The Colonial Theatre ended is 67-year run on July 6, 1969 with a great run of “Oliver!” It had a salvage sale and was bulldozed for a parking area early in 1970. Thieves took the four, 750-pound brass doors prior to the demolition.
The Rubber City Theatre was one of the earliest dedicated movie houses in Akron’s history launching here on September 5, 1907 by Frank Dauria with motion pictures and illustrated songs. The theater was located at 292 South Main Street in downtown Akron. The Rubber City claimed to have the longest show for five cents. In 1909, the venue was renamed as the Vaudette Theatre under new ownership.
The Vaudette was offered for sale and, under new owners, became the Dome Theater in 1913. The long-running Dome ran under Allen T. Simmons watch until July 4, 1929. The theatre was dynamited along with the Allen, Ideal, Gem, National, Dayton and the Liberty theaters for suspected non-union workers. The Dome was demolished two months later. Another long-running theater just two blocks away, the Dreamland, would announce its closure two months later.
The Rondo Theatre opened in October of 1911. It was wired for sound in 1929 under the name of the Lyric Theater. The Park Theater Company reduced it to weekend only operations in 1951 but was closed in 1957.
Charles A. Barbarian opened the Waldorf Theatre on June 19, 1913 with live stage plays. Ike Friedman turned the theater toward profit when he converted it to a full-time movie house. In the 1920s, under competition from far better movie palaces, the Waldorf sank to third-tier films and exploitation fare.
Under new operators M.M. Federhar and Roy Bode, the Waldorf installed sound equipment to remain somewhat viable. It closed with a four-wall exploitation film, “Sex Madness” on June 30, 1931. The theatre’s contents were then auctioned off on July 14, 1931 including the “talkie equipment”, seats, piano and “picture machine” as the venue was dismantled.
The Al-Stan Auto Theater’s May 26, 1948, Grand Opening ad with Zachary Scott in “The Southerner” supported by shorts including The Hoosier Hotshots in “Hoosier Holiday” and “Hoosier Holiday” in photos.
The lower level Galleria I & II closed October 16, 1994.
The upper level Galleria III & IV closed January 15, 1995.
As noted by others, because the theaters were in different locations, with different phone numbers, and different opening & closing dates, they shouldn’t be contained in a single listing.
According to Box Office Magazine, this venue opened as Rand Theatres Circuit’s first Texas location on March 15, 1988. It definitely launched as a Rand Theatre but no confirmation of date.
The Kenyon Opera House was opened on December 23, 1912. On March 20, 1913 with a different manager, the venue became the Penn Avenue Theater. The venue got a refresh less than a year into its run and relaunched as the Pitt Theatre again with live fare on September 6, 1913.
In photos, there is an October 19, 1914 grand reopening ad as the Miles Theatre, under the watch of Charles H. Miles. The Miles actually had a soft launch on October 9, 1914 with a giant electronic board and simulcast of the first game of the 1914 World Series baseball game between the Philadelphia A’s and the visiting Boston Braves. The first movie was shown the next day on October 10th with live bulletins of the Pitt college football game win versus Navy. An announced October 12, 1914 grand opening did not take place but did a week later on October 19, 1914 with live vaudeville and short films interspersed between acts. Miles' vaudeville attendance began to slip the next year.
By all reports, Miles ostensibly skipped town on December 11, 1915 leaving performers unpaid and ticket holders angry for the next day’s matinee. William Moore Patch picked up the pieces and reverted the venue back to the Pitt Theatre on January 17 1916 with the World War I film, Fighting for France.“ However, the Pitt would move back into its roots as a legit house primarily through 1934. In August of 1934, the venue went back to vaudeville and movies. A brief return to legit plays in 1935 was unsuccessful and the venue dropped live perfs and ran third-run double feature films and then triple feature grind runs.
Ohio-based Skirball Brothers Circuit took on the Pitt Theatre and renamed it after a refresh as the Barry Theatre on February 28, 1936 with a double feature of Will Rogers in “Steamboat Around the Bend” and Joan Bennett in “She Couldn’t Take It.” The Barry operated in to closure on May 29, 1951 with Sunny Knight in “Midnight Frolics” & Wayne Morris in “The Tougher They Come”. It was demolished in 1952 for a parking garage.
Opened as Crow Canyon Cinemas 6 - previous name listed as “Crow Stadium 6” is in error. The venue closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 16, 2020 to May 21, 2021 when it reopened. Regal closed here permanently September 14, 2022 (add year).
The theatre was opened by Festival Theatres on December 21, 1984. It became Mann’s Crow Canyon on October 4, 1996. In April of 2000, Signature bought the Mann locations in Northern California including the Festival and the Crown Canyon. Regal bought Signature Theaters in November of 2004.
A.C. Winter launched the New Winter Theatre on March 7, 1912. He would go on to run the Bank Theatre and took over the Norka Theatre in 1913. The “New” was dropped and the Winter Theatre continued into 1924. The theatre then got new operators and continued under the Standard Theater moniker beginning on May 24, 1924 with vaudeville and movies.
The venue was wired for sound after being vacant for a period on March 24, 1928 relaunching again as the New Winter Theatre. On August 8, 1931, it was reopened under new operator Jack Flamm as the Tivoli Theatre. That had a great run closing on June 3, 1954 with a triple feature of westerns. Flann would take on the Norka Theatre in December of 1954.
The Thornton Theatre closed on June 16, 1960 with “The Gene Krupa Story” and “Horrors of the Black Museum.” It reopened under new management briefly as the Stratford Theatre on July 6, 1961 with “Days of Laughter.” That lasted for one month. It returned to its Thornton Theatre name in 1962 hosting live jamborees on the stage from October 8, 1962 until May 4, 1963.
Nick Spayne opened the Gem was opened in the late 1920s and closed on May 29, 1952 at the end of lease with “Las Vegas Story” and “Oh, Suzanna.” The space was converted to a Berneath Drug Store on April 15, 1953.
The first ads for the Cameo Theater at 556-558 S. Arlington appear in 1925 but it likely dates back prior to then. The theater’s owner M.M. Federhar turned the basement into a free TV lounge with a 7' by 9' screen. The fun may have ended on May 20, 1951 with “Three Guys Named Mike” and “Branded.”
The venue became home to the Faith Tabernacle as a house of worship that October followed by the Akron Revival Center in 1953 to 1955. It was then retrofitted for a surplus store later in 1955 and then the Lea Drug Store in 1957. The Lea Drug Store then ran a classified ad in July 1968 with everything in the building and supporting the building for free. The building was razed soon thereafter.
The Rialto Theatre closed in 1954 without converting to widescreen presentations. The building was sold six months later to Goodyear Local 2. They used it for country music jamborees in the late 1950s. It was later renamed as Goodyear Local 2 Hall / Building housing meetings and community service events. Local 2 decided to move to new digs in 1984 with Goodyear Corp. buying the building and having it demolished for a proposed park.
The Norka Theatre opened April 11, 1910 with vaudeville acts including Electro, The Human Rheostat. Motion pictures were also played at the theater in its earliest days. The theater was known for its “blood red” sidewalk - called “lurid” by a local writer - in front of the venue and also the well-placed Norka Confectionery that served as its de facto concession stand. The venue converted to sound to remain viable.
Robert W. Postma, whose family had run the Rialto for generations and had built the East Drive-In in 1951, closed the Norka Theatre in the Summer of 1952 and operated the East Drive-In. Jack Flemm, who had closed the Tivoli in the Summer of 1953, took on the vacant theater on December 15, 1954 with “Drums Across the River” and “Betrayed.” Clifford Shearon took on the venue as its final operator and equipped it for widescreen presentations thinking that would be the ticket. But he closed the Norka on May 30, 1956 “Footsteps in the Fog” and “Lawless Street.”
The venue had a short run as a house of worship although, apparently, make no interior or exterior modifications. The theatre had a final operation - a salvage sale - in April of 1961. It was torn down shortly thereafter in 1961.
This opened for Act III Theatres Circuit under the name of the Texas Twelve Cinemas (not the Texas 12). KKR acquired Act III Theatres in October 1998 for a very brief run in the Kirk Kerkorian group. Then, technically, it had a brief foray as a United Artists Theatres when KKR and UATC formed. And within a matter of days, Regal, UATC, and KKR were all under the same umbrella in December of 1998. The venue closed along with all other Regal locations on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither the casino nor the theater would reopen. Demolition took place beginning in September of 2022.
The venue has made the latest Regal closure list; no firm closing date is associated with that but guessing it will be February 12th or 14th. The lease exit is now Feb. 15th.
Sorry you lose all the various formats at that location. Regal may close them all on Valentine’s Day as the rejection of the lease is the next day, according to the court documents. But Feb. 12, 2023 would seem more plausible.
The Colonial Theatre ended is 67-year run on July 6, 1969 with a great run of “Oliver!” It had a salvage sale and was bulldozed for a parking area early in 1970. Thieves took the four, 750-pound brass doors prior to the demolition.
The Rubber City Theatre was one of the earliest dedicated movie houses in Akron’s history launching here on September 5, 1907 by Frank Dauria with motion pictures and illustrated songs. The theater was located at 292 South Main Street in downtown Akron. The Rubber City claimed to have the longest show for five cents. In 1909, the venue was renamed as the Vaudette Theatre under new ownership.
The Vaudette was offered for sale and, under new owners, became the Dome Theater in 1913. The long-running Dome ran under Allen T. Simmons watch until July 4, 1929. The theatre was dynamited along with the Allen, Ideal, Gem, National, Dayton and the Liberty theaters for suspected non-union workers. The Dome was demolished two months later. Another long-running theater just two blocks away, the Dreamland, would announce its closure two months later.
The Rondo Theatre opened in October of 1911. It was wired for sound in 1929 under the name of the Lyric Theater. The Park Theater Company reduced it to weekend only operations in 1951 but was closed in 1957.
Charles A. Barbarian opened the Waldorf Theatre on June 19, 1913 with live stage plays. Ike Friedman turned the theater toward profit when he converted it to a full-time movie house. In the 1920s, under competition from far better movie palaces, the Waldorf sank to third-tier films and exploitation fare.
Under new operators M.M. Federhar and Roy Bode, the Waldorf installed sound equipment to remain somewhat viable. It closed with a four-wall exploitation film, “Sex Madness” on June 30, 1931. The theatre’s contents were then auctioned off on July 14, 1931 including the “talkie equipment”, seats, piano and “picture machine” as the venue was dismantled.
The March 3, 1914 Grand Opening ad for the - then - Spicer Theatre in Akron is in photos.
The Al-Stan Auto Theater’s May 26, 1948, Grand Opening ad with Zachary Scott in “The Southerner” supported by shorts including The Hoosier Hotshots in “Hoosier Holiday” and “Hoosier Holiday” in photos.
The lower level Galleria I & II closed October 16, 1994.
The upper level Galleria III & IV closed January 15, 1995.
As noted by others, because the theaters were in different locations, with different phone numbers, and different opening & closing dates, they shouldn’t be contained in a single listing.
Policy changed from discount, sub-run house to first-run on January 27, 2023.
According to Box Office Magazine, this venue opened as Rand Theatres Circuit’s first Texas location on March 15, 1988. It definitely launched as a Rand Theatre but no confirmation of date.
Architect - Theatre Concepts with 1,830 total seats, one 350, one 280, and 6 200.
The Kenyon Opera House was opened on December 23, 1912. On March 20, 1913 with a different manager, the venue became the Penn Avenue Theater. The venue got a refresh less than a year into its run and relaunched as the Pitt Theatre again with live fare on September 6, 1913.
In photos, there is an October 19, 1914 grand reopening ad as the Miles Theatre, under the watch of Charles H. Miles. The Miles actually had a soft launch on October 9, 1914 with a giant electronic board and simulcast of the first game of the 1914 World Series baseball game between the Philadelphia A’s and the visiting Boston Braves. The first movie was shown the next day on October 10th with live bulletins of the Pitt college football game win versus Navy. An announced October 12, 1914 grand opening did not take place but did a week later on October 19, 1914 with live vaudeville and short films interspersed between acts. Miles' vaudeville attendance began to slip the next year.
By all reports, Miles ostensibly skipped town on December 11, 1915 leaving performers unpaid and ticket holders angry for the next day’s matinee. William Moore Patch picked up the pieces and reverted the venue back to the Pitt Theatre on January 17 1916 with the World War I film, Fighting for France.“ However, the Pitt would move back into its roots as a legit house primarily through 1934. In August of 1934, the venue went back to vaudeville and movies. A brief return to legit plays in 1935 was unsuccessful and the venue dropped live perfs and ran third-run double feature films and then triple feature grind runs.
Ohio-based Skirball Brothers Circuit took on the Pitt Theatre and renamed it after a refresh as the Barry Theatre on February 28, 1936 with a double feature of Will Rogers in “Steamboat Around the Bend” and Joan Bennett in “She Couldn’t Take It.” The Barry operated in to closure on May 29, 1951 with Sunny Knight in “Midnight Frolics” & Wayne Morris in “The Tougher They Come”. It was demolished in 1952 for a parking garage.
The Mountain-Air Drive-In closed at the expiry of a 15-year leasing agreement on November 2, 1963 with “Cape Fear” and “The Outsider”
Corrections:
Opened as Crow Canyon Cinemas 6 - previous name listed as “Crow Stadium 6” is in error. The venue closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 16, 2020 to May 21, 2021 when it reopened. Regal closed here permanently September 14, 2022 (add year).
The theatre was opened by Festival Theatres on December 21, 1984. It became Mann’s Crow Canyon on October 4, 1996. In April of 2000, Signature bought the Mann locations in Northern California including the Festival and the Crown Canyon. Regal bought Signature Theaters in November of 2004.
A.C. Winter launched the New Winter Theatre on March 7, 1912. He would go on to run the Bank Theatre and took over the Norka Theatre in 1913. The “New” was dropped and the Winter Theatre continued into 1924. The theatre then got new operators and continued under the Standard Theater moniker beginning on May 24, 1924 with vaudeville and movies.
The venue was wired for sound after being vacant for a period on March 24, 1928 relaunching again as the New Winter Theatre. On August 8, 1931, it was reopened under new operator Jack Flamm as the Tivoli Theatre. That had a great run closing on June 3, 1954 with a triple feature of westerns. Flann would take on the Norka Theatre in December of 1954.
The Thornton Theatre closed on June 16, 1960 with “The Gene Krupa Story” and “Horrors of the Black Museum.” It reopened under new management briefly as the Stratford Theatre on July 6, 1961 with “Days of Laughter.” That lasted for one month. It returned to its Thornton Theatre name in 1962 hosting live jamborees on the stage from October 8, 1962 until May 4, 1963.
Nick Spayne opened the Gem was opened in the late 1920s and closed on May 29, 1952 at the end of lease with “Las Vegas Story” and “Oh, Suzanna.” The space was converted to a Berneath Drug Store on April 15, 1953.
The first ads for the Cameo Theater at 556-558 S. Arlington appear in 1925 but it likely dates back prior to then. The theater’s owner M.M. Federhar turned the basement into a free TV lounge with a 7' by 9' screen. The fun may have ended on May 20, 1951 with “Three Guys Named Mike” and “Branded.”
The venue became home to the Faith Tabernacle as a house of worship that October followed by the Akron Revival Center in 1953 to 1955. It was then retrofitted for a surplus store later in 1955 and then the Lea Drug Store in 1957. The Lea Drug Store then ran a classified ad in July 1968 with everything in the building and supporting the building for free. The building was razed soon thereafter.
The Rialto Theatre closed in 1954 without converting to widescreen presentations. The building was sold six months later to Goodyear Local 2. They used it for country music jamborees in the late 1950s. It was later renamed as Goodyear Local 2 Hall / Building housing meetings and community service events. Local 2 decided to move to new digs in 1984 with Goodyear Corp. buying the building and having it demolished for a proposed park.
The Norka Theatre opened April 11, 1910 with vaudeville acts including Electro, The Human Rheostat. Motion pictures were also played at the theater in its earliest days. The theater was known for its “blood red” sidewalk - called “lurid” by a local writer - in front of the venue and also the well-placed Norka Confectionery that served as its de facto concession stand. The venue converted to sound to remain viable.
Robert W. Postma, whose family had run the Rialto for generations and had built the East Drive-In in 1951, closed the Norka Theatre in the Summer of 1952 and operated the East Drive-In. Jack Flemm, who had closed the Tivoli in the Summer of 1953, took on the vacant theater on December 15, 1954 with “Drums Across the River” and “Betrayed.” Clifford Shearon took on the venue as its final operator and equipped it for widescreen presentations thinking that would be the ticket. But he closed the Norka on May 30, 1956 “Footsteps in the Fog” and “Lawless Street.”
The venue had a short run as a house of worship although, apparently, make no interior or exterior modifications. The theatre had a final operation - a salvage sale - in April of 1961. It was torn down shortly thereafter in 1961.
As the ACT III Texas Twelve Cinemas in 1995
This opened for Act III Theatres Circuit under the name of the Texas Twelve Cinemas (not the Texas 12). KKR acquired Act III Theatres in October 1998 for a very brief run in the Kirk Kerkorian group. Then, technically, it had a brief foray as a United Artists Theatres when KKR and UATC formed. And within a matter of days, Regal, UATC, and KKR were all under the same umbrella in December of 1998. The venue closed along with all other Regal locations on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither the casino nor the theater would reopen. Demolition took place beginning in September of 2022.
Closed March 16, 2020 for COVID-19 pandemic and neither it nor the casino housing it reopened. Demolished September 2022.
The venue has made the latest Regal closure list; no firm closing date is associated with that but guessing it will be February 12th or 14th. The lease exit is now Feb. 15th.
They are simply escaping leasing agreements that aren’t favorable in bankruptcy to try and pay their bills.
Sorry you lose all the various formats at that location. Regal may close them all on Valentine’s Day as the rejection of the lease is the next day, according to the court documents. But Feb. 12, 2023 would seem more plausible.