The Roxy is still not listed at Cinema Treasures. The building at 3764 Broadway still exists, and is occupied by a women’s apparel shop called Best Fashions. From Google Street View it looks like the old marquee is still there, though covered up and stripped of its original signage. It also looks like the upper part of the facade has been altered— probably the decoration jase recalls was removed.
Though KenK remembers the Roxy as being larger than the Glen, in the satellite views the buildings look almost the same size. The Roxy building is higher, and jase said it had a balcony, but I don’t see any indication of upper-level exits. I’m wondering if the “balcony” was not actually a section of stadium-style seating (although I don’t see any front exits at the ends of the building either, which theaters with stadium sections typically had in those days.} But if there was a stadium section, that would account for KenK’s impression of the Glen being much smaller than the Roxy.
An article in the September 29, 1909, issue of the Seattle Star said that the Grand was one of the Seattle theaters that had been designed by architect E. W. Houghton. It mentioned two others, one being the Moore, but the scan of the paper is bad and the name of the third Houghton-designed house is almost unreadable, but it was probably the Majestic, which appears in the theater listings of that same issue of the paper.
From its date of opening, its location, and the description of an unnamed theater that was the subject of an article in the Salt Lake Herald of July 16, 1908, the architect of the Victory Theatre can be identified as E.W. Houghton of Seattle, with H.A. Hodgson as his associate in charge of construction. This was the same team that designed and built the Ogden Theatre at Ogeden, Utah, the following year.
The Salt Lake Herald article can be read online here, in the Library of Congress’s newspaper collection.
As a rule I think it’s a good thing to have a closed theater listed by its final name, but quite a few exceptions have already been made and the Hyde Park seems to me a good candidate for an exception. If a theater had many name changes over its life, I’d prefer to see it listed under its final name even if that name had been used for only a few years.
In the case of theaters that had a particular name for decades and then another name for only a few years, I think it makes more sense to list it under the long-standing name, with the final name as the aka. People from the neighborhood searching for it on the Internet are more likely to search on the original name than the final name.
One page that should be renamed is the one for the Capri, in Alhambra, California. It’s been listed forever by the third of its five names, the Granada Theatre.
None of the comments on this page so far apply to the original Strand Theatre, which has not become the Erie Playhouse, and was not designed by Victor A. Rigaumont. It was designed by the noted Buffalo, New York architect G. Morton Wolfe, who designed at least two theaters in that city.
The Strand in Erie was operating by 1916, when these two photos of its auditorium appeared in a portfolio of Wolfe’s work that was published in the August, 1916, issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder. So far I’ve been unable to find a photo of the exterior of the original Strand.
Here is a photo of the Hyde Park Theatre, form a portfolio of the work of its architect, Howard McClorey, which was published in the October, 1916 issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder.
Aside from the addition of the modern marquee, the 1983 photo of the facade shows it to have been little changed from its original appearance.
I have to disagree with Chuck about changing the appellation. If it was the Hyde Park Theatre for almost 70 years, and the Park Cinema only for its last five years, there are probably more people around who remember it by its original name than by its final name.
We’ve been waiting a long time, but here it is: A photo of the Circle Theatre, from a portfolio of the works of architect G. Morton Wolfe in the August, 1916, issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder.
The architect appears to have been influenced by the arts and crafts and the prairie styles in designing the front of the Circle Theatre. It gives the building a vaguely Oriental look. It would be interesting to know what the original interior looked like.
But I’m not surprised that there has been some confusion over who actually designed the Circle Theatre. It is not at all characteristic of Wolfe’s work, most of which consisted of very strong, even austere, industrial buildings, and fairly straightforward commercial blocks with restrained detailing. Wolfe did design at least one other theater during this period, though; the first Strand Theatre in Erie, Pennsylvania, which had a splendid, ornate auditorium, though I haven’t found any photos of the front of that house.
The January 8, 1920, issue of the trade Journal Electrical World had an article entitled “Artistic and Utilitarian Theater Lighting” which featured four photos of the Palace Theatre.
The article can be read online here at Google Books.
Here is a photo of the Toy Theatre, clipped from volume 1 of a 1922 publication, “History of Milwaukee” by William George Bruce and Josiah Seymour Currey (scan available at Google Books.)
It looks like there was another theater right next door to the Toy.
The March 25, 1922, issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering said that a Mrs. Libby, operator of a tea room in Kennebunk, intended to build a building with a movie theater and two stores in Ogunquit. Plans for the $25,000 project had been drawn by Kennebunk architect W.E. Barry.
The 1940s photo Don Lewis linked to is not posted on the Fox Cineplex page. When this page is taken down, I hope that Don’s comment can be moved there.
The February 18, 1922, issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering noted that the Rounnel Construction Co. had won the contract to erect a brick theater building at 112-14 S. Central St. in Eagle Rock. This was probably the theater that became the Sierra.
I don’t have any maps from the period available, but I’m pretty sure that before the City of Eagle Rock was annexed to Los Angeles in 1923, this section of what later became Eagle Rock Blvd. was called Central Street. In Los Angeles, the street that was incorporated into Eagle Rock Blvd. was originally called Glassell Avenue.
The March 18, 1922, issue of trade journal Domestic Engineering said that George H. Wilkinson of Wallingford was having plans prepared for a theater to be built on Center Street. The architect for the project was Loomis J. Thompson. Thompson later designed the Capitol Theatre in Watertown as well.
Here is a photo of the World Theatre that appeared in an ad for Crane plumbing fixtures in a 1923 issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting.
The December 13, 1913, issue of trade journal The Moving Picture World said that an existing building at 213 W. Third Street would be remodeled for use as a moving picture theater to be called the Casino. The local firm of Clausen & Clausen (Frederick G. and Rudolph J., a father and son partnership) were preparing the plans for the project.
The Colonial Theatre was open by 1913, and was pictured in an article in the trade journal The Moving Picture World, issue of December 20 that year (clip of the article from Google Books.)
The 408-seat Colonial was designed by local architects Thomas Benjamin & Sons, Frank Van Der Til, and Blakslee Brothers.
An interesting item in the November 8, 1913, issue of the trade journal The Moving Picture World says that construction of the foundations for a new Poli theater at Main and Gold streets in Hartford had begun. If that was not the exact location of the Loew’s Poli then it must have been very close. The item said that construction was being rushed on the project, in hope that the house could be opened in January, 1914. Architect for the project was Ferdinand Von Beren of the New Haven firm Brown & Von Beren, who did other work for the Poli chain.
I’ve found no later references to this project in the trade publications. I’m wondering if Loew’s Poli was later built on the foundations begun in 1913? Or did something else get built there, or nothing at all? Maybe the city decided it needed part of the site for a street widening project or something of that sort, and the theater project was halted? Perhaps Mr. Poli ran into financial difficulties and the project had to be delayed? A mystery, anyway. Does anybody know the answer?
In my previous comment, that should of course be a construction year of 1866, not 1966, for the theater that burned in 1912 (unless we have one of those rare, time-traveling theaters on our hands.)
I’ve yet to find a University library with a user-friendly web site, but you can find the photos of the Myers by going to the UW library’s Digital Collections page, then putting Myers Theater (that spelling exactly) in the search box.
It’s possible to right click on any given size of a photo there and copy the link address, then paste that here (thus), but then those who click on the link here won’t get the data page with all the details about the photo, just the photo itself. Also I don’t know how long the resulting link will last.
A 1901 issue of The Engineering Record said that Butte architect H. M. Patterson (Henry M. Patterson) had prepared the plans for a theater to be erected on Broadway for the Sutton Theatre Company. This was probably one of Patterson’s last projects in Butte, as in 1902 (or 1905— sources conflict) he relocated to Los Angeles. There he specialized in the design of churches, though he did design at least one Southern California theater, the Washington in Pasadena, done in association with architect Clarence L. Jay.
His firm, Brown & Von Beren, also designed the Globe Theatre in Bridgeport, and in 1913 construction began on a Brown & Von Beren-designed Poli theater at Main and Gold streets in Hartford, though this project appears not to have been completed (it might have been completed several years later as Loew’s Poli, which is attributed to Thomas Lamb.)
The firm of Brown & Von Beren (see my previous comment above) is also mentioned in a 1913 issue of Motion Picture World in connection with a theater they were designing for the Poli circuit in Hartford. It was apparently never built, but it’s yet another connection to S.Z. Poli.
The biography I linked to in my previous comment atributes the design of Poli’s Bijou Theatre in New haven to Ferdinand Von Beren as well.
I’m more certain than ever that this theater should be attributed to Ferdinand Von Beren, Brown & Von Beren (the biography, published in 1918, says that partner David R. Brown died in 1911, but that the firm name remained unchanged.)
A publication of the North Adams Historical Society says that the Empire Theatre was built in 1912 to replace an earlier theater dating from 1966 that had burned down.
The Roxy is still not listed at Cinema Treasures. The building at 3764 Broadway still exists, and is occupied by a women’s apparel shop called Best Fashions. From Google Street View it looks like the old marquee is still there, though covered up and stripped of its original signage. It also looks like the upper part of the facade has been altered— probably the decoration jase recalls was removed.
Though KenK remembers the Roxy as being larger than the Glen, in the satellite views the buildings look almost the same size. The Roxy building is higher, and jase said it had a balcony, but I don’t see any indication of upper-level exits. I’m wondering if the “balcony” was not actually a section of stadium-style seating (although I don’t see any front exits at the ends of the building either, which theaters with stadium sections typically had in those days.} But if there was a stadium section, that would account for KenK’s impression of the Glen being much smaller than the Roxy.
An article in the September 29, 1909, issue of the Seattle Star said that the Grand was one of the Seattle theaters that had been designed by architect E. W. Houghton. It mentioned two others, one being the Moore, but the scan of the paper is bad and the name of the third Houghton-designed house is almost unreadable, but it was probably the Majestic, which appears in the theater listings of that same issue of the paper.
From its date of opening, its location, and the description of an unnamed theater that was the subject of an article in the Salt Lake Herald of July 16, 1908, the architect of the Victory Theatre can be identified as E.W. Houghton of Seattle, with H.A. Hodgson as his associate in charge of construction. This was the same team that designed and built the Ogden Theatre at Ogeden, Utah, the following year.
The Salt Lake Herald article can be read online here, in the Library of Congress’s newspaper collection.
As a rule I think it’s a good thing to have a closed theater listed by its final name, but quite a few exceptions have already been made and the Hyde Park seems to me a good candidate for an exception. If a theater had many name changes over its life, I’d prefer to see it listed under its final name even if that name had been used for only a few years.
In the case of theaters that had a particular name for decades and then another name for only a few years, I think it makes more sense to list it under the long-standing name, with the final name as the aka. People from the neighborhood searching for it on the Internet are more likely to search on the original name than the final name.
One page that should be renamed is the one for the Capri, in Alhambra, California. It’s been listed forever by the third of its five names, the Granada Theatre.
None of the comments on this page so far apply to the original Strand Theatre, which has not become the Erie Playhouse, and was not designed by Victor A. Rigaumont. It was designed by the noted Buffalo, New York architect G. Morton Wolfe, who designed at least two theaters in that city.
The Strand in Erie was operating by 1916, when these two photos of its auditorium appeared in a portfolio of Wolfe’s work that was published in the August, 1916, issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder. So far I’ve been unable to find a photo of the exterior of the original Strand.
Here is a photo of the Hyde Park Theatre, form a portfolio of the work of its architect, Howard McClorey, which was published in the October, 1916 issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder.
Aside from the addition of the modern marquee, the 1983 photo of the facade shows it to have been little changed from its original appearance.
I have to disagree with Chuck about changing the appellation. If it was the Hyde Park Theatre for almost 70 years, and the Park Cinema only for its last five years, there are probably more people around who remember it by its original name than by its final name.
We’ve been waiting a long time, but here it is: A photo of the Circle Theatre, from a portfolio of the works of architect G. Morton Wolfe in the August, 1916, issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder.
The architect appears to have been influenced by the arts and crafts and the prairie styles in designing the front of the Circle Theatre. It gives the building a vaguely Oriental look. It would be interesting to know what the original interior looked like.
But I’m not surprised that there has been some confusion over who actually designed the Circle Theatre. It is not at all characteristic of Wolfe’s work, most of which consisted of very strong, even austere, industrial buildings, and fairly straightforward commercial blocks with restrained detailing. Wolfe did design at least one other theater during this period, though; the first Strand Theatre in Erie, Pennsylvania, which had a splendid, ornate auditorium, though I haven’t found any photos of the front of that house.
The January 8, 1920, issue of the trade Journal Electrical World had an article entitled “Artistic and Utilitarian Theater Lighting” which featured four photos of the Palace Theatre.
The article can be read online here at Google Books.
This house is already listed at Cinema Treasures under its later name, the Town Theatre.
Here is a photo of the Toy Theatre, clipped from volume 1 of a 1922 publication, “History of Milwaukee” by William George Bruce and Josiah Seymour Currey (scan available at Google Books.)
It looks like there was another theater right next door to the Toy.
The March 25, 1922, issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering said that a Mrs. Libby, operator of a tea room in Kennebunk, intended to build a building with a movie theater and two stores in Ogunquit. Plans for the $25,000 project had been drawn by Kennebunk architect W.E. Barry.
The 1940s photo Don Lewis linked to is not posted on the Fox Cineplex page. When this page is taken down, I hope that Don’s comment can be moved there.
The 1914 obituary of noted Chicago architect John J. Flanders attributes the design of the Haymarket Theatre to him.
The February 18, 1922, issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering noted that the Rounnel Construction Co. had won the contract to erect a brick theater building at 112-14 S. Central St. in Eagle Rock. This was probably the theater that became the Sierra.
I don’t have any maps from the period available, but I’m pretty sure that before the City of Eagle Rock was annexed to Los Angeles in 1923, this section of what later became Eagle Rock Blvd. was called Central Street. In Los Angeles, the street that was incorporated into Eagle Rock Blvd. was originally called Glassell Avenue.
The March 18, 1922, issue of trade journal Domestic Engineering said that George H. Wilkinson of Wallingford was having plans prepared for a theater to be built on Center Street. The architect for the project was Loomis J. Thompson. Thompson later designed the Capitol Theatre in Watertown as well.
Here is a photo of the World Theatre that appeared in an ad for Crane plumbing fixtures in a 1923 issue of the trade journal Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting.
The December 13, 1913, issue of trade journal The Moving Picture World said that an existing building at 213 W. Third Street would be remodeled for use as a moving picture theater to be called the Casino. The local firm of Clausen & Clausen (Frederick G. and Rudolph J., a father and son partnership) were preparing the plans for the project.
The Colonial Theatre was open by 1913, and was pictured in an article in the trade journal The Moving Picture World, issue of December 20 that year (clip of the article from Google Books.)
The 408-seat Colonial was designed by local architects Thomas Benjamin & Sons, Frank Van Der Til, and Blakslee Brothers.
An interesting item in the November 8, 1913, issue of the trade journal The Moving Picture World says that construction of the foundations for a new Poli theater at Main and Gold streets in Hartford had begun. If that was not the exact location of the Loew’s Poli then it must have been very close. The item said that construction was being rushed on the project, in hope that the house could be opened in January, 1914. Architect for the project was Ferdinand Von Beren of the New Haven firm Brown & Von Beren, who did other work for the Poli chain.
I’ve found no later references to this project in the trade publications. I’m wondering if Loew’s Poli was later built on the foundations begun in 1913? Or did something else get built there, or nothing at all? Maybe the city decided it needed part of the site for a street widening project or something of that sort, and the theater project was halted? Perhaps Mr. Poli ran into financial difficulties and the project had to be delayed? A mystery, anyway. Does anybody know the answer?
In my previous comment, that should of course be a construction year of 1866, not 1966, for the theater that burned in 1912 (unless we have one of those rare, time-traveling theaters on our hands.)
I’ve yet to find a University library with a user-friendly web site, but you can find the photos of the Myers by going to the UW library’s Digital Collections page, then putting Myers Theater (that spelling exactly) in the search box.
It’s possible to right click on any given size of a photo there and copy the link address, then paste that here (thus), but then those who click on the link here won’t get the data page with all the details about the photo, just the photo itself. Also I don’t know how long the resulting link will last.
A 1901 issue of The Engineering Record said that Butte architect H. M. Patterson (Henry M. Patterson) had prepared the plans for a theater to be erected on Broadway for the Sutton Theatre Company. This was probably one of Patterson’s last projects in Butte, as in 1902 (or 1905— sources conflict) he relocated to Los Angeles. There he specialized in the design of churches, though he did design at least one Southern California theater, the Washington in Pasadena, done in association with architect Clarence L. Jay.
I’ve found a reference to Poli’s Bijou Theatre being in operation at least as early as 1913.
This essay about architect Ferdinand Von Beren, published in 1918, attributes the design of the Bijou to him.
His firm, Brown & Von Beren, also designed the Globe Theatre in Bridgeport, and in 1913 construction began on a Brown & Von Beren-designed Poli theater at Main and Gold streets in Hartford, though this project appears not to have been completed (it might have been completed several years later as Loew’s Poli, which is attributed to Thomas Lamb.)
The firm of Brown & Von Beren (see my previous comment above) is also mentioned in a 1913 issue of Motion Picture World in connection with a theater they were designing for the Poli circuit in Hartford. It was apparently never built, but it’s yet another connection to S.Z. Poli.
The biography I linked to in my previous comment atributes the design of Poli’s Bijou Theatre in New haven to Ferdinand Von Beren as well.
I’m more certain than ever that this theater should be attributed to Ferdinand Von Beren, Brown & Von Beren (the biography, published in 1918, says that partner David R. Brown died in 1911, but that the firm name remained unchanged.)
A publication of the North Adams Historical Society says that the Empire Theatre was built in 1912 to replace an earlier theater dating from 1966 that had burned down.