I don’t believe that the Imperial ever operated as a movie house under the name Grand Theatre. This article from December 3, 2009, is about the reopening of three screens of the Imperial 8 Theatre which were in the former Chrysler dealership at 55 Dunlop Street West, now operating as the Uptown Theatre.
The article says that the Imperial 8’s former screens 1 and 2, which were the main floor and balcony of the original Imperial, would be converted into an event center called the Grand Theatre. As the name is on the building today, a renovation was obviously was done, but there is no mention of a Grand Theatre event center on the Internet now, so the business must have failed. I can’t find anything saying that, as the Grand, it ever ran movies.
The building occupied by the Uptown Theatre was once the home of a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership, as seen in this undated photo from the Barrie Historical Archive.
I’ve been unable to discover when the building was first converted for use as a cinema, but the portion that is now the Uptown was reopened as a three-screen house in late 2009, according to this article from December 3 that year (Stinson Theatres had closed the 8-screen complex in February, 2009.) The original Imperial Theatre, opened in 1937 at 43 Dunlop Street, which had operated as screens 1 and 2 of Stinson’s Imperial 8 Cinema, was slated to be converted into an event center called the Grand Theatre. The other three auditoriums in the 8-screen complex were to be converted to retail space.
This article from the August 13, 2016, issue of The Barrie Examiner says that the Imperial Theatre was built next door to the Capitol Theatre in 1937.
The vertical signs of the Imperial and Granada Theatres are prominently displayed in this photo of a parade on Dunlop Street. Harold Hill’s Chrysler dealership at right was in the building now occupied by the Uptown Theatre.
Here is a ca. 1955 photo of the Imperial Theatre marquee and entrance. A bit of the Granada Theatre’s marquee can be seen at left, but is not lit up in this night shot, so perhaps it had closed by then.
This photo of the Imperial is probably from 1977. The Imperial has been twinned, and the Granada has been converted into a restaurant.
A solicitation for bids (called tenders in Canada) on the theater to be built at Barrie for John Saso was published in the January 29, 1931, issue of The Northern Advance. The notice was placed by the architect for the project, John Wilson.
Although the University of Houston-Victoria Center for the Ats uses the address 204 N. Main Street, it does not occupy the building the Venus Theatre was in. As can be seen in the vintage photo on the photo page, the theater was on the now-vacant lot in between what is now the UHV Center and the Romanesque Revival O'Connor-Proctor Building on the corner of Forrest Street.
A photo of El Rancho Theatre burning heads this article from the June 23, 2012, issue of the Victoria Advocate. There is also a bit of information about Victoria’s other theaters.
The June 26, 1913, issue of The Tradesman said that architects Hull & Praeger had prepared plans for a brick extension to the Princess Theatre, Victoria, Texas (James Hull and Charles Emil Praeger.)
An article in the Palm Beach Daily News of January 10, 2011, tells of the early days of the town’s movie houses, including the Beaux Arts Theatre.
The Fashion Beaux Arts shopping center was opened by Stanley Warrick in 1916. The project was designed by architect August Geiger. The Beaux Arts Theatre was added to the second floor of the complex, and originally intended as a venue for fashion shows, but in 1917 was leased to Carl Kettler, Jr. for operation as a movie theater. Under Kettler, the house ran three shows daily, each show opening with a performance by a live orchestra. The movies were accompanied by a Wurlitzer organ.
By 1925, Stanley Warrick was operating all of the movie theaters in Palm Beach himself. Only a few years later Warrick was driven into bankruptcy by the collapse of the 1920s Florida real estate boom, and his theaters came under the control of Paramount-Publix.
It looks like the Polk Theatre had to be partly rebuilt twice before its opening in December, 1928, which may account in part for the original builder, John Melton, running out of funds. An article in the October 6, 1928, issue of Exhibitors Herald reported on the damage done to the region’s theaters by a recent hurricane. Several movie houses were severely damaged or completely destroyed, but the line about the Polk says “…the Polk at Lakeland lost its roof — for the second time.”
The Family Theatre was built as the Hersker Opera House in 1895. It was a second-floor theater, and housed Hersker’s hardware store on the ground floor, at 101 E. Centre Street. The house had been renamed Family Theatre by 1909, the name under which it was listed in that year’s edition of the Cahn theater guide. At some point the building was gutted and rebuilt as the State Theatre, a ground floor house.
There is a photo of the Family Theatre on page 34 of the book Mahanoy Area, published by The Mahanoy Area Historical Society (Google Books preview>)
In this early panoramic viewof Mahanoy City, the Family Theatre building looms over the town’s lower business buildings at center right.
The May 27, 1922, issue of The American Contractor reported that the Family Theatre in Mahanoy City would receive alterations and additions, planned by Philadelphia architect Benjamin R. Stevens. This is the only theater project listed among the works of Benjamin Rush Stevens at the web site of Philadelphia Architects and Buildings.
Bhamwiki’s Famous Theatre page has two photos of the house, a cropped version of one of which has already been uploaded to our photos page. An earlier Famous Theatre operated at 306 18th Street North around 1925.
The Champion Theatre can be partly seen in this 1940s photo of the Famous Theatre. The Champion’s marquee is at the far left, though the name of the house isn’t visible.
Premocar— Made in Birmingham, by J.D. Weeks, a history of the Preston Motors Company, says that the North Birmingham Theatre opened in late 1923. However, he also says that the first movie shown there was The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which was released in 1921 (IMDb says it premiered March 6 in New York.) The movie was quite successful, with extended runs in major cities and even enjoying a re-release in 1926, so it is possible that it was still available and a good choice for the opening of a neighborhood theater in late 1923.
The April 15, 1922, issue of The American Contractor carried a notice saying that Memphis architect R. B. Spencer was preparing plans for the rebuilding of a burned theater for the Marion Theater Company at Clarksdale, Mississippi. The project was to cost $75,000.
The caption of a photograph of a Mr. A. Alexander Wall, Vice President of the Alabama Exhibitor’s League, appearing in the July 12, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World says that he “…is connected with the Odeon Theater of Birmingham, Ala., and operates five theaters in other towns.”
Bhamwiki’s brief entry for the Odeon says that “[i]n 1916 it was known as the Odeon One, to distinguish it from the Odeon Two on 20th Street.” At that time the Odeon One was a five cent house subscribed to the Mutual service, and known for showing Chaplin movies.
This photo depicting a group of boy scouts standing in front of the 2nd Avenue Odeon is dated 1925.
The Lyric was definitely at 325 SE Dewey Avenue, and it has been demolished. Check the distinctive cornice and parapet of the building housing Chad Louis Designs (321 SE Dewey) and Southern Abstract (323 SE Dewey.) It is identical to the cornice and parapet seen adjacent to the theater in the 1947 photo added by DavidZornig. Next door, where the theater was, is now a parking lot.
The Lee Theatre was almost entirely demolished to make way for its successor,the Vogue Theatre, in 1940. The article about the new house in the January 11, 1941, issue of Motion Picture Herald said that only one wall of the original theater, and that one shared as a common wall with an adjoining building, was retained in the rebuilding. The Lee was 30x70 feet and seated 340, while the new Vogue was 45x140 feet and seated 540. Larry Larsen was the architect for the rebuilding.
I suspect that Mr. Lyons was speaking of another theater, perhaps the Adams Theatre at 1898 W. Adams. Bard’s West Adams was a fairly large house, and Lou Bard always had organs installed in his theaters. This theater was even equipped with a stage house and presented vaudeville as well as movies in its early years, as did Bard’s two other big houses, the Colorado in Pasadena and the Garfield in Alhambra.
Here is a movie review by manager A. R. Rosenbloom of the Home Theatre, Rochester, Pennsylvania, from the March 13, 1926, issue of The Moving Picture World
“LIMITED MAIL. (7,144 feet). Star, Monte Blue. A box-office knockout. Picture is well directed and is filled with many laughs, thrills, and good suspense. Monte Blue very convincing in his part. One great picture. Tone, okay. Appeal, ninety-five percent.
“Mixed class town of 7,000. Admission 10-25. A. M. Rosenbloom. Home Theatre (350) seats), Rochester, Pa.”
There were a few other reviews from Mr. Rosenbloom published in 1926. The Home was also mentioned in the July 20, 1918, issue of Exhibitors Herald, where it was listed as a member of the United Picture Theatres of America, a booking agency. But every other reference to Rochester I’ve found in the trade publications during the silent era is to the Majestic.
I don’t believe that the Imperial ever operated as a movie house under the name Grand Theatre. This article from December 3, 2009, is about the reopening of three screens of the Imperial 8 Theatre which were in the former Chrysler dealership at 55 Dunlop Street West, now operating as the Uptown Theatre.
The article says that the Imperial 8’s former screens 1 and 2, which were the main floor and balcony of the original Imperial, would be converted into an event center called the Grand Theatre. As the name is on the building today, a renovation was obviously was done, but there is no mention of a Grand Theatre event center on the Internet now, so the business must have failed. I can’t find anything saying that, as the Grand, it ever ran movies.
The building occupied by the Uptown Theatre was once the home of a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership, as seen in this undated photo from the Barrie Historical Archive.
I’ve been unable to discover when the building was first converted for use as a cinema, but the portion that is now the Uptown was reopened as a three-screen house in late 2009, according to this article from December 3 that year (Stinson Theatres had closed the 8-screen complex in February, 2009.) The original Imperial Theatre, opened in 1937 at 43 Dunlop Street, which had operated as screens 1 and 2 of Stinson’s Imperial 8 Cinema, was slated to be converted into an event center called the Grand Theatre. The other three auditoriums in the 8-screen complex were to be converted to retail space.
This article from the August 13, 2016, issue of The Barrie Examiner says that the Imperial Theatre was built next door to the Capitol Theatre in 1937.
The vertical signs of the Imperial and Granada Theatres are prominently displayed in this photo of a parade on Dunlop Street. Harold Hill’s Chrysler dealership at right was in the building now occupied by the Uptown Theatre.
Here is a ca. 1955 photo of the Imperial Theatre marquee and entrance. A bit of the Granada Theatre’s marquee can be seen at left, but is not lit up in this night shot, so perhaps it had closed by then.
This photo of the Imperial is probably from 1977. The Imperial has been twinned, and the Granada has been converted into a restaurant.
Maverick’s Music Hall can be seen in the upper left quadrant of this aerial photo of the Dunlop Street West area from the Barrie Historical Archive.
A solicitation for bids (called tenders in Canada) on the theater to be built at Barrie for John Saso was published in the January 29, 1931, issue of The Northern Advance. The notice was placed by the architect for the project, John Wilson.
This article from the August 13, 2016, issue of The Barrie Examiner says that the Capitol opened in 1923.
Although the University of Houston-Victoria Center for the Ats uses the address 204 N. Main Street, it does not occupy the building the Venus Theatre was in. As can be seen in the vintage photo on the photo page, the theater was on the now-vacant lot in between what is now the UHV Center and the Romanesque Revival O'Connor-Proctor Building on the corner of Forrest Street.
A photo of El Rancho Theatre burning heads this article from the June 23, 2012, issue of the Victoria Advocate. There is also a bit of information about Victoria’s other theaters.
The June 26, 1913, issue of The Tradesman said that architects Hull & Praeger had prepared plans for a brick extension to the Princess Theatre, Victoria, Texas (James Hull and Charles Emil Praeger.)
Broan’s link goes to a photo of the Granada. I think this might be the photo he intended to link to.
An article in the Palm Beach Daily News of January 10, 2011, tells of the early days of the town’s movie houses, including the Beaux Arts Theatre.
The Fashion Beaux Arts shopping center was opened by Stanley Warrick in 1916. The project was designed by architect August Geiger. The Beaux Arts Theatre was added to the second floor of the complex, and originally intended as a venue for fashion shows, but in 1917 was leased to Carl Kettler, Jr. for operation as a movie theater. Under Kettler, the house ran three shows daily, each show opening with a performance by a live orchestra. The movies were accompanied by a Wurlitzer organ.
By 1925, Stanley Warrick was operating all of the movie theaters in Palm Beach himself. Only a few years later Warrick was driven into bankruptcy by the collapse of the 1920s Florida real estate boom, and his theaters came under the control of Paramount-Publix.
It looks like the Polk Theatre had to be partly rebuilt twice before its opening in December, 1928, which may account in part for the original builder, John Melton, running out of funds. An article in the October 6, 1928, issue of Exhibitors Herald reported on the damage done to the region’s theaters by a recent hurricane. Several movie houses were severely damaged or completely destroyed, but the line about the Polk says “…the Polk at Lakeland lost its roof — for the second time.”
The Royal Palm Theatre at Largo, Florida, was mentioned in the December 25, 1925, issue of Exhibitors Herald.
Bhamwiki provides this web page with a brief history of the Waters Theatre Company, who bought the North Birmingham Theatre in 1932.
There’s a 1941 photo of the North Birmingham Theatre (the marquee uses the abbreviation NO. B'HAM THEATRE) a little way down this web page.
The Family Theatre was built as the Hersker Opera House in 1895. It was a second-floor theater, and housed Hersker’s hardware store on the ground floor, at 101 E. Centre Street. The house had been renamed Family Theatre by 1909, the name under which it was listed in that year’s edition of the Cahn theater guide. At some point the building was gutted and rebuilt as the State Theatre, a ground floor house.
There is a photo of the Family Theatre on page 34 of the book Mahanoy Area, published by The Mahanoy Area Historical Society (Google Books preview>)
In this early panoramic viewof Mahanoy City, the Family Theatre building looms over the town’s lower business buildings at center right.
The May 27, 1922, issue of The American Contractor reported that the Family Theatre in Mahanoy City would receive alterations and additions, planned by Philadelphia architect Benjamin R. Stevens. This is the only theater project listed among the works of Benjamin Rush Stevens at the web site of Philadelphia Architects and Buildings.
Bhamwiki’s Famous Theatre page has two photos of the house, a cropped version of one of which has already been uploaded to our photos page. An earlier Famous Theatre operated at 306 18th Street North around 1925.
The Champion Theatre can be partly seen in this 1940s photo of the Famous Theatre. The Champion’s marquee is at the far left, though the name of the house isn’t visible.
Premocar— Made in Birmingham, by J.D. Weeks, a history of the Preston Motors Company, says that the North Birmingham Theatre opened in late 1923. However, he also says that the first movie shown there was The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which was released in 1921 (IMDb says it premiered March 6 in New York.) The movie was quite successful, with extended runs in major cities and even enjoying a re-release in 1926, so it is possible that it was still available and a good choice for the opening of a neighborhood theater in late 1923.
The April 15, 1922, issue of The American Contractor carried a notice saying that Memphis architect R. B. Spencer was preparing plans for the rebuilding of a burned theater for the Marion Theater Company at Clarksdale, Mississippi. The project was to cost $75,000.
The caption of a photograph of a Mr. A. Alexander Wall, Vice President of the Alabama Exhibitor’s League, appearing in the July 12, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World says that he “…is connected with the Odeon Theater of Birmingham, Ala., and operates five theaters in other towns.”
Bhamwiki’s brief entry for the Odeon says that “[i]n 1916 it was known as the Odeon One, to distinguish it from the Odeon Two on 20th Street.” At that time the Odeon One was a five cent house subscribed to the Mutual service, and known for showing Chaplin movies.
This photo depicting a group of boy scouts standing in front of the 2nd Avenue Odeon is dated 1925.
The Lyric was definitely at 325 SE Dewey Avenue, and it has been demolished. Check the distinctive cornice and parapet of the building housing Chad Louis Designs (321 SE Dewey) and Southern Abstract (323 SE Dewey.) It is identical to the cornice and parapet seen adjacent to the theater in the 1947 photo added by DavidZornig. Next door, where the theater was, is now a parking lot.
The Lee Theatre was almost entirely demolished to make way for its successor,the Vogue Theatre, in 1940. The article about the new house in the January 11, 1941, issue of Motion Picture Herald said that only one wall of the original theater, and that one shared as a common wall with an adjoining building, was retained in the rebuilding. The Lee was 30x70 feet and seated 340, while the new Vogue was 45x140 feet and seated 540. Larry Larsen was the architect for the rebuilding.
I suspect that Mr. Lyons was speaking of another theater, perhaps the Adams Theatre at 1898 W. Adams. Bard’s West Adams was a fairly large house, and Lou Bard always had organs installed in his theaters. This theater was even equipped with a stage house and presented vaudeville as well as movies in its early years, as did Bard’s two other big houses, the Colorado in Pasadena and the Garfield in Alhambra.
Here is a movie review by manager A. R. Rosenbloom of the Home Theatre, Rochester, Pennsylvania, from the March 13, 1926, issue of The Moving Picture World
There were a few other reviews from Mr. Rosenbloom published in 1926. The Home was also mentioned in the July 20, 1918, issue of Exhibitors Herald, where it was listed as a member of the United Picture Theatres of America, a booking agency. But every other reference to Rochester I’ve found in the trade publications during the silent era is to the Majestic.