The Emporis page for the Grandin Theatre attributes the design of the project to the local architectural and construction firm Eubank & Caldwell.
According to the City of Roanoke’s official plan for the Greater Raleigh Court neighborhood, the Grandin opened as the Community Theatre on March 26, 1932.
On February 25, 1912, Will Rogers appeared on the stage of the Grand Theatre at Augusta in a production of the musical show The Wall Street Girl. This must have been an out-of-town tryout for the show, which ran at George M. Cohan’s Theatre in New York from April 15 to June 1 that year, with Rogers doing what is listed as “a specialty number”.
There is also a reference to a New Grand Theatre at Augusta in
Henry T. Sampson’s Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Reviewing an appearance at the New Grand of the Kenner & Williams stock company, the Indianapolis Freeman of April 13, 1912, called the house “…one of the finest colored playhouses in the South” and added that it was owned by “…Messrs Evans and Cook.” I don’t know if this marked a sudden change in policy for the Grand Theatre or if the New Grand was a different house. I’ve been unable to find any other references to the New Grand or to Evans and Cook.
After the Grand Theatre burned in 1922, there were plans to replace it, noted in the October 12 issue of Manufacturers Record. Although the architect had already prepared plans and a contractor had been chosen, it appears that the $50,000 project was never carried out.
At the time the Lincoln Theatre opened in July, 1929, its lessee, R. W. Sherrill, had been operating the Marion Theatre since the middle of the previous winter, according to an article in the June 27 issue of The Smyth County News (PDF of the entire issue.) Sherrill intended to keep the Marion open, on a six-day schedule, and would show mostly westerns. At this time it was the only other theater operating in Marion.
This PDF of the June 27, 1929, issue of The Smyth County News contains several pages with items pertaining to the Lincoln Theatre, which was scheduled to open on July 1.
The papers of Louisville architectural firm D. X. Murphy & Bro. (Dennis Xavier Murphy and James Cornelius Murphy) include material relating to their work on the Buckingham Theatre in 1898-99 and in 1911, but with the address given as 223-227 W. Jefferson. The 1898-99 project is listed as “Buckingham Theatre, New” so its possible the Grand Opera House listed in the Cahn guide of 1897-98 was closed and replaced. The Buckingham Theatre was originally opened as a burlesque house by John Henry Whallen in 1880.
The Baxter Theatre dates to the early 1920s. The October 12, 1922, issue of Manufacturers Record had this item:
“Ky, – Louisville – Baxter Amusement Co.: $40,000 theater on Bardstown Rd.; 57x100 ft. fireproof; composition roof; concrete floors; metal doors; steel sash and trim; wire glass; ventilators; seating capacity 1000; D.X. Murphy & Bro., Archts., Louisville Trust Bldg.; J.F. Russell Contr., Marion E. Taylor Bldg.”
Architects Dennis Xavier Murphy and James Cornelius Murphy designed at least two other theaters in Louisville; the Buckingham Theatre, 223-227 West Jefferson Street, 1898-99 and 1911, and the Olympic Moving Picture Theatre, 326 East Market Street, 1911. The firm is best known for designing the iconic grandstand building at Churchill Downs race track. Their successor firm, Luckett & Farley, is still in existence.
The April 30, 1914, issue of theatrical paper The New York Age said that “Gaston & Jackson and Susie Sutton are at the Boston Theatre, Roanoke.” I’ve found references to both of these acts being on the African-American vaudeville circuit during this period. I haven’t found anything about Gaston & Jackson, but Susie Sutton appears to have been quite successful in vaudeville from 1910 through 1915, and later she appeared in movies and on stage, even having her own company of players in the mid-1920s.
The June 3, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Boston Theatre:
“The Boston to Be Enlarged.
“Roanoke, Va. — The Boston, the only colored theater here, now having a seating capacity of three hundred and fifty, is soon to be enlarged to a size that will give, it is reported, a seating capacity of approximately one thousand. This house is owned by A. Andrews and is managed by S. Andrews, they catering to the colored population of Roanoke.”
I haven’t found any follow-up items confirming that this expansion plan was actually carried out.
Here is an item from the June 3, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Buys Pastime to Close It.
“Marion, Va. — The Pastime theater has been acquired by C. B. Eccles, who operates the Marion, and has been closed up. The Pastime was the first theater in the field here, but it has been supplanted by the Marion, a new and very attractive one. The town is not large enough to support two such theaters and one had to go.”
The July 13, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News had this announcement: “R. W. Sherrill has a lease on the Lincoln, Marion, Va., opened July 1, and is operating it.”
Premier Cinemas' web site has this page about the addition of an IMAX screen to their Temple, Texas location. Two smaller theaters were combined and extended upward to create the space for the new room.
An existing retail building was converted into the Regal Downtown Mall Cinemas in 1996. This very large digital document contains, along with much bureaucratic red tape and letters from attorneys, some photos and renderings of the Violet Crown Cinema, and some drawings by the three architectural firms involved in the project: local firm Stoneking/Von Storch Architects, the original designers; Austin-based Domiteaux + Baggett Architects, a firm previously associated with the owners of Violet Crown Cinemas; and TK Architects, of Kansas City, theater specialists brought rather late in the game to finish the project.
This multiplex was remodeled twice by Kansas City based architectural firm TK Architects, first for National Amusements, for whom the firm did a stadium conversion and auditorium and lobby expansion, and then for Cinemark’s 2015 renovations. There are a few interior photos on this page of TK’s web site.
The Carmike Cinema in Edinburg was designed by Chattanooga-based architectural firm Artech Design Group. The firm also designed the IMAX project for the house.
The renovation of this multiplex for UltraStar Cinemas in 2010 was designed by Phoenix architectural firm Level 4 Studio (now defunct.) The original building was entirely gutted and rebuilt with stadium seating. The project had six all-ages theaters, the largest seating 250, plus five smaller screens seating 30 to 40 adults, and in these beer, wine, and food service were available.
The project also featured a cinema café . The total seating capacity was close to 1,600, according to this article in Film Journal.
The three-screen expansion of this multiplex for Carmike Cinemas in 2010 was accompanied by a complete renovation of the existing theaters. The project was designed by the Chattanooga-based architectural firm Artech Design Group.
The May 10, 1947, issue of Boxoffice said “R. H. Bolling opened his new theatre at Coeburn, Va., May 1.”
The Emporis page for the Grandin Theatre attributes the design of the project to the local architectural and construction firm Eubank & Caldwell.
According to the City of Roanoke’s official plan for the Greater Raleigh Court neighborhood, the Grandin opened as the Community Theatre on March 26, 1932.
Here is another PDF with the NRHP registration form for the Lincoln Theatre. It includes floor plans and a longitudinal section of the auditorium.
On February 25, 1912, Will Rogers appeared on the stage of the Grand Theatre at Augusta in a production of the musical show The Wall Street Girl. This must have been an out-of-town tryout for the show, which ran at George M. Cohan’s Theatre in New York from April 15 to June 1 that year, with Rogers doing what is listed as “a specialty number”.
There is also a reference to a New Grand Theatre at Augusta in Henry T. Sampson’s Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Reviewing an appearance at the New Grand of the Kenner & Williams stock company, the Indianapolis Freeman of April 13, 1912, called the house “…one of the finest colored playhouses in the South” and added that it was owned by “…Messrs Evans and Cook.” I don’t know if this marked a sudden change in policy for the Grand Theatre or if the New Grand was a different house. I’ve been unable to find any other references to the New Grand or to Evans and Cook.
After the Grand Theatre burned in 1922, there were plans to replace it, noted in the October 12 issue of Manufacturers Record. Although the architect had already prepared plans and a contractor had been chosen, it appears that the $50,000 project was never carried out.
At the time the Lincoln Theatre opened in July, 1929, its lessee, R. W. Sherrill, had been operating the Marion Theatre since the middle of the previous winter, according to an article in the June 27 issue of The Smyth County News (PDF of the entire issue.) Sherrill intended to keep the Marion open, on a six-day schedule, and would show mostly westerns. At this time it was the only other theater operating in Marion.
This PDF of the June 27, 1929, issue of The Smyth County News contains several pages with items pertaining to the Lincoln Theatre, which was scheduled to open on July 1.
The papers of Louisville architectural firm D. X. Murphy & Bro. (Dennis Xavier Murphy and James Cornelius Murphy) include material relating to their work on the Buckingham Theatre in 1898-99 and in 1911, but with the address given as 223-227 W. Jefferson. The 1898-99 project is listed as “Buckingham Theatre, New” so its possible the Grand Opera House listed in the Cahn guide of 1897-98 was closed and replaced. The Buckingham Theatre was originally opened as a burlesque house by John Henry Whallen in 1880.
The Baxter Theatre dates to the early 1920s. The October 12, 1922, issue of Manufacturers Record had this item:
Architects Dennis Xavier Murphy and James Cornelius Murphy designed at least two other theaters in Louisville; the Buckingham Theatre, 223-227 West Jefferson Street, 1898-99 and 1911, and the Olympic Moving Picture Theatre, 326 East Market Street, 1911. The firm is best known for designing the iconic grandstand building at Churchill Downs race track. Their successor firm, Luckett & Farley, is still in existence.The April 30, 1914, issue of theatrical paper The New York Age said that “Gaston & Jackson and Susie Sutton are at the Boston Theatre, Roanoke.” I’ve found references to both of these acts being on the African-American vaudeville circuit during this period. I haven’t found anything about Gaston & Jackson, but Susie Sutton appears to have been quite successful in vaudeville from 1910 through 1915, and later she appeared in movies and on stage, even having her own company of players in the mid-1920s.
The June 3, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Boston Theatre:
I haven’t found any follow-up items confirming that this expansion plan was actually carried out.Here is an item from the June 3, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:
The July 13, 1929, issue of Motion Picture News had this announcement: “R. W. Sherrill has a lease on the Lincoln, Marion, Va., opened July 1, and is operating it.”
Premier Cinemas' web site has this page about the addition of an IMAX screen to their Temple, Texas location. Two smaller theaters were combined and extended upward to create the space for the new room.
An existing retail building was converted into the Regal Downtown Mall Cinemas in 1996. This very large digital document contains, along with much bureaucratic red tape and letters from attorneys, some photos and renderings of the Violet Crown Cinema, and some drawings by the three architectural firms involved in the project: local firm Stoneking/Von Storch Architects, the original designers; Austin-based Domiteaux + Baggett Architects, a firm previously associated with the owners of Violet Crown Cinemas; and TK Architects, of Kansas City, theater specialists brought rather late in the game to finish the project.
There are several photos of the Epic Lee Vista on this page at the web site of TK Architects."
This multiplex was remodeled twice by Kansas City based architectural firm TK Architects, first for National Amusements, for whom the firm did a stadium conversion and auditorium and lobby expansion, and then for Cinemark’s 2015 renovations. There are a few interior photos on this page of TK’s web site.
The renovation of this multiplex for Celebrity Theatres was designed by TK Architects. There are a few photos on this page of the firm’s web site.
A few photos of Marquette Cinema 10 can be seen on this page at the web site of TK Architects.
Several photos of Regal’s Tikahtnu Stadium 16 can be seen on this page of the web site of TK Architects, the firm who designed the project.
Several photos of the Marcus Palace can be seen on this page of the web site of TK Architects.
The Carmike 10 was designed by Chattanooga-based architectural firm Artech Design Group.
The Carmike Cinema in Edinburg was designed by Chattanooga-based architectural firm Artech Design Group. The firm also designed the IMAX project for the house.
The Wynnsong 16 was designed for Carmike Cinemas by the Chattanooga-based architectural firm Artech Design Group.
Photos of the iPic Scottsdale Quarter can be seen on this page at the web site of TK Architects, the designers of the project.
The renovation of this multiplex for UltraStar Cinemas in 2010 was designed by Phoenix architectural firm Level 4 Studio (now defunct.) The original building was entirely gutted and rebuilt with stadium seating. The project had six all-ages theaters, the largest seating 250, plus five smaller screens seating 30 to 40 adults, and in these beer, wine, and food service were available.
The project also featured a cinema café . The total seating capacity was close to 1,600, according to this article in Film Journal.
The three-screen expansion of this multiplex for Carmike Cinemas in 2010 was accompanied by a complete renovation of the existing theaters. The project was designed by the Chattanooga-based architectural firm Artech Design Group.