Here is part of an article dated 9/22/53 from the Tucson Daily Citizen:
The State Theater, known long before the days of motion pictures as the Tucson Opera House, will play its last show tonight. A new commercial building will soon take its place on Congress Street. There will be no fanfare, no closing ceremony for the aged theater where any performance was once a major social event and seats were reserved on a permanent basis. The leading Shakespearean actors played at the old Opera House. There were traveling minstrel shows, too, and operas. Occasionally, a local group put on a play.
In 1929, the theater was taken over by the Paramount chain. The old landmark closes on a modern note for one of the features tonight is “When Worlds Collideâ€.
Here is an item from the Tucson Daily Citizen dated 2/17/69:
City officials have a relocation problem in connection with the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project, that has them scratching their heads.
It involves a new site for the Plaza Theater, 132 W. Congress St. The Plaza is the only movie house showing strictly Spanish language films. Urban renewal Director Donald Laidlaw said there has been “no positive results to date” in relocating the theater. He asked today that owners of suitable property, particularly in the downtown area, contact him if they will build or remodel to suit the tenant The theater requires a building of 7,000-8,000 square feet. It also would need 150 off-street parking spaces.
This is part of a July 2002 article in the Arkansas Business Journal:
No movie theaters in central Arkansas played the type of movies Matt Smith prefers.
So in March, Smith, 32, opened Market Street Cinema in Little Rock to showcase the thought-provoking independent and foreign films that rarely show up at the multiplex.
Smith’s move was the first indication that the movie theater business is making a comeback in Arkansas after a wave of bankruptcies by national chains a couple of years ago.
Smith is being followed by Rave Motion Pictures of Dallas, which plans to open in December an 18-screen theater on 15 acres on the south side of Col. Glenn Road, just west of Interstate 430.
Rave officials won’t say what the cost of the project will be, but the company spent $3.7 million to buy the land, and the building permit filed with the City of Little Rock shows the building will be 95,000 SF and cost about $8.2 million.
Fueling the resurgence of movie screens were record box office receipts in 2001, when ticket sales in the United States reached $8.4 billion. With hits such as “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” and “Spiderman” in theaters now, the record could be broken again this year.
Don Burchett, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Theater Owners, said he didn’t know of any theaters other than Rave’s under construction in the state.
Gust A. Stathis, theater operator, was one of the buyers of the Fox Theater, 3161 Elston Avenue, recently reported purchased by Dr. Ansel H. Tulupan, for $35,500, through the Mark Levy Realty Company. Stathis is operating the theater.
Zion’s only movie theater, which opened in 1948 after a stiff fight against community blue laws, has closed its doors.
The city’s first theater opened in 1913 but was raided by police and ordered closed by the mayor. Most of the blue laws were repealed at a referendum in 1949.
Onnie Bridges, president of the Zion Theater corporation since it was formed, said the closing was dictated by his desire to retire rather than by failing audiences.
Here is part of a Chicago Tribune article dated 11/24/53:
A half million dollar building program covering 220 feet of frontage from 326 to 356 S. State St. at the northwest corner of State and Van Buren Sts. was announced yesterday. The project includes demolition of the Rialto Theater, now operated as Minsky’s burlesque house, which will ring down its curtains for the last time on Dec. 9.
Joseph Rosenberg, owner of the property, said it will be replaced by a one story building of shops, all air conditioned. The new structure will front 100 feet on State St. with a depth of 100 feet. Edward Steinborn, Inc. is architect. Completion is set for May 1.
The Rialto Theater was built in 1916 by Jones, Linick and Schaefer and operated as a movie house. It has 1,500 seats. Marshall & Fox was architect. After various changes in management and policies it was leased several years ago for occupancy by Minsky’s burlesque. Rosenberg bought it from Yale University and others in 1949 for $500,000 through Louis Manierre of Dibblee and Manierre.
Here is an item from the Chicago Tribune dated 1/16/32:
Benjamin Sacks of the Lakeside Fish and Oyster Company, one of the largest wholesale firms in the country, is remodeling the Lyda Theater property, 315 North Cicero Avenue, which he owns, into a modern food market. The general contract has been awarded to J. Taff & Co. R. Bernard Kurzon is architect. Work is under way, with the expectation of having it open around April 15.
The 925 seat playhouse has been dismantled and the entire building is being remodeled. A new front is to be built. Concessions will be leased for the sale of groceries, fruits, vegetables, fish, bakery goods, etc. There will be a delicatessen and soda fountain. The building occupies a site 60x100 feet. Renting and management will be handled by Mr. Sacks. He states he plans to erect other markets in various locations.
HYDE PARK TO HAVE ITS FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Syndicate Buys Beach Theater: $100,000.
Hyde Park is to have its first national bank. The Beach Theater building at the northeast corner of Harper avenue and Hyde Park boulevard, directly across from the Hyde Park hotel, was sold yesterday.
This June 1930 item in the Chicago Tribune calls the theater the Bijou Academy:
Harry Parker, a chauffeur, was sentenced to twenty days in the county jail for contempt yesterday by Judge Hayes in the Superior court for giving perjured testimony. Parker was a witness in the $50,000 damage suit brought against the Bijou Academy theater, 16 South Halsted street.
Here is part of a February 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune:
Louise Miller and Annette Edler are as close as sisters can be. Their sisterly adventures date back to the 1940s. Back then, they would clean their parents' house top to bottom for an allowance of 25 cents. It isn’t much by today’s standards, but at that time it bought each sister an entire Sunday afternoon’s worth of activity.
Miller and Edler would walk from their home just behind where the Great American Bagel sits today on Ogden Avenue in Westmont to the movie theater at 25 S. Cass Ave. They crossed a lot of empty fields on the way, but their parents didn’t worry about their safety. “In Westmont, you know, you didn’t lock your door. You trusted everybody,” Miller reminisced recently.
Once downtown, Miller and Edler spent pieces of their allowance one at a time: 5 cents for popcorn — with real butter — in a white bag; 10 cents for a kid’s discounted movie ticket; 6 cents for an ice cream cone after the movie. The sisters saw countless Hollywood classics at the Westmont Theater. “Abbott and Costello … Dale Evans … Gene Autry,” Miller recalled.
As the girls grew up, they discovered other pastimes, such as the roller rink, or baseball games. They were so busy moving on with life they never really took note of when or why the Westmont Theater closed. “We probably outgrew it,” Miller said, adding that she hoped I would be able to find out whatever happened to the old mainstay.
The Westmont Theater started as a business for the Zulas family, who bought the empty theater just after the Depression. In the beginning, an adult movie ticket — 15 cents before 6:30 p.m. — bought you two features, a cartoon, coming attractions and the newsreel, said Helen Zulas, whose late husband, Jim, wore the red blazer and black slacks usher uniform at the Westmont for years.
Young people and families came to the theater, and the Sweet Shop next door, to be in the center of the action in Westmont. When students graduated from nearby Central School, the theater would shut down for a day so the ceremony could be held there, Zulas said. After nearly two decades, the Zulas family sold the business to the man running the movie projectors, Charles Avgeris. The theater then became that family’s business, said George Avgeris, who took tickets from customers as a 4th grader and worked as an usher when he got older.
During World War II, moviegoers took special interest in the newsreels, which offered them a connection to current events around the world. “In those days, it was really busy. … For certain movies, we had to get out these velvet colored chains and block off people and everything,” Avgeris said. “Those were the great days of theater. Motion pictures. Before television. There really was no other entertainment.” But Avgeris' father and his business partner had a falling out, and Charles Avgeris left the Westmont Theater. A few years later, the theater closed.
The building stayed empty until it became the temporary location of the Bank of Westmont, which was building a new location down the street. The bank left the theater marquee up as it occupied the space. After the bank, the theater building became Raikes, a dime store. And after that, it turned into a Custom One Hour Photo and Framing shop, which it remains today, said Gerry Szymski, a lifelong Westmont resident.
Interior photo here:
http://tinyurl.com/cg4tz3
Here is some historical background:
http://tinyurl.com/dcftrz
The theater is open and has a full schedule of performances.
Here is a June 2008 article from the AZ Daily Star:
http://tinyurl.com/dack3o
Here is part of an article dated 9/22/53 from the Tucson Daily Citizen:
The State Theater, known long before the days of motion pictures as the Tucson Opera House, will play its last show tonight. A new commercial building will soon take its place on Congress Street. There will be no fanfare, no closing ceremony for the aged theater where any performance was once a major social event and seats were reserved on a permanent basis. The leading Shakespearean actors played at the old Opera House. There were traveling minstrel shows, too, and operas. Occasionally, a local group put on a play.
In 1929, the theater was taken over by the Paramount chain. The old landmark closes on a modern note for one of the features tonight is “When Worlds Collideâ€.
Here is an item from the Tucson Daily Citizen dated 2/17/69:
City officials have a relocation problem in connection with the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project, that has them scratching their heads.
It involves a new site for the Plaza Theater, 132 W. Congress St. The Plaza is the only movie house showing strictly Spanish language films. Urban renewal Director Donald Laidlaw said there has been “no positive results to date” in relocating the theater. He asked today that owners of suitable property, particularly in the downtown area, contact him if they will build or remodel to suit the tenant The theater requires a building of 7,000-8,000 square feet. It also would need 150 off-street parking spaces.
This is part of a July 2002 article in the Arkansas Business Journal:
No movie theaters in central Arkansas played the type of movies Matt Smith prefers.
So in March, Smith, 32, opened Market Street Cinema in Little Rock to showcase the thought-provoking independent and foreign films that rarely show up at the multiplex.
Smith’s move was the first indication that the movie theater business is making a comeback in Arkansas after a wave of bankruptcies by national chains a couple of years ago.
Smith is being followed by Rave Motion Pictures of Dallas, which plans to open in December an 18-screen theater on 15 acres on the south side of Col. Glenn Road, just west of Interstate 430.
Rave officials won’t say what the cost of the project will be, but the company spent $3.7 million to buy the land, and the building permit filed with the City of Little Rock shows the building will be 95,000 SF and cost about $8.2 million.
Fueling the resurgence of movie screens were record box office receipts in 2001, when ticket sales in the United States reached $8.4 billion. With hits such as “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” and “Spiderman” in theaters now, the record could be broken again this year.
Don Burchett, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Theater Owners, said he didn’t know of any theaters other than Rave’s under construction in the state.
If you put in 310 W. Texas and then rotate the photo you will see the Brunson.
This is from the Chicago Tribune, dated 8/12/45:
Gust A. Stathis, theater operator, was one of the buyers of the Fox Theater, 3161 Elston Avenue, recently reported purchased by Dr. Ansel H. Tulupan, for $35,500, through the Mark Levy Realty Company. Stathis is operating the theater.
The Chicago Tribune announced in October 1958 that the Bugg was going to be razed in favor of a parking lot.
This was in the Chicago Tribune on 5/31/59:
Zion’s only movie theater, which opened in 1948 after a stiff fight against community blue laws, has closed its doors.
The city’s first theater opened in 1913 but was raided by police and ordered closed by the mayor. Most of the blue laws were repealed at a referendum in 1949.
Onnie Bridges, president of the Zion Theater corporation since it was formed, said the closing was dictated by his desire to retire rather than by failing audiences.
Here is part of a Chicago Tribune article dated 11/24/53:
A half million dollar building program covering 220 feet of frontage from 326 to 356 S. State St. at the northwest corner of State and Van Buren Sts. was announced yesterday. The project includes demolition of the Rialto Theater, now operated as Minsky’s burlesque house, which will ring down its curtains for the last time on Dec. 9.
Joseph Rosenberg, owner of the property, said it will be replaced by a one story building of shops, all air conditioned. The new structure will front 100 feet on State St. with a depth of 100 feet. Edward Steinborn, Inc. is architect. Completion is set for May 1.
The Rialto Theater was built in 1916 by Jones, Linick and Schaefer and operated as a movie house. It has 1,500 seats. Marshall & Fox was architect. After various changes in management and policies it was leased several years ago for occupancy by Minsky’s burlesque. Rosenberg bought it from Yale University and others in 1949 for $500,000 through Louis Manierre of Dibblee and Manierre.
Here is an item from the Chicago Tribune dated 1/16/32:
Benjamin Sacks of the Lakeside Fish and Oyster Company, one of the largest wholesale firms in the country, is remodeling the Lyda Theater property, 315 North Cicero Avenue, which he owns, into a modern food market. The general contract has been awarded to J. Taff & Co. R. Bernard Kurzon is architect. Work is under way, with the expectation of having it open around April 15.
The 925 seat playhouse has been dismantled and the entire building is being remodeled. A new front is to be built. Concessions will be leased for the sale of groceries, fruits, vegetables, fish, bakery goods, etc. There will be a delicatessen and soda fountain. The building occupies a site 60x100 feet. Renting and management will be handled by Mr. Sacks. He states he plans to erect other markets in various locations.
Here is a March 2009 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d9yyh9
That’s what was noted earlier. I was wondering if any part of the drive-in remains.
This site mentions that the Avaloe had a Barton organ.
http://tinyurl.com/ddcdbk
I think that building is too narrow to be a former theater. It may have been built after the old theater building was razed.
From the Chicago Tribune, 12/17/22:
HYDE PARK TO HAVE ITS FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Syndicate Buys Beach Theater: $100,000.
Hyde Park is to have its first national bank. The Beach Theater building at the northeast corner of Harper avenue and Hyde Park boulevard, directly across from the Hyde Park hotel, was sold yesterday.
Here are some additional photos. That’s a griffin on the roof.
http://tinyurl.com/dcmvco
Here is a 1951 photo from the U of Chicago library. I’m not sure if this has already been posted:
http://tinyurl.com/c3xldy
Here is a small ad from a 1919 issue of the Chicago Defender:
http://tinyurl.com/bhouu2
This June 1930 item in the Chicago Tribune calls the theater the Bijou Academy:
Harry Parker, a chauffeur, was sentenced to twenty days in the county jail for contempt yesterday by Judge Hayes in the Superior court for giving perjured testimony. Parker was a witness in the $50,000 damage suit brought against the Bijou Academy theater, 16 South Halsted street.
Liver and let live, that’s what I always say.
There is a building at 25 S. Cass that houses a photo shop, but it’s unknown if this is the original theater building.
Here is part of a February 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune:
Louise Miller and Annette Edler are as close as sisters can be. Their sisterly adventures date back to the 1940s. Back then, they would clean their parents' house top to bottom for an allowance of 25 cents. It isn’t much by today’s standards, but at that time it bought each sister an entire Sunday afternoon’s worth of activity.
Miller and Edler would walk from their home just behind where the Great American Bagel sits today on Ogden Avenue in Westmont to the movie theater at 25 S. Cass Ave. They crossed a lot of empty fields on the way, but their parents didn’t worry about their safety. “In Westmont, you know, you didn’t lock your door. You trusted everybody,” Miller reminisced recently.
Once downtown, Miller and Edler spent pieces of their allowance one at a time: 5 cents for popcorn — with real butter — in a white bag; 10 cents for a kid’s discounted movie ticket; 6 cents for an ice cream cone after the movie. The sisters saw countless Hollywood classics at the Westmont Theater. “Abbott and Costello … Dale Evans … Gene Autry,” Miller recalled.
As the girls grew up, they discovered other pastimes, such as the roller rink, or baseball games. They were so busy moving on with life they never really took note of when or why the Westmont Theater closed. “We probably outgrew it,” Miller said, adding that she hoped I would be able to find out whatever happened to the old mainstay.
The Westmont Theater started as a business for the Zulas family, who bought the empty theater just after the Depression. In the beginning, an adult movie ticket — 15 cents before 6:30 p.m. — bought you two features, a cartoon, coming attractions and the newsreel, said Helen Zulas, whose late husband, Jim, wore the red blazer and black slacks usher uniform at the Westmont for years.
Young people and families came to the theater, and the Sweet Shop next door, to be in the center of the action in Westmont. When students graduated from nearby Central School, the theater would shut down for a day so the ceremony could be held there, Zulas said. After nearly two decades, the Zulas family sold the business to the man running the movie projectors, Charles Avgeris. The theater then became that family’s business, said George Avgeris, who took tickets from customers as a 4th grader and worked as an usher when he got older.
During World War II, moviegoers took special interest in the newsreels, which offered them a connection to current events around the world. “In those days, it was really busy. … For certain movies, we had to get out these velvet colored chains and block off people and everything,” Avgeris said. “Those were the great days of theater. Motion pictures. Before television. There really was no other entertainment.” But Avgeris' father and his business partner had a falling out, and Charles Avgeris left the Westmont Theater. A few years later, the theater closed.
The building stayed empty until it became the temporary location of the Bank of Westmont, which was building a new location down the street. The bank left the theater marquee up as it occupied the space. After the bank, the theater building became Raikes, a dime store. And after that, it turned into a Custom One Hour Photo and Framing shop, which it remains today, said Gerry Szymski, a lifelong Westmont resident.