The principal architect of Grossman & Proskauer was Adolph Proskauer. Mr. Grossman appears to have been an engineer. A notice that plans by the firm were underway for a building at Lincoln and Giddings, to contain a theater, nine stores, plus offices and flats, appeared in the May 31, 1913, issue of Construction News.
The March 26, 1921, issue of The American Contractor said that Chicago architect Paul T. Haagen had prepared plans for a 1,500 seat theater to be built at Benton Harbor for Fitzpatrick & McElroy. It must have been the Liberty, which the February 18, 1922, issue of Exhibitors Trade Review reported had recently been opened by Fitzpatrick-McElroy Company.
An item in the April 16, 1973, issue of Boxoffice said that “[t]he city commission has approved the reopening of the Liberty Theatre by new owners, subject to the completion of inspection and certification by the building inspection department.” I haven’t found any later items about the theater, but it’s possible that it did reopen for a while.
The Plaza 3 was opened by Family Theatres on March 30, 1973, according to the April 16 issue of Boxoffice. The three auditoriums had a total of 1,800 seats. Unlike most multiplexes, the Plaza 3 had separate concession stands and sets of restrooms for each auditorium.
At that time Family Theatres also operated the Bowman Twin, Park Lane, Circle, and Rialto Theatres in Tulsa, along with three drive-ins, plus twin theaters in Oklahoma City and Bartlesville. Mrs. Marjorie Snyder was the president of the company.
I’m not seeing the photo linked by thegreev in an earlier comment (I don’t know if it’s gone or my browser simply isn’t fetching it) so I don’t know if this is the same one, but this 1963 photo shows the entrance and part of the marquee of the Pocahontas Theatre.
I’d say that the exterior, at least, of the City Theatre is Romanesque Revival rather than Beaux-Arts in style. I have no clue as to the interior, but it could well be some variety of Classical design, which was a fairly common choice for the interiors of Romanesque Revival buildings.
A book called The Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Greek Immigrant in Chicago, Illinois, by Alexander Rassogianis, says that the Gregory Brothers theater circuit opened the Parthenon Theatre at Berwyn in 1924. The Gregorys were also in the construction business and built the Parthenon, as well as other houses in their circuit, and houses for other Greek theater operators in the region.
agnesbry: I think the block-shaped ice cream you mentioned must have the same kind that was sold at the concession stand in the neighborhood theater I attended in southern California in the 1950s. It came in a cardboard package about two inches square, and the concession stand attendant would peel off the package and stick the block of ice cream into a regular ice cream cone, with one corner down. You had to be careful with the first few licks or you could dislodge the block of ice cream and it would fall in your lap. I had completely forgotten about that ice cream. Thanks for reminding me of it.
The Colonial Theatre was under construction, and probably fairly near completion, at the time of the Earthquake of April 18, 1906. Construction had begun in 1905, and the year was engraved in stone below the cornice above the entrance.
There is no historic record indicating that the theater had actually opened before the disaster. Like many other substantial buildings in the downtown area the structure was gutted by the subsequent fire, but it was restored, and the Colonial Theatre finally opened on October 6, 1906.
The house became the Plaza Theatre in 1922, when it was taken over by a repertory company that grew out of Berkeley’s Greek Theatre Players. I don’t know how long it remained the Plaza, but the name was in use at least into 1923. The theater had never had much success either as a legitimate venue or as a movie house, and changed hands frequently until it finally found its niche as a burlesque house.
It is very likely that Reid Brothers were the original architects of the building as well as of the 1919 renovations.
Thanks, fred1. I see that the web site’s front page says that the grand opening took place on January 8 this year. The theaters have new seats. The house is all-digital, and 3D equipment is to be installed later this year.
The Robinson Crossing 6 is now operated by a company called Evans Theatres, who reopened the house late last year after it had been closed for about two years. It is their only theater and is operated as a discount house. The Norman Transcript published an interview with company vice president Joshua Evans on August 16 last year, before the theater reopened. There is no dedicated web site for the theater, but the company has this Facebook page.
The 1927 FDY lists the Imperial Theatre in Walnut Grove as one of three movie houses operated by K. Hirata. Hirata was a Japanese American who also had the Nippon Theatre in Sacramento and the Delta Theatre in Courtland. The latter town, like Walnut Grove, was a small agricultural town along the Sacramento River. All three theaters most likely catered to predominantly Japanese audiences in those days.
The entrance to the RKO Palace and its associated three-story office and commercial building were on the site of Loew’s Star. The Star must have been demolished by early 1928. It’s remarkable that this large, substantial theater stood for only fifteen years or so.
What remains of the El Capitan Theatre and Hotel was designated a San Francisco city landmark in 1996, which was unfortunately long after the auditorium had been demolished. A PDF of the Planning Commission document with the history of the building can be downloaded with this link. The document says that while G. Albert Lansburgh did in fact act as consulting architect on the project, the architect of record was William H. Crim.
JKRP Architects (the new name of the former JKR Partners) have several photos of the Flix Brewhouse in Carmel on this page of their web site, though most of them are of the bar and brewery.
The firm that designed the Regal Moorestown Mall Stadium 12, JKR Partners, have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. Their web site features three photos of this cinema on this page.
Linkrot repair: After changing their name again (it is now JKRP Architects) the firm that designed the renovations of the Ambler Theatre also reconfigured their web site. The photos of the Ambler are now on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their reconfigured web site now features four photos of the Regal Deer Park Stadium 16, which can be found on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their web site has been reconfigured, but two photos of the Penn Cinema remain, and can now be found on this page.
Regal had this multiplex renovated after taking over. The project was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm JKRP Architects (formerly JKR Partners) and there are four photos on this page of the firm’s web site.
The principal architect of Grossman & Proskauer was Adolph Proskauer. Mr. Grossman appears to have been an engineer. A notice that plans by the firm were underway for a building at Lincoln and Giddings, to contain a theater, nine stores, plus offices and flats, appeared in the May 31, 1913, issue of Construction News.
Architect A. Proskauer’s first name was Adolph, according to an item in the January 7, 1922, issue of The Economist.
The March 26, 1921, issue of The American Contractor said that Chicago architect Paul T. Haagen had prepared plans for a 1,500 seat theater to be built at Benton Harbor for Fitzpatrick & McElroy. It must have been the Liberty, which the February 18, 1922, issue of Exhibitors Trade Review reported had recently been opened by Fitzpatrick-McElroy Company.
An item in the April 16, 1973, issue of Boxoffice said that “[t]he city commission has approved the reopening of the Liberty Theatre by new owners, subject to the completion of inspection and certification by the building inspection department.” I haven’t found any later items about the theater, but it’s possible that it did reopen for a while.
The Plaza 3 was opened by Family Theatres on March 30, 1973, according to the April 16 issue of Boxoffice. The three auditoriums had a total of 1,800 seats. Unlike most multiplexes, the Plaza 3 had separate concession stands and sets of restrooms for each auditorium.
At that time Family Theatres also operated the Bowman Twin, Park Lane, Circle, and Rialto Theatres in Tulsa, along with three drive-ins, plus twin theaters in Oklahoma City and Bartlesville. Mrs. Marjorie Snyder was the president of the company.
I’m not seeing the photo linked by thegreev in an earlier comment (I don’t know if it’s gone or my browser simply isn’t fetching it) so I don’t know if this is the same one, but this 1963 photo shows the entrance and part of the marquee of the Pocahontas Theatre.
I’d say that the exterior, at least, of the City Theatre is Romanesque Revival rather than Beaux-Arts in style. I have no clue as to the interior, but it could well be some variety of Classical design, which was a fairly common choice for the interiors of Romanesque Revival buildings.
A book called The Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Greek Immigrant in Chicago, Illinois, by Alexander Rassogianis, says that the Gregory Brothers theater circuit opened the Parthenon Theatre at Berwyn in 1924. The Gregorys were also in the construction business and built the Parthenon, as well as other houses in their circuit, and houses for other Greek theater operators in the region.
agnesbry: I think the block-shaped ice cream you mentioned must have the same kind that was sold at the concession stand in the neighborhood theater I attended in southern California in the 1950s. It came in a cardboard package about two inches square, and the concession stand attendant would peel off the package and stick the block of ice cream into a regular ice cream cone, with one corner down. You had to be careful with the first few licks or you could dislodge the block of ice cream and it would fall in your lap. I had completely forgotten about that ice cream. Thanks for reminding me of it.
The Colonial Theatre was under construction, and probably fairly near completion, at the time of the Earthquake of April 18, 1906. Construction had begun in 1905, and the year was engraved in stone below the cornice above the entrance.
There is no historic record indicating that the theater had actually opened before the disaster. Like many other substantial buildings in the downtown area the structure was gutted by the subsequent fire, but it was restored, and the Colonial Theatre finally opened on October 6, 1906.
The house became the Plaza Theatre in 1922, when it was taken over by a repertory company that grew out of Berkeley’s Greek Theatre Players. I don’t know how long it remained the Plaza, but the name was in use at least into 1923. The theater had never had much success either as a legitimate venue or as a movie house, and changed hands frequently until it finally found its niche as a burlesque house.
It is very likely that Reid Brothers were the original architects of the building as well as of the 1919 renovations.
The architect of the 1895 Biddeford City Hall complex, including the Opera House, which reopened on January 20, 1896, was John Calvin Stevens.
The New York Clipper Annual for 1893 lists the Rockland Opera House as having been dedicated on August 31, 1892.
Thanks, fred1. I see that the web site’s front page says that the grand opening took place on January 8 this year. The theaters have new seats. The house is all-digital, and 3D equipment is to be installed later this year.
The Robinson Crossing 6 is now operated by a company called Evans Theatres, who reopened the house late last year after it had been closed for about two years. It is their only theater and is operated as a discount house. The Norman Transcript published an interview with company vice president Joshua Evans on August 16 last year, before the theater reopened. There is no dedicated web site for the theater, but the company has this Facebook page.
The 1927 FDY lists the Imperial Theatre in Walnut Grove as one of three movie houses operated by K. Hirata. Hirata was a Japanese American who also had the Nippon Theatre in Sacramento and the Delta Theatre in Courtland. The latter town, like Walnut Grove, was a small agricultural town along the Sacramento River. All three theaters most likely catered to predominantly Japanese audiences in those days.
The entrance to the RKO Palace and its associated three-story office and commercial building were on the site of Loew’s Star. The Star must have been demolished by early 1928. It’s remarkable that this large, substantial theater stood for only fifteen years or so.
What remains of the El Capitan Theatre and Hotel was designated a San Francisco city landmark in 1996, which was unfortunately long after the auditorium had been demolished. A PDF of the Planning Commission document with the history of the building can be downloaded with this link. The document says that while G. Albert Lansburgh did in fact act as consulting architect on the project, the architect of record was William H. Crim.
Linkrot repair: The brief article about the Will Rogers Theatre in the October 17, 1936, issue of Boxoffice can now be found here.
JKRP Architects (the new name of the former JKR Partners) have several photos of the Flix Brewhouse in Carmel on this page of their web site, though most of them are of the bar and brewery.
The firm that designed the Regal Moorestown Mall Stadium 12, JKR Partners, have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. Their web site features three photos of this cinema on this page.
JKR Partners have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. The firm’s web site features two photos of the Williamsburg Cinemas on this page.
Linkrot repair: After changing their name again (it is now JKRP Architects) the firm that designed the renovations of the Ambler Theatre also reconfigured their web site. The photos of the Ambler are now on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their reconfigured web site now features four photos of the Regal Deer Park Stadium 16, which can be found on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their web site has been reconfigured, but two photos of the Penn Cinema remain, and can now be found on this page.
Regal had this multiplex renovated after taking over. The project was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm JKRP Architects (formerly JKR Partners) and there are four photos on this page of the firm’s web site.