white plaster or terra cotta surround. It looks like the corner storefront has a back door on Pensacola, too.
There’s also something odd at the rear of the theater’s footprint. A second floor section looks like it isn’t attached above the first floor to either building. I wonder if it might be small living quarters, or an office, for the storefront where the theater used to be, accessed only by a stairway within that store?
Architect Harry I. Dalsey was taking bids on a one-story brick building to contain three stores and a 300-seat movie theater at the corner of Western and Pensacola Avenue, for owners Kusel & Harns, as noted in the November 8, 1912, issue of Construction News.
If the Favorite Theatre was in operation by 1911, perhaps its original building was replaced in 1912-1913. And as the three-story building on the site today has four storefronts, perhaps the 1912 building was not demolished in the 1920s, but had the two floors of apartments added above the existing brick building, and the theater was converted into a fourth storefront?
The November 8, 1912 ,issue of Construction News said that architects Postle & fisher were taking bids on a one story brick building, 105x75 feet, to contain two stores and a theater, on Wentworth Avenue near 73rd Street. H, P. Waynan and J. M. Grossmith were the owners of the project.
A permit had been applied for to build a one-story brick theater, 140x50 feet, at 4346 W.Madison Street, according to the October 12, 1912, issue of Construction News. Owner of the project was Leopold Semon, the architect was C. W. Christiansen (or perhaps Christianson— I’ve seen both spellings, but can’t confirm either as correct.)
Damen Avenue was called Robey Street until 1927, so this item from the September 21, 1912, issue of Construction News must be about the Advance Theatre:
Architect Harry Dalsey was quite active during this period. If bids on the project were being taken in September, it’s possible that the project was completed before the end of 1912, but even if not the theater was surely open by early 1913.The “Picture Theatres” section of Gus Hill’s National Theatrical Directory for 1914-1915 lists two movie houses in Baker City: The 600-seat Orpheum, a fifteen-cent house, and the 350-seat Grand, a ten-cent house. Both theater were managed by A. B. Hager. The guide also lists a 951-seat Baker Theatre, presenting music and drama, which was probably the Baker Opera House.
Oddly, the 1914-1915 edition of The American Motion Piture Directoy lists only the Grand at Baker City.
The September 17, 1917, issue of Motion Picture News had this item about the theaters in Baker City:
The October 2, 1943, issue of Showmens Trade Review filed this brief report on a fire at the Orpheum:Myrtle Buckmiller’s entry into the theater business at Baker City was noted in the January 5, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News:The 1909-1910 Cahn guide lists the Baker Opera House as a ground-floor theater with a stage 30 feet deep from footlights to back wall and 59 ½ feet between side walls. There were 400 seats on the orchestra floor, 302 in the balcony, and 375 in the gallery.
The September 13, 1900, issue of Engineering News reported that the contract had been let to Grant & Haines for construction of the new opera house at Baker City, but no details were provided. A late 1900 opening is possible, but early 1901 is as likely.
The Local History Collections of the Saskatoon Public Library gives this sequence of the names for this theater:
The library has several photos of the theater, but I’ve been unable to make any functional links to them. Start with this page and scroll down to the link that says “At the Movies: a Photographic Exhibition”. This gallery has links to additional galleries with multiple photos of many of Saskatoon’s theaters, including the Victoria and Tivoli.The Empire Theatre was designed by the Regina architectural firm of Storey & Van Egmond (Edgar M. Storey and William Gysbert Van Egmond.) The house opened on December 29, 1910, with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “H.M.S. Pinafore” featuring members of the Saskatoon Amateur Operatic Society. Renovations in 1918 made it possible to show moving pictures more frequently, but occasional stage production were still mounted after the Empire became a full-time movie house.
W. B. Urling, one of the original partners in the Alpine Theater Circuit, was still active in operating the LaBelle and another South Charleston house called the Victory Theatre at least as late as 1960, when The February 1 issue of Boxoffice, mentioning both houses, said that he had recently visited West Palm Beach, Florida.
This page about the LaBelle says that the theater was renamed Cinema South in the late 1960s, and operated as a movie theater into the 1980s. It was used as a church through the 1990s, until being bought in 2003 by the City of South Charleston, who restored both the theater and its original name.
This photo from the Historic Wayne County Facebook page shows the Kenova Theatre on Chestnut Street, across the street from the Post Office. The Post office is still standing, but the theater building has been demolished and replaced by a senior citizens housing project called Roxanna Booth Manor, located at 1315 Chestnut Street.
This web page from the office of West Virginia’s Secretary of State says that the Martin Theater Company of South Charleston filed for incorporation on July 31, 1948. It was dissolved by court order on May 13, 1957.
As the company was incorporated in 1948 and the Martin first shows up in the FDY in the 1950 edition, the theater was probably opened in 1949, but not in time to notify the FDY’s publishers before that edition went to press. I don’t know when the yearbook went to press, but if the final date for making changes or additions to the 1949 edition was before the end of 1948, the Martin might even have opened in the latter part of that year.
Although the Film Daily Yearbooks list the Star with 550 seats, the building at 810 Hewitt (currently occupied by C & G’s Antiques) is far too small to have held a theater that size. I’m guessing it had 330 or 350, and somebody wrote at least one of their threes in a way that made it look like a five.
The lot the building is on also slopes up toward the rear, and as the roof is quite low at the back I am wondering if the Star might have been one of the rare breed called reverse theaters, with the screen at the entrance end of the auditorium. Of course the building might once have been taller and got cut down at some point.
On our Kearse Theatre page I found this comment about the Rialto, posted by kencmcintyre on November 16, 2006. Perhaps the Rialto had not yet been added to the CT database at that time, but the comment has a long quote from some publication (Ken didn’t cite a source, but it was probably one of Charleston’s local newspapers) which belongs here, and since Ken isn’t around anymore I’ll post it:
This web page devoted to Quarrier Street starts with a photo of the block the Rialto was on. The theater’s vertical sign is prominent, but I see no marquee. I am having a hard time figuring how the theater fit into this rather dense block.
The caption under the photo says that the Rialto was built in 1917, and says that the auditorium was entered from the side, with the orchestra floor and screen to the left and a stadium style “balcony” to the right. Given the location of the theater entrance and the configuration of the building the entrance was in, I just can’t see how a 783-seat theater was shoehorned into the space.
Here is another early view of the Plaza Theatre, circa 1915.
This item is from the Tuesday, January 3, 1928, issue of The Film Daily:
R. F. Charles had previously been operator of the Star Theatre, a small house on Hewitt Avenue.Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society’s Granada Theatre page says that a Wurlitzer Style B “Special” theater organ, opus #1769, was installed as part of the 1927 renovation.
I believe that most of the Balboa Theatre building is still standing, though little, if any, of the theater remains intact inside the shell. The Balboa was built in conjunction with the adjacent Rumbaugh’s Department Store, on the corner of Wetmore Avenue and California Street. Rumbaugh’s was sold and re-branded as a Bon Marche store, a regional chain, in the 1940s. The Balboa closed in 1953 [May 3] and the department store expanded into the former theater space.
In 1994, three years after the Bon Marche closed, the building, under renovation and renamed the Port Gardner Building, was nominated for inclusion on Everett’s local historic registry. A document prepared at that time (PDF here) had a bit about the theater:
I don’t know if the surviving decorative elements of the Balboa have been preserved though the two decades plus since this report was written, but that the building itself is still standing, except perhaps for a small section at the southwest corner, as can be seen in Google’s satellite view, is pretty obvious.For a number of years the entire complex was occupied by Trinity Lutheran College, but more recently (August, 2017, according to this article on their web site) an outfit called Funko (“Purveyors of Pop Culture”) has installed its headquarters and a retail store in the complex. Perhaps someone living in, or near, or visiting Everett can check the place out and see if those remnants of the Balboa’s decor that were still intact in 1994 have survived.
Since Google Maps has chosen to do something weird and limiting with the street view image it fetches for this page, here is a quick link to a street view that can actually be moved around normally.