This is obviously not the Princeton, but a much older theater. There is a Walsman appliance store in Batesville, which is all the way on the other side of the state.
SethG
commented about
Airdomeon
Mar 26, 2021 at 9:23 am
Note that the index for the map calls this the ‘Airdome Theatre’. The buildings listed by name are almost always the actual business name, so ‘Airdome’ may not have been a generic title.
After closing as the New Star, this may have become the Grand, or less likely the Noble, both of which are listed from 1926 through at least 1931 in information provided by Ken. The capacity given for the Grand matches that listed for this theater.
Found a slightly different photo from possibly the same day, and the plaque reads ‘J.W. Shuel 1902’.
SethG
commented about
Theateron
Mar 26, 2021 at 7:07 am
From Ken Roe, there was a theater called the Theatorium listed in the 1914-1915 edition of American Motion Picture Directory at 108 N Main. That may have been a bad address for this theater, or it’s possible it was a brand new opening. The 1914 Sanborn shows that 106-108 are a dry goods store in a still extant building, but the map was issued in January.
Based on information from Ken Roe, this was originally called the New Star (possibly carrying the Star name from one of the early attempts to open a theater?), but is not listed in 1926. May have sat dormant before reopening as the Roxy?
The address and likely most of the rest of the information is wrong. There has never been an address higher than 232, and this is obviously on the wrong side of the street.
I suggest this is the theater shown at 229-231 on the 1914 Sanborn. It’s obviously an older building that has been remodeled, and the 1907 map shows a 1-2 story livery stable there. I wish we could read the little stone plaque up top in the photo to be sure.
At any rate, the entire south side of the block has been destroyed. There is a drive through bank on the corner now, which before a remodel appeared to be roughly the right age to have replaced the theater right after it closed.
The city (presumably) has made a real effort to undo the godawful remodel, and this has been open as a performing arts venue since at least 2016. It is home to the Broadway Players. When I came through, the marquee was advertising ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’, but I’m not sure if that was the film or a stage production.
Note that the interior picture is of the wrong theater. It is obviously not an auditorium built after WWII. Probably belongs with the previous Princeton.
Before the street was renamed sometime after World War I, the address was on rue de la Gare, quite natural as the railway station was located at the end.
SethG
commented about
Voxon
Feb 25, 2021 at 9:15 am
Not sure why this is the only picture I took, since we walked past at least twice. Blank area used to say ‘Casino’.
The building on this site is not new. It is quite old, probably from the 1850s to 1870s. I’m not even sure the auditorium to the rear has been demolished, but was likely gutted. By the 1970s at least, this was a Paramount.
By the way, the current marquee is a reproduction of the original. Based on some more research, the architect was Eugène Chirié. It was opened as the Pathé Palace, became the Pathé Natan in 1934 or maybe 1935, returned to Pathé Palace in 1945, and became simply the Pathé in 1993.
There was a really ugly remodel in 1972, when the original auditorium was chopped into 4 screens with a total capacity of 1,850. A fifth screen was added in 1979, and three more in 1986. It closed in 1995, and reopened in 1996 with the present appearance and configuration. Apparently only the facade is original, the rest is new construction.
Some of the information above is incorrect. According to the Pays de la Loire departmental heritage site, the theater was constructed by the chocolate company Poulain. A Mr. L. Le Bomin is noted as the contractor in the names carved on the facade.
Later, when it became part of the Pathé chain, it was renamed Palace.
Also of note, the sculptural work was executed by Maurice Legendre, who was a fairly well-known artist in his day, and had done decorative work on several other buildings in town.
For photos of an extensive survey done in 1980, see this page:
https://www.patrimoine.paysdelaloire.fr/linventaire/detail-notices/IA49000818/
Sadly, the entire interior, including a spectacularly ornate lobby that remained original until the theater closed, was destroyed in a hamfisted conversion by ‘architects’ who saw fit to carve their names into the facade as well.
The building is pretty old, I’d guess mid-1800s. Cinema entrance is ugly modern anodized sheet metal and glass doors. Still derelict in the 2020 street view.
I suspect this must have been the Theatoriam (Theatorium?), with an incorrect address (or the numbers may have changed). The 1909 map has no street numbers, but 418 on the 1917 map is a little wooden dry cleaners, which on the 1909 map is a barber. It looks far too small to seat 250 in the small rear extension.
Assuming it’s the theater on the 1917 Sanborn, the address was 313 Main St, and this was long ago demolished, along with about 2/3 of downtown.
The building was typical of older commercial buildings, being very deep and narrow, but was rather unusual in being four stories tall at the front, then about 25% of the way back dropping to two stories, then for the last 1/3 being only one story. It was of brick construction with a wood and tin facade.
The building first appears on the 1892 map (the lot is vacant in 1885) as a stationery store. By 1909, it is shown as an ‘Electric Theatre’. Aside from the further addition of a one story wooden shed housing a gasoline engine, no great changes seem to have been involved in the conversion to a theater.
The building was gone at least as early as 2007, but probably quite a few years before that.
I think the NRHP listing is wrong. They took the dates on the first map the theater appears on, and the last one, and assumed they had anything to do with opening or closing. It may have remained in operation into the ‘50s.
The theater remains in operation on the 1949 map. By this point, the marquee in the photo has been replaced by a ‘V’ shaped model. The theater is noted as being air conditioned on this map.
The building was rather oddly arranged. The auditorium was not nearly as wide as the front section. On what is the left in the photo, the front extended all the way to the alley, and the northern storefront had a section extending back perhaps 10'. The auditorium past that was much lower, and was set back perhaps 6' from the alley.
When the building was constructed, it replaced a very old church, which then relocated to a large new structure to the south of the theater, and has likewise been torn down.
This is obviously not the Princeton, but a much older theater. There is a Walsman appliance store in Batesville, which is all the way on the other side of the state.
Note that the index for the map calls this the ‘Airdome Theatre’. The buildings listed by name are almost always the actual business name, so ‘Airdome’ may not have been a generic title.
After closing as the New Star, this may have become the Grand, or less likely the Noble, both of which are listed from 1926 through at least 1931 in information provided by Ken. The capacity given for the Grand matches that listed for this theater.
Found a slightly different photo from possibly the same day, and the plaque reads ‘J.W. Shuel 1902’.
From Ken Roe, there was a theater called the Theatorium listed in the 1914-1915 edition of American Motion Picture Directory at 108 N Main. That may have been a bad address for this theater, or it’s possible it was a brand new opening. The 1914 Sanborn shows that 106-108 are a dry goods store in a still extant building, but the map was issued in January.
Based on information from Ken Roe, this was originally called the New Star (possibly carrying the Star name from one of the early attempts to open a theater?), but is not listed in 1926. May have sat dormant before reopening as the Roxy?
The address and likely most of the rest of the information is wrong. There has never been an address higher than 232, and this is obviously on the wrong side of the street.
I suggest this is the theater shown at 229-231 on the 1914 Sanborn. It’s obviously an older building that has been remodeled, and the 1907 map shows a 1-2 story livery stable there. I wish we could read the little stone plaque up top in the photo to be sure.
At any rate, the entire south side of the block has been destroyed. There is a drive through bank on the corner now, which before a remodel appeared to be roughly the right age to have replaced the theater right after it closed.
The city (presumably) has made a real effort to undo the godawful remodel, and this has been open as a performing arts venue since at least 2016. It is home to the Broadway Players. When I came through, the marquee was advertising ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’, but I’m not sure if that was the film or a stage production.
Note that the interior picture is of the wrong theater. It is obviously not an auditorium built after WWII. Probably belongs with the previous Princeton.
Photo of the building in the late ‘50s. Seems to be a grocery at this point: https://tinyurl.com/nrh6xsvx
The gorgeous Masonic building in the foreground is long gone.
Before the street was renamed sometime after World War I, the address was on rue de la Gare, quite natural as the railway station was located at the end.
Not sure why this is the only picture I took, since we walked past at least twice. Blank area used to say ‘Casino’.
As originally constructed, the capacity was 1,600 with two balconies.
The building on this site is not new. It is quite old, probably from the 1850s to 1870s. I’m not even sure the auditorium to the rear has been demolished, but was likely gutted. By the 1970s at least, this was a Paramount.
By the way, the current marquee is a reproduction of the original. Based on some more research, the architect was Eugène Chirié. It was opened as the Pathé Palace, became the Pathé Natan in 1934 or maybe 1935, returned to Pathé Palace in 1945, and became simply the Pathé in 1993.
There was a really ugly remodel in 1972, when the original auditorium was chopped into 4 screens with a total capacity of 1,850. A fifth screen was added in 1979, and three more in 1986. It closed in 1995, and reopened in 1996 with the present appearance and configuration. Apparently only the facade is original, the rest is new construction.
I’m not sure it was ever just called the Bellecour, but until at least the early ‘50s, it was the Pathé Palace.
Every instance of Pathe should be corrected to Pathé.
Some of the information above is incorrect. According to the Pays de la Loire departmental heritage site, the theater was constructed by the chocolate company Poulain. A Mr. L. Le Bomin is noted as the contractor in the names carved on the facade.
Later, when it became part of the Pathé chain, it was renamed Palace.
Also of note, the sculptural work was executed by Maurice Legendre, who was a fairly well-known artist in his day, and had done decorative work on several other buildings in town.
For photos of an extensive survey done in 1980, see this page: https://www.patrimoine.paysdelaloire.fr/linventaire/detail-notices/IA49000818/
Sadly, the entire interior, including a spectacularly ornate lobby that remained original until the theater closed, was destroyed in a hamfisted conversion by ‘architects’ who saw fit to carve their names into the facade as well.
The building is from 1909. Not sure what the original use of the ground floor was, but one of the arches has a PA or AP monogram.
The building is pretty old, I’d guess mid-1800s. Cinema entrance is ugly modern anodized sheet metal and glass doors. Still derelict in the 2020 street view.
Street name is misspelled (should be ‘Maréchal’).
Correct website is: https://www.cinemaspathegaumont.com/cinemas/cinema-gaumont-champs-elysees
Name was changed well before 2018, most likely in the 2003 remodel.
I suspect this must have been the Theatoriam (Theatorium?), with an incorrect address (or the numbers may have changed). The 1909 map has no street numbers, but 418 on the 1917 map is a little wooden dry cleaners, which on the 1909 map is a barber. It looks far too small to seat 250 in the small rear extension.
Still cannot add photos.
Assuming it’s the theater on the 1917 Sanborn, the address was 313 Main St, and this was long ago demolished, along with about 2/3 of downtown.
The building was typical of older commercial buildings, being very deep and narrow, but was rather unusual in being four stories tall at the front, then about 25% of the way back dropping to two stories, then for the last 1/3 being only one story. It was of brick construction with a wood and tin facade.
The building first appears on the 1892 map (the lot is vacant in 1885) as a stationery store. By 1909, it is shown as an ‘Electric Theatre’. Aside from the further addition of a one story wooden shed housing a gasoline engine, no great changes seem to have been involved in the conversion to a theater.
The building was gone at least as early as 2007, but probably quite a few years before that.
I think the NRHP listing is wrong. They took the dates on the first map the theater appears on, and the last one, and assumed they had anything to do with opening or closing. It may have remained in operation into the ‘50s.
The theater remains in operation on the 1949 map. By this point, the marquee in the photo has been replaced by a ‘V’ shaped model. The theater is noted as being air conditioned on this map.
The building was rather oddly arranged. The auditorium was not nearly as wide as the front section. On what is the left in the photo, the front extended all the way to the alley, and the northern storefront had a section extending back perhaps 10'. The auditorium past that was much lower, and was set back perhaps 6' from the alley.
When the building was constructed, it replaced a very old church, which then relocated to a large new structure to the south of the theater, and has likewise been torn down.
I added the website when I did the listing. This site has been very glitchy lately. I am also unable to add a photo.