Boxoffice of December 3, 1938, said that the Co-Ed Theatre in Topeka had been designed by architect Trevor C. Jones. After working on four theaters that were mentioned in Boxoffice, he vanishes from the magazine. I suspect that, after the last of these projects, when he was Robert Boller’s associate on the Tivoli Theatre at Maryville, Missouri (not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, but here’s a Boxoffice article about it), he might have joined Boller’s firm and no longer worked under his own name.
The Ritz was a rebuilding of an older house called the Nueva Theatre, which had been severely damaged by a fire on March 15, 1937, according to Boxoffice of April 24 that year. Boxoffice of June 19 said that the opening of the Ritz was scheduled for June 23.
The architect for the rebuilding was Trevor C. Jones. Jones worked on at least three other theater projects. He designed the Co-Ed Theatre at Topeka, Kansas, the State Theatre at Mound City, Missouri, (with Clarence Kivett), and he was associated with Robert Boller in the design of C.E. Cook’s Tivoli Theatre at Maryville, Missouri, in 1939.
This will please Patsy. The Comerford/Carlisle Theatre was designed by architect Michael J. DeAngelis, and was the subject of this article by Helen Kent in Boxoffice of August 19, 1939. There are five photos.
The original 1935 owners of the El Rey were Lawrence Borg and John Peters. Later the house was taken over by Fox West Coast. In 1949, FWC departed and Borg and Peters resumed control of the house, according to Boxoffice of September 3 that year. Borg was noted as still being the operator of the El Rey at the time of his death, notice of which which was published in Boxoffice of November 13, 1954.
John Peters must have been related to William Peters, noted in multiple Boxoffice items of the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s as operator of the El Rey at Manteca. robertgippy’s comment of January 31 this year above says that the two El Rey theaters were built by the same family, and were of very similar design.
William Peters was the original owner of the Manteca house, built the year after the Salinas El Rey. Manteca’s El Rey was designed by architects Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen, so it seems likely that the same architects designed the Salinas El Rey as well, though I’ve been unable to find a source confirming it.
The entry for architect Otto A. Deichmann in the 1956 edition of the AIA’s American Architect’s Directory includes the Del Oro Theatre at Grass Valley in the list of his works. The project is dated 1942. I’m not sure if Deichman’s partnership with Mark T. Jorgensen had been dissolved yet in 1942.
The Haight Theatre is listed among works attributed to architect Otto A. Deichmann in the 1956 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory.
As the Haight was built in 1937 I would assume that Deichmann’s partner of that period, Mark T. Jorgensen, was also involved in the project. I’ve been unable to find a listing for Jorgensen in the AIA’s online historical directory. It’s possible he was not a member of the organization.
The March 3, 1951, issue of Boxoffice said that the Star Theatre had closed on February 17, due to the opening of Florida State Theatres' new DeSoto Theatre in Arcadia. The item said that the Star had been in operation for 42 years.
Boxoffice of September 19, 1953, said that the former Star Theatre was to be demolished and the site would become a parking lot. A Google search now turns up a Downtown Athletic Club at 20 S. Polk Ave. in Arcadia, and on the lot just north of it, where the Star’s address would be, you can see a parking lot in Google Maps street view, so the Star has been demolished.
The Bijou was mentioned at least twice in Boxoffice in 1939. The operator was named O. Nakamichi. The November 13 issue that year said that Nakamichi had bought 600 new seats for the house from National Theatre Supply, and was also planning minor alterations to the lobby.
The Bijou was mentioned in issues of Boxoffice as late as 1947, when it was being operated by Andy Gorblisch, but Nakamichi vanished from the pages of the magazine until 1946.
The October 7, 1946, issue of Boxoffice has a brief obituary of Okanosake Nakamichi. It said that he had operated a theater in Visalia from 1911 until he was relocated to a prison camp in 1942. It doesn’t mention any theater names.
Boxoffice of May 7, 1955, said that Al Bain’s Redwood Investment company had bought the Hyde Theatre building and planned to erect a new commercial or office building on the site. As the Hyde’s building is still there today Bain must have found it more economical to simply convert the existing structure.
Also, I’ve found a one-line reference to the Grand Theatre in Visalia, managed by Phil Harris, in Boxoffice of November 5, 1949. The Grand remains a mystery.
Mark: I haven’t found any references to a third theater built on the model of the Lakewood and Tacoma projects, but if one was built it would probably have been built for one of the Forman companies; Forman United Theatres or Pacific Theatres. I’ll keep an eye out for evidence of such a project.
Boxoffice announced the construction of this theater, as yet unnamed, in its issue of May 8, 1948. The owner of the project was J.H. Harris, and the house was to be operated under lease by Bob Smith. The theater was designed by San Bernardino architect Howard E. Jones.
Jones is best known as the architect of the 1926 San Bernardino County Courthouse, which has recently been restored, but I’ve also found him cited as the architect of a remodeling of a Savoy Theatre in San Bernardino in 1921. In addition, Jones designed the San Bernardino Municipal Auditorium (erected 1923) and was the lead architect of the 1924 Platt Building and West Coast Theatre in San Bernardino, a project on which Lewis A. Smith was associated.
The West Coast Theatre was part of an office-commercial project called the Platt Building, erected for local developer Frank C. Platt. The project, planned from the beginning to include a large theater, was designed by San Bernardino architect Howard E. Jones.
The West Coast Theatres circuit signed a lease for the theater before the project was publicly announced. West Coast brought in Los Angeles architect Lewis A. Smith, who had designed a number of projects for the circuit, to work in association with Jones on the details of the theater. Jones was not unexperienced in theater design, having been the architect of the San Bernardino Municipal Auditorium, erected in 1923. He is also credited with the rebuilding of a Savoy Theatre at San Bernardino in 1921, and late in his career designed the Arrow Theatre at Fontana, California.
Fred Stein Theatres acquired the West Coast Theatre in 1960, and immediately began renovations. The house reopened as the Crest in June that year, according to Boxoffice of June 20.
Since posting the comment immediately above I have done more searching in Boxoffice and have found that Ben Mayer, who the magazine said had designed the Tacoma Mall Theatre, was in fact an industrial and graphics designer, not an architect.
Therefore I think it’s safe to accept the Tacoma Library’s claim that the architect of the Tacoma Mall Theatre was George T. Nowak, of George T. Nowak & Associates, architect of the nearly identical Lakewood Center Theatre in Lakewood, California, which opened a few months earlier than the Tacoma Mall house. As the Lakewood Center was designed in association with Mel C. Glatz, his firm might have been involved in the Tacoma project as well.
I’ve found Ben Mayer credited with the design of a few other theater projects, but aside from the one drive-in at Tacoma these were all remodeling or decorating jobs.
A boxoffice item of May 8, 1948, reveals the time when the Bellflower Theatre became the Nubel (yes, only one “l” on the end— see the vintage photos linked in comments above) and got its modern look. It says in part: “South-Lyn Theatres… has earmarked $150,000 for extensive modernization and enlarging of its Bellflower Theatre, which will be renamed the Nubel.” The item said that the seating capacity was to be increased by the addition of a balcony, the width of the entrance was to be doubled, and a new marquee and 60-foot sign tower would be installed.
Boxoffice of October 22, 1949, announced the recent reopening of the remodeled house. The expanded seating capacity was 1,150, according to this item. South-Lyn Theatres was run by Al Hanson, and operated two houses in South Gate, two in Lynwood, as well as a second theater in Bellflower.
Prior to its purchase by Hanson, some time after January, 1947, the Bellflower Theatre was operated by its original owner, Lester Funk, according to a brief biography of him in Boxoffice of April 14, 1945. The item said he had opened his first theater in Bellflower in 1926, then opened the Bellflower Theatre in 1929. Funk also opened the Circle Theatre there in 1941.
An interesting item appears in Boxoffice of April 4, 1942. It is about an arbitration complaint filed by L.W. Allen, operator of the South Gate Theatre. The Vogue Theatre in South Gate, operated by Fox West Coast, had been given a 91-day clearance over Allen’s house. The thing I found most interesting was that the arbitrator named to handle the complaint was the noted architect, John C. Austin.
Robert J. Allen is named in Boxoffice of May 20, 1950, in an article about a suit he had filed against National Theatres, Fox West Coast, and eight major distributors. The suit charged that Allen’s Avon Theatre in South Gate had, since 1940, unfairly been subjected to an arbitrary zoning system forcing it to run movies from 91 to 126 days after houses operated by Fox and Warner in the same zone. The item doesn’t mention L.W. Allen, but it seems likely that the two Allens were related.
A May 4, 1973, Boxoffice item says that Allen Theatre owner Hugh Dallas had announced a return of the house, the only theater then operating in South Gate, to a policy of family movies.
Construction was to start within a few weeks on the 500-seat Village Theatre in Claremont, and the house was to open on April 15, according to Boxoffice of February 18, 1939. The Village would be operated by Richard L. Bare, operator of the Filmarte Theatre in Carmel, California, and, like the Filmarte, it was to be a single-bill house booking both American and European movies. The Claremont Colleges were associated with Bare in the project, and would have supervision over the programs, which would change twice weekly.
Given the short time between the start of construction and the projected opening date, I suspect that the Village was installed in an existing building that was remodeled into a theater. The Boxoffice item confirms Sumner Spaulding as the architect for the project.
Richard L. Bare, who went on to become a director, writer, and actor for movies and television, is apparently still living.
The Cosmo remained open at least as late as 1950, when the August 12 issue of Boxoffice said that operator Grover Smith planned to shutter the house on the 19th of that month.
The Muse was a grind house featuring exploitation movies by the mid-1960s, when it achieved its moment of glory (such as it was) by hosting the world premier of Cambist Films' release “Rent-A-Girl” on October 15, 1965. The upcoming event was duly noted in Boxoffice of October 11, lest any Omaha area subscriber miss out.
For anyone unfamiliar with Cambist Films, the Grindhouse Cinema Database provides this page about the company and a few of its lurid releases.
Boxoffice of May 2, 1966, has somewhat different details than the L.A. Times article ken mc quotes just above. It says that the former Lido Theatre was to reopen as Stage One on May 4, with a double bill of “Juliet of the Spirits” and “The Magnificent Cuckold.” The article does mention “The Shop on Main Street” as one of the upcoming films on Stage One’s schedule. As the Times article was dated after the projected opening, it seems likely that Fox missed the opening date.
The August 21, 1972, issue of Boxoffice reported that the Stage One Theatre in Riverside had been closed indefinitely. Fox Riverside manager Dave Lackie gave a lack of suitable product as the cause for the closing, but added that the equipment remained in place and that the theater could be reopened if potentially profitable releases became available. The house had enjoyed considerable success for some time after its 1966 opening, Lackie said.
I’ve been unable to discover if the house was ever reopened under its old policy after this closure.
The opening of the Sky-Hi Drive-In was tentatively set for July 1, 1952, according to Boxoffice of May 31 that year. The theater was being built for Earl Hargis, owner of the Sky-Hi Cafe, and was his first venture into movie exhibition.
The Star was built in 1941 by F.L. “Doc” Lowe, who already operated theaters in Sterling, Kansas, and Brookfield Missouri. The opening of the Star was announced in Boxoffice of July 12 that year. Reportedly it had 500 seats.
From Boxoffice of November 9, 1964: “Robert Cannon, owner of two indoor theatres at Lake City, has sold his first-run Lake Theatre for nontheatrical purposes and has reopened his former sub-run Columbia Theatre as a first-run house.”
However, this was apparently not the end for the Lake. Boxoffice of November 14, 1966, says this: “MCM Theatres… has leased the Lake Theatre… from Robert Cannon. MCM has renamed the Lake to the Gateway.” The Gateway was opened after extensive remodeling, according to Boxoffice of January 30, 1967. The item said the Gateway had 500 seats.
But there is a problem. The Cinema Treasures listing for the Gateway Theatre gives a different address from that given above for the Lake Theatre. Is it possible that Lake City renumbered its streets at some time?
Theaters in Lake City are difficult to research with search engines, given the fact that the name is so common. The name Robert Cannon turns out to be pretty common, too, so knowing it isn’t much help. I think that somebody familiar with Lake City is going to have to help sort this one out.
The Columbia must have opened a bit earlier than 1949. Boxoffice of March 15, 1947, says this in an item datelined Lake City: “Leonard Vaughan has been named manager of the New Columbia Theatre here.” The fact that “New” is capitalized might indicate that there was also an earlier Columbia Theatre in Lake City, or it might just be an error by a Boxoffice typesetter.
Prior to its destruction by fire on St. Valentine’s Day in 1960, the Lyric was operated under lease by Publix Great States Theatres. The new house was to be leased to Square Amusement Co., a subsidiary of Great States.
I’m wondering of the seating capacity of 939 currently listed above was for the old Lyric? Two issues of Boxoffice (March 26, 1962, and February 4, 1963) each give the seating capacity of the rebuilt theater as 800. The 1962 item mentions that seats “…of the new wide variety….” were planned for the new Lyric.
Boxoffice of December 3, 1938, said that the Co-Ed Theatre in Topeka had been designed by architect Trevor C. Jones. After working on four theaters that were mentioned in Boxoffice, he vanishes from the magazine. I suspect that, after the last of these projects, when he was Robert Boller’s associate on the Tivoli Theatre at Maryville, Missouri (not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, but here’s a Boxoffice article about it), he might have joined Boller’s firm and no longer worked under his own name.
The Ritz was a rebuilding of an older house called the Nueva Theatre, which had been severely damaged by a fire on March 15, 1937, according to Boxoffice of April 24 that year. Boxoffice of June 19 said that the opening of the Ritz was scheduled for June 23.
The architect for the rebuilding was Trevor C. Jones. Jones worked on at least three other theater projects. He designed the Co-Ed Theatre at Topeka, Kansas, the State Theatre at Mound City, Missouri, (with Clarence Kivett), and he was associated with Robert Boller in the design of C.E. Cook’s Tivoli Theatre at Maryville, Missouri, in 1939.
This will please Patsy. The Comerford/Carlisle Theatre was designed by architect Michael J. DeAngelis, and was the subject of this article by Helen Kent in Boxoffice of August 19, 1939. There are five photos.
The original 1935 owners of the El Rey were Lawrence Borg and John Peters. Later the house was taken over by Fox West Coast. In 1949, FWC departed and Borg and Peters resumed control of the house, according to Boxoffice of September 3 that year. Borg was noted as still being the operator of the El Rey at the time of his death, notice of which which was published in Boxoffice of November 13, 1954.
John Peters must have been related to William Peters, noted in multiple Boxoffice items of the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s as operator of the El Rey at Manteca. robertgippy’s comment of January 31 this year above says that the two El Rey theaters were built by the same family, and were of very similar design.
William Peters was the original owner of the Manteca house, built the year after the Salinas El Rey. Manteca’s El Rey was designed by architects Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen, so it seems likely that the same architects designed the Salinas El Rey as well, though I’ve been unable to find a source confirming it.
Architects Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen were preparing plans for the Noe Theatre, according to Motion Picture Herald of February 2, 1937.
The entry for architect Otto A. Deichmann in the 1956 edition of the AIA’s American Architect’s Directory includes the Del Oro Theatre at Grass Valley in the list of his works. The project is dated 1942. I’m not sure if Deichman’s partnership with Mark T. Jorgensen had been dissolved yet in 1942.
The Haight Theatre is listed among works attributed to architect Otto A. Deichmann in the 1956 edition of the AIA’s American Architects Directory.
As the Haight was built in 1937 I would assume that Deichmann’s partner of that period, Mark T. Jorgensen, was also involved in the project. I’ve been unable to find a listing for Jorgensen in the AIA’s online historical directory. It’s possible he was not a member of the organization.
The March 3, 1951, issue of Boxoffice said that the Star Theatre had closed on February 17, due to the opening of Florida State Theatres' new DeSoto Theatre in Arcadia. The item said that the Star had been in operation for 42 years.
Boxoffice of September 19, 1953, said that the former Star Theatre was to be demolished and the site would become a parking lot. A Google search now turns up a Downtown Athletic Club at 20 S. Polk Ave. in Arcadia, and on the lot just north of it, where the Star’s address would be, you can see a parking lot in Google Maps street view, so the Star has been demolished.
The Bijou was mentioned at least twice in Boxoffice in 1939. The operator was named O. Nakamichi. The November 13 issue that year said that Nakamichi had bought 600 new seats for the house from National Theatre Supply, and was also planning minor alterations to the lobby.
The Bijou was mentioned in issues of Boxoffice as late as 1947, when it was being operated by Andy Gorblisch, but Nakamichi vanished from the pages of the magazine until 1946.
The October 7, 1946, issue of Boxoffice has a brief obituary of Okanosake Nakamichi. It said that he had operated a theater in Visalia from 1911 until he was relocated to a prison camp in 1942. It doesn’t mention any theater names.
Boxoffice of May 7, 1955, said that Al Bain’s Redwood Investment company had bought the Hyde Theatre building and planned to erect a new commercial or office building on the site. As the Hyde’s building is still there today Bain must have found it more economical to simply convert the existing structure.
Also, I’ve found a one-line reference to the Grand Theatre in Visalia, managed by Phil Harris, in Boxoffice of November 5, 1949. The Grand remains a mystery.
Mark: I haven’t found any references to a third theater built on the model of the Lakewood and Tacoma projects, but if one was built it would probably have been built for one of the Forman companies; Forman United Theatres or Pacific Theatres. I’ll keep an eye out for evidence of such a project.
Boxoffice announced the construction of this theater, as yet unnamed, in its issue of May 8, 1948. The owner of the project was J.H. Harris, and the house was to be operated under lease by Bob Smith. The theater was designed by San Bernardino architect Howard E. Jones.
Jones is best known as the architect of the 1926 San Bernardino County Courthouse, which has recently been restored, but I’ve also found him cited as the architect of a remodeling of a Savoy Theatre in San Bernardino in 1921. In addition, Jones designed the San Bernardino Municipal Auditorium (erected 1923) and was the lead architect of the 1924 Platt Building and West Coast Theatre in San Bernardino, a project on which Lewis A. Smith was associated.
The West Coast Theatre was part of an office-commercial project called the Platt Building, erected for local developer Frank C. Platt. The project, planned from the beginning to include a large theater, was designed by San Bernardino architect Howard E. Jones.
The West Coast Theatres circuit signed a lease for the theater before the project was publicly announced. West Coast brought in Los Angeles architect Lewis A. Smith, who had designed a number of projects for the circuit, to work in association with Jones on the details of the theater. Jones was not unexperienced in theater design, having been the architect of the San Bernardino Municipal Auditorium, erected in 1923. He is also credited with the rebuilding of a Savoy Theatre at San Bernardino in 1921, and late in his career designed the Arrow Theatre at Fontana, California.
Fred Stein Theatres acquired the West Coast Theatre in 1960, and immediately began renovations. The house reopened as the Crest in June that year, according to Boxoffice of June 20.
Since posting the comment immediately above I have done more searching in Boxoffice and have found that Ben Mayer, who the magazine said had designed the Tacoma Mall Theatre, was in fact an industrial and graphics designer, not an architect.
Therefore I think it’s safe to accept the Tacoma Library’s claim that the architect of the Tacoma Mall Theatre was George T. Nowak, of George T. Nowak & Associates, architect of the nearly identical Lakewood Center Theatre in Lakewood, California, which opened a few months earlier than the Tacoma Mall house. As the Lakewood Center was designed in association with Mel C. Glatz, his firm might have been involved in the Tacoma project as well.
I’ve found Ben Mayer credited with the design of a few other theater projects, but aside from the one drive-in at Tacoma these were all remodeling or decorating jobs.
A boxoffice item of May 8, 1948, reveals the time when the Bellflower Theatre became the Nubel (yes, only one “l” on the end— see the vintage photos linked in comments above) and got its modern look. It says in part: “South-Lyn Theatres… has earmarked $150,000 for extensive modernization and enlarging of its Bellflower Theatre, which will be renamed the Nubel.” The item said that the seating capacity was to be increased by the addition of a balcony, the width of the entrance was to be doubled, and a new marquee and 60-foot sign tower would be installed.
Boxoffice of October 22, 1949, announced the recent reopening of the remodeled house. The expanded seating capacity was 1,150, according to this item. South-Lyn Theatres was run by Al Hanson, and operated two houses in South Gate, two in Lynwood, as well as a second theater in Bellflower.
Prior to its purchase by Hanson, some time after January, 1947, the Bellflower Theatre was operated by its original owner, Lester Funk, according to a brief biography of him in Boxoffice of April 14, 1945. The item said he had opened his first theater in Bellflower in 1926, then opened the Bellflower Theatre in 1929. Funk also opened the Circle Theatre there in 1941.
An interesting item appears in Boxoffice of April 4, 1942. It is about an arbitration complaint filed by L.W. Allen, operator of the South Gate Theatre. The Vogue Theatre in South Gate, operated by Fox West Coast, had been given a 91-day clearance over Allen’s house. The thing I found most interesting was that the arbitrator named to handle the complaint was the noted architect, John C. Austin.
Robert J. Allen is named in Boxoffice of May 20, 1950, in an article about a suit he had filed against National Theatres, Fox West Coast, and eight major distributors. The suit charged that Allen’s Avon Theatre in South Gate had, since 1940, unfairly been subjected to an arbitrary zoning system forcing it to run movies from 91 to 126 days after houses operated by Fox and Warner in the same zone. The item doesn’t mention L.W. Allen, but it seems likely that the two Allens were related.
A May 4, 1973, Boxoffice item says that Allen Theatre owner Hugh Dallas had announced a return of the house, the only theater then operating in South Gate, to a policy of family movies.
Construction was to start within a few weeks on the 500-seat Village Theatre in Claremont, and the house was to open on April 15, according to Boxoffice of February 18, 1939. The Village would be operated by Richard L. Bare, operator of the Filmarte Theatre in Carmel, California, and, like the Filmarte, it was to be a single-bill house booking both American and European movies. The Claremont Colleges were associated with Bare in the project, and would have supervision over the programs, which would change twice weekly.
Given the short time between the start of construction and the projected opening date, I suspect that the Village was installed in an existing building that was remodeled into a theater. The Boxoffice item confirms Sumner Spaulding as the architect for the project.
Richard L. Bare, who went on to become a director, writer, and actor for movies and television, is apparently still living.
The Cosmo remained open at least as late as 1950, when the August 12 issue of Boxoffice said that operator Grover Smith planned to shutter the house on the 19th of that month.
The Muse was a grind house featuring exploitation movies by the mid-1960s, when it achieved its moment of glory (such as it was) by hosting the world premier of Cambist Films' release “Rent-A-Girl” on October 15, 1965. The upcoming event was duly noted in Boxoffice of October 11, lest any Omaha area subscriber miss out.
For anyone unfamiliar with Cambist Films, the Grindhouse Cinema Database provides this page about the company and a few of its lurid releases.
Boxoffice of May 2, 1966, has somewhat different details than the L.A. Times article ken mc quotes just above. It says that the former Lido Theatre was to reopen as Stage One on May 4, with a double bill of “Juliet of the Spirits” and “The Magnificent Cuckold.” The article does mention “The Shop on Main Street” as one of the upcoming films on Stage One’s schedule. As the Times article was dated after the projected opening, it seems likely that Fox missed the opening date.
The August 21, 1972, issue of Boxoffice reported that the Stage One Theatre in Riverside had been closed indefinitely. Fox Riverside manager Dave Lackie gave a lack of suitable product as the cause for the closing, but added that the equipment remained in place and that the theater could be reopened if potentially profitable releases became available. The house had enjoyed considerable success for some time after its 1966 opening, Lackie said.
I’ve been unable to discover if the house was ever reopened under its old policy after this closure.
The opening of the Sky-Hi Drive-In was tentatively set for July 1, 1952, according to Boxoffice of May 31 that year. The theater was being built for Earl Hargis, owner of the Sky-Hi Cafe, and was his first venture into movie exhibition.
The Star was built in 1941 by F.L. “Doc” Lowe, who already operated theaters in Sterling, Kansas, and Brookfield Missouri. The opening of the Star was announced in Boxoffice of July 12 that year. Reportedly it had 500 seats.
From Boxoffice of November 9, 1964: “Robert Cannon, owner of two indoor theatres at Lake City, has sold his first-run Lake Theatre for nontheatrical purposes and has reopened his former sub-run Columbia Theatre as a first-run house.”
However, this was apparently not the end for the Lake. Boxoffice of November 14, 1966, says this: “MCM Theatres… has leased the Lake Theatre… from Robert Cannon. MCM has renamed the Lake to the Gateway.” The Gateway was opened after extensive remodeling, according to Boxoffice of January 30, 1967. The item said the Gateway had 500 seats.
But there is a problem. The Cinema Treasures listing for the Gateway Theatre gives a different address from that given above for the Lake Theatre. Is it possible that Lake City renumbered its streets at some time?
Theaters in Lake City are difficult to research with search engines, given the fact that the name is so common. The name Robert Cannon turns out to be pretty common, too, so knowing it isn’t much help. I think that somebody familiar with Lake City is going to have to help sort this one out.
The Columbia must have opened a bit earlier than 1949. Boxoffice of March 15, 1947, says this in an item datelined Lake City: “Leonard Vaughan has been named manager of the New Columbia Theatre here.” The fact that “New” is capitalized might indicate that there was also an earlier Columbia Theatre in Lake City, or it might just be an error by a Boxoffice typesetter.
Prior to its destruction by fire on St. Valentine’s Day in 1960, the Lyric was operated under lease by Publix Great States Theatres. The new house was to be leased to Square Amusement Co., a subsidiary of Great States.
I’m wondering of the seating capacity of 939 currently listed above was for the old Lyric? Two issues of Boxoffice (March 26, 1962, and February 4, 1963) each give the seating capacity of the rebuilt theater as 800. The 1962 item mentions that seats “…of the new wide variety….” were planned for the new Lyric.