Apparently the Mayflower Theatre’s organ was still in use at least as late as 1940, when the October 26 issue of The Piqua Daily Call made reference to “…Donald Wells, organist at the Mayflower theater….” Wells was visiting Delaware to attend a concert by French organist and composer Joseph Bonnet.
The opening of the Strand was noted in the November 6, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Fred L. Adams has opened the Strand theater at Piqua, Ohio. This is a handsome new fireproof structure seating 500, and is equipped with all conveniences for the patrons. Mr. Adams was formerly the manager and proprietor of the Favorite theater in Piqua.”
The Strand in Rockland was in operation by 1920. The report of the Massachusetts District Police published January, 1920, listed the Strand Theatre, Rockland, in good condition. The licensee was named Lee A. Rhodenzier. The January 23, 1923, issue of The Film Daily had this item:
“The Manchester Amusement Co., a subsidiary [of New England Theaters] has sold the Strand, Rockland, Mass., to L. A. Rhodenizer, the theater’s former manager.”
Contracts had been let for construction of a small movie theater in Rockland in 1915, according to the May 29 issue of The American Contractor. The two-story building was only 34x56 feet, though, which would have been too small for the Strand’s 779 seats, but it might have been expanded later, so it could have been the Strand.
If it burned in 1926, it’s possible that the Trainor Opera House had become the Strand Theatre which, according to the November 27, 1926, issue of The Piqua Daily Call had been completely destroyed by a fire the previous night, along with an adjacent building. The fire was caused by the explosion of film in the projector. The Opera House was built by the I.O.O.F. in 1873.
A July 22, 1935, article in The Piqua Daily Call says that the long-abandoned Strand Theatre building was to be remodeled into a bottling plant. The article places the three-story building on the east side of the public square with a frontage of 91 feet on North Main Street and a somewhat longer frontage on East High Street. I’ve been unable to determine if the building was on the northeast corner or the southeast corner. Both corners now feature parking lots, so the Strand has been demolished.
This house opened on September 23, 1929, as the Ohio Theatre. An article in the August 29, 1970, issue of The Piqua Daily Call features an article about John Hixson, who says that he was one of the projectionists when the house opened.
The May 22, 1931, issue of the Call says that Schine’s Piqua Theatre, formerly the Ohio Theatre, would have its formal opening that night.
An item in the July 16, 1910, issue of The American Contractor attributes the design of this theater to the firm of Taylor & DeCamp. The partnership of Charles C. Taylor and Benjamin C. DeCamp was formed in 1909 and dissolved in 1912.
Louis A. Livaudais died in 1932, so I don’t know if he had anything to do with designing this 1933 project, but apparently the firm’s name remained unchanged. Much earlier in their careers, Favrot & Livaudais had designed the Rapides Opera House in Alexandria, Louisiana, which house was later renamed the Paramount Theatre. Charles Allen Favrot’s son, Henri Mortimer Favrot, later became a partner in the firm of Favrot & Reed, who designed at least three theaters.
Although it mistakenly calls the street Forest Boulevard, this item from the “New Theatre Projects” section of the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald is clearly about the White Theatre:
“DALLAS— M. S. White, 508 Largent.
Will erect on Forest Boulevard theatre to cost, $40,000. Architect, W. Scott Dunne, Melba Building.”
This house was open before 1933, the year in which it was remodeled, according to this item form Motion Picture Herald of September 23:
“BEAUMONT— Rio Moving Picture Company. Contractor, Charles F. Law, Perlstein Building, Beaumont. Remodeling to cost $6,500. Architects, Babin & Neff, Perlstein Building.”
As the item doesn’t give the name of the theater itself, but only that of the company having it remodeled, it’s possible that it had previously operated under a different name.
The building at this address was to be remodeled, according to this item in the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald. It sounds as though there was already a theater in it at that time, but if so the magazine didn’t give its name:
“Catherine O'Reilly of Great Neck, to alter building and motion picture theatre at 1164 Third Avenue, New York City. Cost $4,000. Architect, Eugene De Rosa, Inc., 105 West 40tb Street.”
The Hollywood Theatre in Gretna was completely rebuilt in 1933 after the original house was destroyed by a fire. New Orleans architects Favrot & Livaudais designed the new theater, according to the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald.
Some of the news media reporting on the collapse of the Benton Theatre building earlier today might be checking Cinema Treasures for information, as a couple are using the 1931 opening date we give. It’s wrong, though. An advertisement by the Kansas City Real Estate Board in the August 22, 1926, issue of the Kansas City Star touted real property in the city as an investment, and said:
“[t]he Benton Theater building at Benton and Independence Boulevards was built in 1911 by C. O. Jones. Since then it has paid for itself twice over in rental revenue and was sold this year for three times the original cost.”
David and Noelle’s list of known Boller Brothers theater designs does list the Benton Theatre as a 1931 project for the firm, but that had to have been a remodeling job. The house was mentioned several times in the trade publications during the 1910s and 1920s. I haven’t been able to discover the original architect of the Benton Theatre. Noelle Soren’s research was sufficiently thorough that, had the 1911 Benton been designed by Carl Boller, it’s very likely that she would have discovered the fact.
I don’t know when the Benton Theatre became a church, but it will be a church no longer after today. According to this post at northeastnews.net, the building partly collapsed this morning, and what is left will probably be demolished soon. A vacation bible school was in session at the time of the collapse, but all 44 children and 20 staff members escaped the disaster.
A city official said that the structure was not on the city’s dangerous buildings list, as Kansas City lacks the staff for random building inspections, and only investigates the condition of structures if and when complaints are filed.
An illustrated Two page article about the D&R Theatre in Aberdeen appeared in the June 29, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. Plans for the recent remodeling were by architect Bjarne Moe.
The Janes Theatre was designed by its original owner, Fred H. Witters, with some critical structural elements planned by the Saginaw architectural firm of Cowles & Mutscheller. A three-page article about the project, with several photos, appears in the June 29, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald.
Chris: the earlier Adelphi Theatre is listed here as the Clark Theater.
An ad for Pittco Store Fronts (a division of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.) in the June 29, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald featured photos of the Adelphi’s entrance before and after the remodeling designed by Mark D. Kalischer.
After acquiring the house from Smalley’s Theatres in 1934, the Schine circuit had this theater completely remodeled and renamed it the State Theatre. Two photos of the State illustrate this article in the June 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. The plans for the project were by architect Peter M. Hulsken.
A three-page article about Detroit’s Tower Theatre appeared in the June 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. A scan is available from The Internet Archive.
A photo of the lobby of the Grand Theatre in Terre Haute appears on this page of the May 4, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. The lobby had recently been redesigned in a modern style featuring Carrera Glass, Pittsburgh Glass Company’s competitor to the better-known Vitrolite brand of glass tiles.
Apparently the Mayflower Theatre’s organ was still in use at least as late as 1940, when the October 26 issue of The Piqua Daily Call made reference to “…Donald Wells, organist at the Mayflower theater….” Wells was visiting Delaware to attend a concert by French organist and composer Joseph Bonnet.
The opening of the Strand was noted in the November 6, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World:
The Piqua Daily Call was advertising this house as Schine’s Miami Theatre in 1933. In 1930 it was advertising as May’s Piqua Theatre.
The Strand in Rockland was in operation by 1920. The report of the Massachusetts District Police published January, 1920, listed the Strand Theatre, Rockland, in good condition. The licensee was named Lee A. Rhodenzier. The January 23, 1923, issue of The Film Daily had this item:
Contracts had been let for construction of a small movie theater in Rockland in 1915, according to the May 29 issue of The American Contractor. The two-story building was only 34x56 feet, though, which would have been too small for the Strand’s 779 seats, but it might have been expanded later, so it could have been the Strand.If it burned in 1926, it’s possible that the Trainor Opera House had become the Strand Theatre which, according to the November 27, 1926, issue of The Piqua Daily Call had been completely destroyed by a fire the previous night, along with an adjacent building. The fire was caused by the explosion of film in the projector. The Opera House was built by the I.O.O.F. in 1873.
The Strand was on the northeast corner of Main and High Streets, according to the May 26, 1976, issue of The Piqua Daily Call
The March 11, 1976, issue of The Piqua Daily Call said that demolition of the old Strand Theatre building was underway.
A July 22, 1935, article in The Piqua Daily Call says that the long-abandoned Strand Theatre building was to be remodeled into a bottling plant. The article places the three-story building on the east side of the public square with a frontage of 91 feet on North Main Street and a somewhat longer frontage on East High Street. I’ve been unable to determine if the building was on the northeast corner or the southeast corner. Both corners now feature parking lots, so the Strand has been demolished.
This house opened on September 23, 1929, as the Ohio Theatre. An article in the August 29, 1970, issue of The Piqua Daily Call features an article about John Hixson, who says that he was one of the projectionists when the house opened.
The May 22, 1931, issue of the Call says that Schine’s Piqua Theatre, formerly the Ohio Theatre, would have its formal opening that night.
An item in the July 16, 1910, issue of The American Contractor attributes the design of this theater to the firm of Taylor & DeCamp. The partnership of Charles C. Taylor and Benjamin C. DeCamp was formed in 1909 and dissolved in 1912.
Louis A. Livaudais died in 1932, so I don’t know if he had anything to do with designing this 1933 project, but apparently the firm’s name remained unchanged. Much earlier in their careers, Favrot & Livaudais had designed the Rapides Opera House in Alexandria, Louisiana, which house was later renamed the Paramount Theatre. Charles Allen Favrot’s son, Henri Mortimer Favrot, later became a partner in the firm of Favrot & Reed, who designed at least three theaters.
Although it mistakenly calls the street Forest Boulevard, this item from the “New Theatre Projects” section of the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald is clearly about the White Theatre:
This house was open before 1933, the year in which it was remodeled, according to this item form Motion Picture Herald of September 23:
As the item doesn’t give the name of the theater itself, but only that of the company having it remodeled, it’s possible that it had previously operated under a different name.The “New Theatre Projects” section of the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald included this item datelined Cleveland:
The building at this address was to be remodeled, according to this item in the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald. It sounds as though there was already a theater in it at that time, but if so the magazine didn’t give its name:
The Hollywood Theatre in Gretna was completely rebuilt in 1933 after the original house was destroyed by a fire. New Orleans architects Favrot & Livaudais designed the new theater, according to the September 23, 1933, issue of Motion Picture Herald.
Some of the news media reporting on the collapse of the Benton Theatre building earlier today might be checking Cinema Treasures for information, as a couple are using the 1931 opening date we give. It’s wrong, though. An advertisement by the Kansas City Real Estate Board in the August 22, 1926, issue of the Kansas City Star touted real property in the city as an investment, and said:
David and Noelle’s list of known Boller Brothers theater designs does list the Benton Theatre as a 1931 project for the firm, but that had to have been a remodeling job. The house was mentioned several times in the trade publications during the 1910s and 1920s. I haven’t been able to discover the original architect of the Benton Theatre. Noelle Soren’s research was sufficiently thorough that, had the 1911 Benton been designed by Carl Boller, it’s very likely that she would have discovered the fact.I don’t know when the Benton Theatre became a church, but it will be a church no longer after today. According to this post at northeastnews.net, the building partly collapsed this morning, and what is left will probably be demolished soon. A vacation bible school was in session at the time of the collapse, but all 44 children and 20 staff members escaped the disaster.
A city official said that the structure was not on the city’s dangerous buildings list, as Kansas City lacks the staff for random building inspections, and only investigates the condition of structures if and when complaints are filed.
An illustrated Two page article about the D&R Theatre in Aberdeen appeared in the June 29, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. Plans for the recent remodeling were by architect Bjarne Moe.
The Janes Theatre was designed by its original owner, Fred H. Witters, with some critical structural elements planned by the Saginaw architectural firm of Cowles & Mutscheller. A three-page article about the project, with several photos, appears in the June 29, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald.
Chris: the earlier Adelphi Theatre is listed here as the Clark Theater.
An ad for Pittco Store Fronts (a division of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.) in the June 29, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald featured photos of the Adelphi’s entrance before and after the remodeling designed by Mark D. Kalischer.
After acquiring the house from Smalley’s Theatres in 1934, the Schine circuit had this theater completely remodeled and renamed it the State Theatre. Two photos of the State illustrate this article in the June 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. The plans for the project were by architect Peter M. Hulsken.
Three photos of the Trans-Lux Theatre illustrate this article in the June 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald.
A three-page article about Detroit’s Tower Theatre appeared in the June 1, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. A scan is available from The Internet Archive.
A photo of the lobby of the Grand Theatre in Terre Haute appears on this page of the May 4, 1935, issue of Motion Picture Herald. The lobby had recently been redesigned in a modern style featuring Carrera Glass, Pittsburgh Glass Company’s competitor to the better-known Vitrolite brand of glass tiles.