A tornado on July 16, 2024 hit downtown Rome, but the good news is that the Capitol did not receive any damage. Unfortunately neighboring buildings were severely damage though.
Edited from my February 15, 2020 (5:32 PM) and July 20, 2021 (1:27 PM) comments:
The Crystal Theatre closed in 1932 and briefly reopened in 1933.
After being abandoned for a couple years, Plaza Theatre manager Jack H. Yeo remodeled the former Crystal Theatre. After remodeling, the theater was renamed the State Theatre and reopened its doors on November 9, 1935 with Boris Karloff’s “The Bride Of Frankenstein” along with a 20-minute Ben Blue comedy and an unnamed Looney Tunes cartoon starring Buddy.
For a brief time, Burlington had three movie houses but was down to two following the nearby Orpheum Theatre being gutted by a fire on January 28, 1937.
During its final years of operation, the State Theatre became a weekend-only theater (except for a brief moment in August 1951 when Burlington’s run of Walt Disney’s “Alice In Wonderland” ran at the State for a whole week). This lasted until the State Theatre closed in October 1952, leaving the Plaza Theatre the only operating movie house in Burlington.
The Palace Theatre was once a true Midwest icon due to the fact that the city of Mason City and the Palace Theatre itself became worldwide headlines following the world premiere of the 1962 Warner Brothers smash classic “The Music Man”.
On that same exact day on June 19, 1962, a grand total of 75,000 residents that were estimated by the Mason City Police Department jammed the sidewalks of downtown Mason City for the 24th annual North Iowa Band Festival Parade with the movie being its theme, which lasted four hours and had a grand total of over 121 bands (91 local and 30 out-of-state) starting from near the studios of CBS affiliate KGLO-TV (now KIMT) to the corner past the post office, to the corner at Federal and 4th NW, to where the Cecil Theatre was (which at the time was playing Disney’s “Big Red”), and lastly to the Sears parking lot. It was unknown on how many arrests were reported though, but probably either none or a very minor few. Many attendees were the cast of the movie, but some other of these attendees include Iowa Governor Norman Erba, Mason City’s then-Mayor George Mendon, 1961 Miss North Iowa Elaine Douglas, and former Mason City librarian Lydia Barrette. A little weird note is that a sign on the side of a car which reads “Our Marian The Librarian, Retired”. There is also banners reading “No Trouble For River City Today”. While Fort Lauderdale resident Paul Yoker reached through Central Park, local resident Meredith Willson hopped out of his car and began doing his drum chores by taking it order just in time to conduct “76 Trombones” with the city’s high school. Dodge City, Kansas’s famous giant 8ft drum known as the “Big Boomer” was never played due to the drum being blown off a trailer into a Kansas area ditch.
A marching competition was held right afterward, and along goes the Palace Theatre showing the film on-screen with thousands of people jamming the sidewalks leading to the Palace Theatre with cars holding the cast line up, with Arthur Godfrey listing all the names of the special attendees. The management forced the scheduled evening showing of Elvis’s “Follow That Dream” to be postponed and moved the film over to the nearby Strand Theatre due to the Music Man premiere.
The Palace Theatre did receive a remodel in June 1967, but unfortunately, the once-notable Palace Theatre closed in late-1983 and was demolished the following year in early 1984.
The Park 70 Theatre never operated as an adult theatre later in its life. It has been a first-run mainstream theater throughout its entire life, although there are only a tiny amount of X-rated films being shown at the Park 70 in bits and pieces. Mason City already had one X-rated movie house in the 1970s called the Mini Cinema 16.
The Park 70 Theatre continued operating as a first-run mainstream house for a little more following the opening of the Cinema V Theatres in May 1985, but the Park 70 began bringing back several ex-first-run features that became second-run at the time as well.
Because of lost information, the Park 70 Theatre closed later in the mid-1980s before its 1988 collapse.
The Bethel Cinemas located right next to Murphy’s Mart (now Giant Eagle) on 5055 Library Rd, Bethel Park, PA 15102, opened its doors by the Cinema Services Corp. chain on December 17, 1971 with “Evel Knievel” in Screen 1 and both “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and “Patton” in Screen 2.
The Bethel Cinemas was then taken over by the Mini Cinemas chain on December 24, 1985, and the theater closed for the final time on January 5, 1992 with “My Girl” in Screen 1 and “All I Want For Christmas” in Screen 2.
The Bethel Cinemas was later demolished and a Dollar Tree along with two other independent retailers were built as an adjacent to the Giant Eagle and Citizens Bank, and the adjacent Walmart that was built to the left of Giant Eagle opened on August 25, 2004. The Dollar Tree and the two other independent retailed stores were demolished in 2015 for extensive parking.
Closed after the 1980 season. It appears that the theater made its final advertisement either on or around October 27, 1980 with “Caddyshack” and “Up The Academy”.
The Majestic Theater closed after its January 10, 1984 showing of “Return Of The Jedi” before the fire the following morning. The fire also destroyed a stereo shop, two jewelry stores, and two other businesses.
The cinema that Scott built in the early-1980s is called the Village Cinema. I cannot find any information about it for now, but I hope someone can explain some info about it.
It’s still open for now, but it will close sometime in late-August.
Just a short time ago, it was announced that the Movies 14 will close for the final time in late-August and will soon be converted to a church.
A tornado on July 16, 2024 hit downtown Rome, but the good news is that the Capitol did not receive any damage. Unfortunately neighboring buildings were severely damage though.
Edited from my February 15, 2020 (5:32 PM) and July 20, 2021 (1:27 PM) comments:
The Crystal Theatre closed in 1932 and briefly reopened in 1933.
After being abandoned for a couple years, Plaza Theatre manager Jack H. Yeo remodeled the former Crystal Theatre. After remodeling, the theater was renamed the State Theatre and reopened its doors on November 9, 1935 with Boris Karloff’s “The Bride Of Frankenstein” along with a 20-minute Ben Blue comedy and an unnamed Looney Tunes cartoon starring Buddy.
For a brief time, Burlington had three movie houses but was down to two following the nearby Orpheum Theatre being gutted by a fire on January 28, 1937.
During its final years of operation, the State Theatre became a weekend-only theater (except for a brief moment in August 1951 when Burlington’s run of Walt Disney’s “Alice In Wonderland” ran at the State for a whole week). This lasted until the State Theatre closed in October 1952, leaving the Plaza Theatre the only operating movie house in Burlington.
The theater’s exterior and marquee is also featured on a Nissan commercial recently.
Actual closing date is September 30, 2008.
The Palace Theatre was once a true Midwest icon due to the fact that the city of Mason City and the Palace Theatre itself became worldwide headlines following the world premiere of the 1962 Warner Brothers smash classic “The Music Man”.
On that same exact day on June 19, 1962, a grand total of 75,000 residents that were estimated by the Mason City Police Department jammed the sidewalks of downtown Mason City for the 24th annual North Iowa Band Festival Parade with the movie being its theme, which lasted four hours and had a grand total of over 121 bands (91 local and 30 out-of-state) starting from near the studios of CBS affiliate KGLO-TV (now KIMT) to the corner past the post office, to the corner at Federal and 4th NW, to where the Cecil Theatre was (which at the time was playing Disney’s “Big Red”), and lastly to the Sears parking lot. It was unknown on how many arrests were reported though, but probably either none or a very minor few. Many attendees were the cast of the movie, but some other of these attendees include Iowa Governor Norman Erba, Mason City’s then-Mayor George Mendon, 1961 Miss North Iowa Elaine Douglas, and former Mason City librarian Lydia Barrette. A little weird note is that a sign on the side of a car which reads “Our Marian The Librarian, Retired”. There is also banners reading “No Trouble For River City Today”. While Fort Lauderdale resident Paul Yoker reached through Central Park, local resident Meredith Willson hopped out of his car and began doing his drum chores by taking it order just in time to conduct “76 Trombones” with the city’s high school. Dodge City, Kansas’s famous giant 8ft drum known as the “Big Boomer” was never played due to the drum being blown off a trailer into a Kansas area ditch.
A marching competition was held right afterward, and along goes the Palace Theatre showing the film on-screen with thousands of people jamming the sidewalks leading to the Palace Theatre with cars holding the cast line up, with Arthur Godfrey listing all the names of the special attendees. The management forced the scheduled evening showing of Elvis’s “Follow That Dream” to be postponed and moved the film over to the nearby Strand Theatre due to the Music Man premiere.
The Palace Theatre did receive a remodel in June 1967, but unfortunately, the once-notable Palace Theatre closed in late-1983 and was demolished the following year in early 1984.
One was named the Palm and the other was named the Uptown, but I don’t know which one is which.
The Park 70 Theatre never operated as an adult theatre later in its life. It has been a first-run mainstream theater throughout its entire life, although there are only a tiny amount of X-rated films being shown at the Park 70 in bits and pieces. Mason City already had one X-rated movie house in the 1970s called the Mini Cinema 16.
The Park 70 Theatre continued operating as a first-run mainstream house for a little more following the opening of the Cinema V Theatres in May 1985, but the Park 70 began bringing back several ex-first-run features that became second-run at the time as well.
Because of lost information, the Park 70 Theatre closed later in the mid-1980s before its 1988 collapse.
Also, the capacity of the Rose Bowl Drive-In looks to be a little more larger than 300. I’ll say between 400 to 500 estimate.
My best guess is that the Super 66 is also a site of Sunday services as well.
The Bethel Cinemas located right next to Murphy’s Mart (now Giant Eagle) on 5055 Library Rd, Bethel Park, PA 15102, opened its doors by the Cinema Services Corp. chain on December 17, 1971 with “Evel Knievel” in Screen 1 and both “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and “Patton” in Screen 2.
The Bethel Cinemas was then taken over by the Mini Cinemas chain on December 24, 1985, and the theater closed for the final time on January 5, 1992 with “My Girl” in Screen 1 and “All I Want For Christmas” in Screen 2.
The Bethel Cinemas was later demolished and a Dollar Tree along with two other independent retailers were built as an adjacent to the Giant Eagle and Citizens Bank, and the adjacent Walmart that was built to the left of Giant Eagle opened on August 25, 2004. The Dollar Tree and the two other independent retailed stores were demolished in 2015 for extensive parking.
Closed after the 1980 season. It appears that the theater made its final advertisement either on or around October 27, 1980 with “Caddyshack” and “Up The Academy”.
It appears operational in 1982, but was closed by 1985 judging by its fading traces.
The Majestic Theater closed after its January 10, 1984 showing of “Return Of The Jedi” before the fire the following morning. The fire also destroyed a stereo shop, two jewelry stores, and two other businesses.
Opened with “The Flirting Widow” (unknown if extras added).
The cinema that Scott built in the early-1980s is called the Village Cinema. I cannot find any information about it for now, but I hope someone can explain some info about it.
Opened on November 15, 1967 with Steve McQueen in “The Sand Pebbles”.
Opened on October 6, 1987. It was once a Super Saver later in its history.
Actual opening date is September 9, 1970.
Opened on May 27, 1964 and twinned on November 4, 1977.
Actual opening date is July 2, 1976.
Operated from December 24, 1976 until October 28, 2012.
Operated from December 22, 1972 until July 31, 1997.
Still open in the mid-1980s, but was gone in the 1990s.