The Sandburg Mall opened theatre-less on October 1, 1975. The mall was expanded twice, the first of which was in 1982 bringing about the Kerasotes Circuit’s twin-screen Sandburg Mall Cinema near the J.C. Penney anchor. The Circuit would close the long-running and high-visibility Orpheum in favor of running two twin-screen operations creating both this theatre and adding a second screen to its downtown West Theatre.
As the end of its initial 20-year lease at Sandburg Mall was approaching, Kerasotes next decided to close both of its twin-screen operations as it constructed a new multiplex not far from the Sandburg Mall. The Cinema closed on December 18, 2003 along with the West Twin Cinema. The new Kerasotes ShowPlace 8 opened the next day on December 19, 2003.
The Sandburg Mall went into a steep decline as 30-year leases lapsed and original tenants departed. The mall cinema then became home to a church, an events center featuring live shows, a discount theatre launched by the Blue Moon Drive-In operators running just three months from September of 2007 to December 19, 2007, and a haunted house operation.
The theatre was going to be razed in 2017 as a plan to convert the entire mall into an outdoor shopping complex. That plan didn’t materialize and the entire interior of the mall was locked September 29, 2018 after the final interior store, a GNC Vitaman shop, closed. The mall soldiered on with just two exterior-facing businesses, a car repair shop and a U-Haul rental shop as of 2019. There was little hope that the Sandburg Mall Cinema or any other stores would be resurrected.
Kerasotes Theatres launched the ShowPlace 8 on December 19, 2003 to replace two aging twin-screen locations in town. The ShowPlace replaced the nearby Sandburg Mall Cinema 1 & 2 and the downtown West Cinema 1 & which both concluded operations on Dec. 18, 2003.
Built as the First Congregation Church in 1844, Toledo exhibitor W.C. Bettis – who built such early Toledo photoplay theaters as Colonial Theatre and the Alhambra Theatre – declared the era of the nickelodeon over. “[Nickelodeons] will give way to the large, commodius, ventilated and handsomely theatres equipped expressly for exhibition purposes.”
Bettis put his money where his mouth was converting the church into the “temple of motion pictures” with patrons getting around three hours of original film content for their admission ticket. It launched as the Temple Theatre, a silent house on May 9, 1914 with Jack London’s “Sea Wolf.” It was next door to the long-running and famous Boody Hotel and across the street from the County Building once housing one of the city’s main post offices.
OnFebruary 25, 1927, the silent house turned to Vitaphone sound system and renamed the “Vita Temple” Theatre. The theatre’s experience with Vitaphone was substandard and the theatre switched to Movietone in September of 1927. After the demise of the Boody, the building of the Second National Bank Tower upgraded the neighborhood while launching a banking building trend in the city.
But on February 10, 1933, a spate of 30 fires around Toledo broke out but none more spectacular than the destruction of the Vita Temple Theatre in the early hours. The final showings were on February 9, 1933 and the fire occurred while the theater was closed. BTW: The building’s “short life” mentioned in the paragraph above was a mere 89 years of operation with its final nearly twenty years as a motion picture theatre. Not a bad run.
On October 19, 1925, the remodeled theatre relaunched as the Liberty Theatre. On November 7, 1932, the Liberty became the Mayfair Theatre before becoming the Roxy Theatre.
The Brelco Theater was a live venue that opened December 7, 1989 in downtown Paducah. The upstairs venue closed in April 28, 1996. The space was converted for retail use and the theatre portion became apartments.
The Kentucky Theatre launched on September 24, 1901. It transitioned from a live venue to motion pictures. On February 27, 1922, it became the Orpheum Theatre under new operators. It closed in 1940. It got a new facade in 1942 but appears to have been closed through much of World War 2.
On September 27, 1945 it reopened and was changed back to the Kentucky Theatre.The Kentucky Theatre completed its film exhibition on July 30, 1958. It then was a short-lived live venue for plays in 1958 and 1959. Its last performance was the Charity League Follies ending on April 5, 1959. After the Cleveland Wrecking Company offered the theatre seats for sale in April and May of 1959, it was razed along with the historic Palmer House Hotel for a parking lot and J.C. Penney’s department store.
This venue opened as the Crystal Theatre on March 23, 1908. Under new operators, the theatre became the Star Theatre in September of 1908. The theatre was closed March 30, 1916 for a major remodel and expansion. The new Star Theatre launched October 2, 1916 with “Fires of Conscience.” The theatre was dropped at the the end of January of 1923 though had some special screenings later that year. On May 24, 1924, the Star was reopened briefly closing for good in 1924. It was converted for other retail purposes in 1926.
The theatre was showing “Crime in the Streets” on October 7, 1956 when a brawl occurred. The theatre was padlocked and did not reopen. In 1957, it became home to Saint’s Rest Baptist Church which had taken over the Rialto. They used the projection system to screen, “Noah’s Ark.” After being put up for sale,it was home to Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church and St. Paul Baptist from 1960 to at least 1965.
It closed as the Bargain Box Office on June 14, 2007 with “Delta Farce, “Blades of Glory,” “Wild Hogs,” “Disturbia,” and “Are We Done Yet?” On the latter, the theatre operator said, “yes.” After closing it served as a place of worship for the Vineyard Chillicothe Church. In 2015, the floor was leveled and became the Adena Health System.
The Culver Opera House and Theatre opened February 24, 1912 with a live play, “The Heart Breaker.” Though mostly a live venue, the theatre experimented with photoplays and – under new management and a grand re-opening on September 16, 1914 – switched to regular playing of film with live events also in the mix. The theatre does not appear to have transitioned to sound. The venue became a dance hall which burned down on January 17, 1943.
Forest S. Snyder launched the Forest Theatre in downtown Deepwater in 1915. The Snyders ran the venue as a movie theatre into the early 1930s never converting to sound. An exhibitor using portable equipment had a weekly stop in Deepwater for sound films until a new theatre was established in 1938 in an existing auditorium and was called the Tile Theatre. The Forest was used live, community events from 1931. The last mention of the theater was in 1941 for such an event.
John Travis, who owned the Plaza Theatre in Crane, launched the Tile Theatre on December 6, 1938. The theatre was the first to feature sound and was housed in a former high school used auditorium venue. In 1939, J. B. Horosko took over the theatre renaming it. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser took on the venue renaming it the Silver Theatre who sold it to Alvah “Al” Cox on December 27, 1945. It likely closed in 1951. The local paper has no mention or ad as the Silva Theatre.
The 750-seat Go-Sho Theatre opened on November 24, 1947 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue in downtown Clinton, Mo. The theatre architect was Robert Boller and was opened by the J. T. Ghosen circuit who named it after himself. The theatre replaced the Uptown Theatre which had been destroyed in a fire in 1946. The original design for the venue by Boller was under the name “new” Uptown Theatre; but Ghosen renamed the project during the planning stages.
In 1959, a contest was held to rename the theatre which was updated. Jerry Hyde chose the Crest Theatre as the name which was in place when it relaunched on November 11, 1959 with the film, “The Big Circus.” That also was the final day for the Lee Theatre. The theatre was triplexed becoming the Crest Cinema 3 before closing in 2003. It was replaced with a larger six-screen complex elsewhere in town.
ohn N. Bixman opened his Bixman Theatre at 103 West Franklin in downtown Clinton, Missouri on October 20, 1903 with live entertainment. The theatre / opera house initially had 1,100 seats with 700 on the main floor and 400 in the balcony. The theatre switched from live entertainment primarily to films.
In 1925, the Bixman became the Clinton Theatre – a full-time movie theater. On May 29, 1937, the theatre received a $30,000 streamlined makeover. Renamed the New Clinton Theatre with 750 seats and a and a Rainbow Vari-Colored lighting system from Russia, it launched with the film, “Oh Doctor.” Blonde Nu-Wood paneling hid the Bixman’s dated features. On November 11, 1937 a new marquee hailing the new name, the Uptown Theatre was ordered.
On July 11, 1946, the Uptown Theatre was destroyed along with a number of other businesses in a spectacular blaze. Saved was the original 1903 cornerstone which had a time capsule with many great artifacts from the 1903 time period. It was replaced by a new building housing Sears & Roebuck.
Lee L. Jones of Kansas City bought the Crancer Building in 1926 for conversion to what was going to be the Liberty Theatre. Architect W.W. Walther only left the from and side walls of the building in expanding the building’s rear to create an 885 seat theatre at opening with 560 main floor seats and 325 balcony seats. At opening Jones changed the name to the Lee Theatre which launched March 16, 1927. Its first sound film was “On With the Show” in 1927.
Ten years later, the Commonwealth Circuit took on the theatre. It closed November 10, 1959 with “Hound Dog Man.” When the updated Go-Sho Theater elsewhere in downtown was renamed the Crest Theatre, Commonwealth closed the Lee.
When the lease expired on the Lee at the end of August of 1962, its chairs were removed and moved to the Lyric Theatre in Harrison, Arkansas. On April 10, 1965, it was reopened as a live Country Music event venue still using the Lee Theatre nameplate. That lasted just three months with the Lee Theatre closing June 12, 1965.
The Palace Theatre was the African-American move theatre launched at 224 E. Third Street on April, 1, 1946 opening with the 1939 film, “Double Deal.” The Palace landed on the delinquent tax at the end of 1952 likely indicating the end of its run.
The Hope Drive-In Theatre launched on May 15, 1952 with the film, “Tomahawk.“ The Dixie may have closed as ads are discontinued after the September 18, 1977 showing of "Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars”
The Grand Theatre dates back to at least 1920. When it was purchased by Malco in 1930, the New Grand was closed and reopened October 29, 1930 as the Rialto. It was then closed during the Depression.
After a $15,000 makeover, Malco – citing improved business conditions – reopened the theatre Rialto Theatre on February 1, 1937. In 1952, Malco sold the New, Saenger and Rialto to M.S. McCord & Associates operated under the United Theatre Corporation circuit.
The final film at the Rialto was the exploitation film, “Mom and Dad” which played on November 14, 1957. After midnight, the theatre was gutted by a fire. A salvage sale the following February offered the theatre seats just prior to the building being converted for other retail purposes.
The Saenger Theatre opened September 25, 1927 with the film, “Stolen Brides.” That building burned down on Easter Sunday 1944 only the outer walls remaining intact. Due to WW2 shortages, a replacement theater was delayed until well after the War. This new streamlined version of the previous Saenger opened January 7, 1948 with Bob Hope starring in, “Where There’s Life.” The original 34.5' by 15' vertical sign was salvaged from the old theatre and rewired in neon for the new Saenger.
The Sandburg Mall opened theatre-less on October 1, 1975. The mall was expanded twice, the first of which was in 1982 bringing about the Kerasotes Circuit’s twin-screen Sandburg Mall Cinema near the J.C. Penney anchor. The Circuit would close the long-running and high-visibility Orpheum in favor of running two twin-screen operations creating both this theatre and adding a second screen to its downtown West Theatre.
As the end of its initial 20-year lease at Sandburg Mall was approaching, Kerasotes next decided to close both of its twin-screen operations as it constructed a new multiplex not far from the Sandburg Mall. The Cinema closed on December 18, 2003 along with the West Twin Cinema. The new Kerasotes ShowPlace 8 opened the next day on December 19, 2003.
The Sandburg Mall went into a steep decline as 30-year leases lapsed and original tenants departed. The mall cinema then became home to a church, an events center featuring live shows, a discount theatre launched by the Blue Moon Drive-In operators running just three months from September of 2007 to December 19, 2007, and a haunted house operation.
The theatre was going to be razed in 2017 as a plan to convert the entire mall into an outdoor shopping complex. That plan didn’t materialize and the entire interior of the mall was locked September 29, 2018 after the final interior store, a GNC Vitaman shop, closed. The mall soldiered on with just two exterior-facing businesses, a car repair shop and a U-Haul rental shop as of 2019. There was little hope that the Sandburg Mall Cinema or any other stores would be resurrected.
The Grove Theatre closed in March of 1960 and was converted to the Congregation of the Calvary Assembly of God Church.
Kerasotes Theatres launched the ShowPlace 8 on December 19, 2003 to replace two aging twin-screen locations in town. The ShowPlace replaced the nearby Sandburg Mall Cinema 1 & 2 and the downtown West Cinema 1 & which both concluded operations on Dec. 18, 2003.
Built as the First Congregation Church in 1844, Toledo exhibitor W.C. Bettis – who built such early Toledo photoplay theaters as Colonial Theatre and the Alhambra Theatre – declared the era of the nickelodeon over. “[Nickelodeons] will give way to the large, commodius, ventilated and handsomely theatres equipped expressly for exhibition purposes.”
Bettis put his money where his mouth was converting the church into the “temple of motion pictures” with patrons getting around three hours of original film content for their admission ticket. It launched as the Temple Theatre, a silent house on May 9, 1914 with Jack London’s “Sea Wolf.” It was next door to the long-running and famous Boody Hotel and across the street from the County Building once housing one of the city’s main post offices.
OnFebruary 25, 1927, the silent house turned to Vitaphone sound system and renamed the “Vita Temple” Theatre. The theatre’s experience with Vitaphone was substandard and the theatre switched to Movietone in September of 1927. After the demise of the Boody, the building of the Second National Bank Tower upgraded the neighborhood while launching a banking building trend in the city.
But on February 10, 1933, a spate of 30 fires around Toledo broke out but none more spectacular than the destruction of the Vita Temple Theatre in the early hours. The final showings were on February 9, 1933 and the fire occurred while the theater was closed. BTW: The building’s “short life” mentioned in the paragraph above was a mere 89 years of operation with its final nearly twenty years as a motion picture theatre. Not a bad run.
On October 19, 1925, the remodeled theatre relaunched as the Liberty Theatre. On November 7, 1932, the Liberty became the Mayfair Theatre before becoming the Roxy Theatre.
The Brelco Theater was a live venue that opened December 7, 1989 in downtown Paducah. The upstairs venue closed in April 28, 1996. The space was converted for retail use and the theatre portion became apartments.
The Kentucky Theatre launched on September 24, 1901. It transitioned from a live venue to motion pictures. On February 27, 1922, it became the Orpheum Theatre under new operators. It closed in 1940. It got a new facade in 1942 but appears to have been closed through much of World War 2.
On September 27, 1945 it reopened and was changed back to the Kentucky Theatre.The Kentucky Theatre completed its film exhibition on July 30, 1958. It then was a short-lived live venue for plays in 1958 and 1959. Its last performance was the Charity League Follies ending on April 5, 1959. After the Cleveland Wrecking Company offered the theatre seats for sale in April and May of 1959, it was razed along with the historic Palmer House Hotel for a parking lot and J.C. Penney’s department store.
Appears to have opened July 1, 1953. Closed September 20, 1972 with “Skyjacked.” Became the Sunset Auction Lot.
Destroyed by fire that broke out just 15 minutes after what turned out to be its final show of January 9, 1959.
This venue opened as the Crystal Theatre on March 23, 1908. Under new operators, the theatre became the Star Theatre in September of 1908. The theatre was closed March 30, 1916 for a major remodel and expansion. The new Star Theatre launched October 2, 1916 with “Fires of Conscience.” The theatre was dropped at the the end of January of 1923 though had some special screenings later that year. On May 24, 1924, the Star was reopened briefly closing for good in 1924. It was converted for other retail purposes in 1926.
Closes on December 9, 2018 due to declining business and property sold. Final shows of with The Grinch; Ralph Breaks the Internet; Instant Family.
The theatre was showing “Crime in the Streets” on October 7, 1956 when a brawl occurred. The theatre was padlocked and did not reopen. In 1957, it became home to Saint’s Rest Baptist Church which had taken over the Rialto. They used the projection system to screen, “Noah’s Ark.” After being put up for sale,it was home to Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church and St. Paul Baptist from 1960 to at least 1965.
It closed as the Bargain Box Office on June 14, 2007 with “Delta Farce, “Blades of Glory,” “Wild Hogs,” “Disturbia,” and “Are We Done Yet?” On the latter, the theatre operator said, “yes.” After closing it served as a place of worship for the Vineyard Chillicothe Church. In 2015, the floor was leveled and became the Adena Health System.
Closed on July 4, 1985 after a “dusk ‘til dawn” marathon screening.
Closed after a marathon 5-feature “Night of Horrors Dusk ‘til Dawn” spook show on October 29, 1988.
The Culver Opera House and Theatre opened February 24, 1912 with a live play, “The Heart Breaker.” Though mostly a live venue, the theatre experimented with photoplays and – under new management and a grand re-opening on September 16, 1914 – switched to regular playing of film with live events also in the mix. The theatre does not appear to have transitioned to sound. The venue became a dance hall which burned down on January 17, 1943.
Forest S. Snyder launched the Forest Theatre in downtown Deepwater in 1915. The Snyders ran the venue as a movie theatre into the early 1930s never converting to sound. An exhibitor using portable equipment had a weekly stop in Deepwater for sound films until a new theatre was established in 1938 in an existing auditorium and was called the Tile Theatre. The Forest was used live, community events from 1931. The last mention of the theater was in 1941 for such an event.
John Travis, who owned the Plaza Theatre in Crane, launched the Tile Theatre on December 6, 1938. The theatre was the first to feature sound and was housed in a former high school used auditorium venue. In 1939, J. B. Horosko took over the theatre renaming it. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser took on the venue renaming it the Silver Theatre who sold it to Alvah “Al” Cox on December 27, 1945. It likely closed in 1951. The local paper has no mention or ad as the Silva Theatre.
The 750-seat Go-Sho Theatre opened on November 24, 1947 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue in downtown Clinton, Mo. The theatre architect was Robert Boller and was opened by the J. T. Ghosen circuit who named it after himself. The theatre replaced the Uptown Theatre which had been destroyed in a fire in 1946. The original design for the venue by Boller was under the name “new” Uptown Theatre; but Ghosen renamed the project during the planning stages.
In 1959, a contest was held to rename the theatre which was updated. Jerry Hyde chose the Crest Theatre as the name which was in place when it relaunched on November 11, 1959 with the film, “The Big Circus.” That also was the final day for the Lee Theatre. The theatre was triplexed becoming the Crest Cinema 3 before closing in 2003. It was replaced with a larger six-screen complex elsewhere in town.
ohn N. Bixman opened his Bixman Theatre at 103 West Franklin in downtown Clinton, Missouri on October 20, 1903 with live entertainment. The theatre / opera house initially had 1,100 seats with 700 on the main floor and 400 in the balcony. The theatre switched from live entertainment primarily to films.
In 1925, the Bixman became the Clinton Theatre – a full-time movie theater. On May 29, 1937, the theatre received a $30,000 streamlined makeover. Renamed the New Clinton Theatre with 750 seats and a and a Rainbow Vari-Colored lighting system from Russia, it launched with the film, “Oh Doctor.” Blonde Nu-Wood paneling hid the Bixman’s dated features. On November 11, 1937 a new marquee hailing the new name, the Uptown Theatre was ordered.
On July 11, 1946, the Uptown Theatre was destroyed along with a number of other businesses in a spectacular blaze. Saved was the original 1903 cornerstone which had a time capsule with many great artifacts from the 1903 time period. It was replaced by a new building housing Sears & Roebuck.
Lee L. Jones of Kansas City bought the Crancer Building in 1926 for conversion to what was going to be the Liberty Theatre. Architect W.W. Walther only left the from and side walls of the building in expanding the building’s rear to create an 885 seat theatre at opening with 560 main floor seats and 325 balcony seats. At opening Jones changed the name to the Lee Theatre which launched March 16, 1927. Its first sound film was “On With the Show” in 1927.
Ten years later, the Commonwealth Circuit took on the theatre. It closed November 10, 1959 with “Hound Dog Man.” When the updated Go-Sho Theater elsewhere in downtown was renamed the Crest Theatre, Commonwealth closed the Lee.
When the lease expired on the Lee at the end of August of 1962, its chairs were removed and moved to the Lyric Theatre in Harrison, Arkansas. On April 10, 1965, it was reopened as a live Country Music event venue still using the Lee Theatre nameplate. That lasted just three months with the Lee Theatre closing June 12, 1965.
The Palace Theatre was the African-American move theatre launched at 224 E. Third Street on April, 1, 1946 opening with the 1939 film, “Double Deal.” The Palace landed on the delinquent tax at the end of 1952 likely indicating the end of its run.
(Picture above is not the Palace Theatre.)
The Hope Drive-In Theatre launched on May 15, 1952 with the film, “Tomahawk.“ The Dixie may have closed as ads are discontinued after the September 18, 1977 showing of "Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars”
The Grand Theatre dates back to at least 1920. When it was purchased by Malco in 1930, the New Grand was closed and reopened October 29, 1930 as the Rialto. It was then closed during the Depression.
After a $15,000 makeover, Malco – citing improved business conditions – reopened the theatre Rialto Theatre on February 1, 1937. In 1952, Malco sold the New, Saenger and Rialto to M.S. McCord & Associates operated under the United Theatre Corporation circuit.
The final film at the Rialto was the exploitation film, “Mom and Dad” which played on November 14, 1957. After midnight, the theatre was gutted by a fire. A salvage sale the following February offered the theatre seats just prior to the building being converted for other retail purposes.
The Saenger Theatre opened September 25, 1927 with the film, “Stolen Brides.” That building burned down on Easter Sunday 1944 only the outer walls remaining intact. Due to WW2 shortages, a replacement theater was delayed until well after the War. This new streamlined version of the previous Saenger opened January 7, 1948 with Bob Hope starring in, “Where There’s Life.” The original 34.5' by 15' vertical sign was salvaged from the old theatre and rewired in neon for the new Saenger.