This theater tried first run films about ten years ago. I don’t know who owned the theater then, but I do recall driving by and seeing a Will Smith movie on the marquee. The success of the Million Dollar is dependent on Angelenos willing to go downtown on a weeknight. The Orpheum has had some success with this. It’s interesting that the Last Remaining Seats program draws lines of people on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but whether that will happen more than once a year is unknown. You also have to consider the entertainment center being built near Staples Center which will presumably include a megaplex. This will siphon off available patrons for the Broadway theaters.
Here is an article about the opening of the theater dated 2/10/49:
The formal opening of the new Pioneer Theater at Nebraska City, Neb., which was attended by Mr. and Mrs. John Newcomer and Mr. and Mrs. John Irvin of Chillicothe, was a matter of definite interest to the Chillicotheans as the construction of the Pioneer is very similar to that of the new theater under construction here. They were quite impressed. Both the Griffith theaters are of the “stadium type,” which does away with the need for a balcony. About half way back in the auditorium a “ramping” effect of the rows of seats begins. Under the back section is a sunken lounge, with a foyer in front of the lounge and the lobby in front of that.
Murals done in “black lighting” gave an outstanding effect to the auditorium, Irvin found. The local murals will be 14x30 feet on either side and are to depict a local or area scene or one in keeping with the name of the theater. The Nebraska City theater seats about 900 persons. The Chillicothe theater is to seat about 1,050. “If our theater is as nice as that one it will be one of the outstanding theaters in all North Missouri,” Contractor Irvin said. Some refinements in the local plans may be made, based on what was learned in constructing the Nebraska house. Irvin said he hoped to outdo the work in Nebraska.
Here is a lawsuit between William Goldman and Ruth Kahn in 1941. The theater isn’t mentioned by name, but given that the sale was in 1938, it may have been the County. I don’t know if Goldman had any other theaters in Doylestown at that time: http://tinyurl.com/24emfn
This March 1947 article from the Nevada State Journal mentions the Hi-Way:
Slated to open Friday, March 14, is the new Sparks Theater which has been under construction for the past several months. Built to seat 773 spectators, it is one of the most modern in theater design in the state. The 164 loge seats occupy the last seven seat rows instead of being placed in a balcony. An exaggerated slope to the floor will offer better vision to the theater goers and the cement floor will reduce fire hazard. Coated with a special acoustical plaster which prevents sound reverberation, the auditorium part of the theater is barrel shaped and posseses 12 ultra-violet ray germicide lights. The new building is fire-proof and is equipped with an air conditioning system which constantly changes and filters the air.
The old Hiway Theater, under lease to the T. and D. Enterprises, may run on a part time basis, showing Spanish movies and others on the weekends, the management announced.
The Coliseum Theater at Ninth Avenue and Clement Street, one of San Francisco’s largest neighborhood theaters, was swept by a major fire causing undetermined damage early today. An unidentified motorist at 2:30 a.m. notified a special policeman two blocks from the playhouse that he had seen smoke issuing from the building as he drove past it. An alarm summoned firemen, who broke down the heavy doors of the main entrance. This action, they said, resulted in a draft which caused the entire balcony section of the theater to burst into flames. A second alarm brought additional men and apparatus to the scene and a stubborn battle against the flames began. Five hours later the battle was still in progress.
Reports from the scene said the whole balcony section of the theater had been destroyed and the main floor seriously damaged by smoke and water. Valuable projection and sound equipment also was lost, the report said. The origin of the fire had not been determined, but fire department officials expressed belief that it was caused by a carelessly discarded cigaret in the balcony section, where smoking was permitted. The theater is owned by the San Francisco Theater Corporation, with offices at Taylor Street.
The interior of the vacated Apollo theater at Randolph and Clark Streets in Chicago’s Rialto was destroyed by fire Thursday morning. The fire apparently started in the pit under the stage of the old movie theater and burned up through the roof of the building. The cause of the blaze was not determined immediately. Fire officials did not estimate damages to the structure.
Two wooden buildings, both landmarks of Hancock’s earlier days, were virtually destroyed by fire of undetermined origin Thursday night. The Mason building was gutted by flames that spread in an adjacent apartment building.
The Mason building, which had two apartments upstairs, was built by the late Col. William Mason before the turn of the century. Among the Mason structures threatened was the Orpheum Theater, Hancock’s last. The Kenesaw Theater was destroyed by fire in April.
This article is dated 11/7/60. The total loss comment was apparently premature:
Fire Destroys Alma Theater
ALMA (UPI)â€" An early-morning fire destroyed Alma’s only movie house, the Strand Theater, today with firemen fighting the blaze for more than four hours. Alma Police Chief Robert V. Reed said the blaze was discovered by a newsboy picking up his papers in front of the theater at 4:28 am. The newsboy ran next door to the city hall where the police station is located and shouted, “Mr. Reed, there’s a fire at the Strand.”
Reed said the theater closed at 9 p.m Sunday night, almost 7 ½ hours before the blaze broke out. He said the fire apparently started at the rear of the building and spread rapidly. The roof collapsed and the front of the building caved in. “I’d say it is a total loss.” Reed said “The theater is owned by a Mrs. Cassidy of Midland. But we understand she is in Chicago now and we haven’t been contact her for a loss figure.”
Reed said there was no damage to the city hall or other nearby buildings. One firemen was overcome by smoke and was hospitalized.
Broadway stretches through the heart of Camden, a wide street lined with struggling shops and rotting rowhouses, a three-mile tour of desperation and lost hope. Prostitutes flit between vacant stores and abandoned banks, plying an older form of commerce, while drugs are sold on side streets. The old Towers Theater at Broadway and Pine has been replaced by a Citgo gas station. This road has been down a long time – many of the businesses that didn’t burn during the 1971 riots fled.
According to the Mason City Globe-Gazette, the Cecil opened on June 3, 1912, replacing the Wilson Theater, which was in the same location but had burned to the ground.
I was a member of the LA Conservancy a few years ago. They have interesting walking tours of downtown LA, including a tour of the theaters on Broadway.
The theater was severely damaged in a 1950 fire, but obviously was rebuilt:
Most Recent Big Fire 1950 Theatre Blaze
The most spectacular fire in history struck Forest City Jan. 10, 1950. It raged out of control nearly two hours and left only three bare wall of the Forest Theatre standing. Loss to the building and its contents plus the damage to adjacent businesses reached the staggering total of $125,000. Only the heroic efforts of the Forest City Fire department prevented the fire from destroying an entire half block of business buildings. The fire was discovered in the front part of the second floor of the theatre building at 8:40 p.m. The hundred or more persons attending the first show left the theatre in an orderly fashion and no one was injured in the fire.
When the flames had threatened to spread to the Soda Bar building to the north and to Olson Furniture and Lyons to the south, a call for assistance was sent out to Lake Mills, Garner, Clear Lake and Mason City fire departments. The Lake Mills and Garner trucks were the first to report. Clear Lake’s truck froze up near Ventura and was forced to turn back.
An Austin News campaign to get an Austin eyesore cleaned up or demolished reached its climax this week as workmen started destruction of the Symphony theater at 4935 Chicago. Monday unseen workmen sent chunks of plaster and metal reverberating to the concrete floor as they enlarged the gaping hole in the roof started last week. The roof should be completely removed by the end of this week, according to Scott Moore, foreman of the demolition crew. Then the wall on the east side of the brick structure will be leveled.
Whether razing of the theater will bring an end to the court litigation that has gone on for the past three years remained uncertain. When the demolition crews arrived Dave Pielet, building owner, said he had an injunction to stop the work. Later, however, he said he would sue the city for damages. As of Monday, city officials had not heard of any new court action initiated by Pielet.
The theater, vacant since the early 1950s, had long been a source of complaints to the Austin News’ Willing Willie column both as to its condition and as a hangout for young hoodlums. At one time Austin district police commander John Neurauter ordered special inspection of the premises at regular intervals to keep undesirables from gathering there. Last April 3 a number of bricks from a side wall fell from the building and damaged a car parked below.
Early in 1962 the city filed suit against the Symphony as a dangerous building open to vagrants. When Pielet agreed to board up the building and remove an overhanging fire escape the case was dismissed. An inspection conducted by city building inspectors in the fall of 1964, however, showed that the building, previously listed as only 8 per cent depreciated, was now 56 per cent depreciated. They found the inside had been gutted and entry was available to vandals through a large broken window and a door.
As a result of this inspection a suit for demolition was filed last March. A demolition order was issued by Judge Richard Napolitano April 20 in Housing court. However, after Pielet appealed that he intended to fix up the building, Judge Napolitano agreed to lift the order if such action was taken.
On Nov. 10 of last monthâ€"six months after the demolition order had first been issuedâ€"-Napolitano ruled that work done by Pielet had amounted to “just about nothing” and permitted the demolition decree to stand. As the city had already taken bids for the demolition work last summer all it had to do after the Nov. 10 ruling was tell the low bidder to start work.
This theater tried first run films about ten years ago. I don’t know who owned the theater then, but I do recall driving by and seeing a Will Smith movie on the marquee. The success of the Million Dollar is dependent on Angelenos willing to go downtown on a weeknight. The Orpheum has had some success with this. It’s interesting that the Last Remaining Seats program draws lines of people on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but whether that will happen more than once a year is unknown. You also have to consider the entertainment center being built near Staples Center which will presumably include a megaplex. This will siphon off available patrons for the Broadway theaters.
Here is an article about the opening of the theater dated 2/10/49:
The formal opening of the new Pioneer Theater at Nebraska City, Neb., which was attended by Mr. and Mrs. John Newcomer and Mr. and Mrs. John Irvin of Chillicothe, was a matter of definite interest to the Chillicotheans as the construction of the Pioneer is very similar to that of the new theater under construction here. They were quite impressed. Both the Griffith theaters are of the “stadium type,” which does away with the need for a balcony. About half way back in the auditorium a “ramping” effect of the rows of seats begins. Under the back section is a sunken lounge, with a foyer in front of the lounge and the lobby in front of that.
Murals done in “black lighting” gave an outstanding effect to the auditorium, Irvin found. The local murals will be 14x30 feet on either side and are to depict a local or area scene or one in keeping with the name of the theater. The Nebraska City theater seats about 900 persons. The Chillicothe theater is to seat about 1,050. “If our theater is as nice as that one it will be one of the outstanding theaters in all North Missouri,” Contractor Irvin said. Some refinements in the local plans may be made, based on what was learned in constructing the Nebraska house. Irvin said he hoped to outdo the work in Nebraska.
Here is a lawsuit between William Goldman and Ruth Kahn in 1941. The theater isn’t mentioned by name, but given that the sale was in 1938, it may have been the County. I don’t know if Goldman had any other theaters in Doylestown at that time:
http://tinyurl.com/24emfn
There was a Sparks Theater that opened in March 1947, but apparently was not the one listed above.
This March 1947 article from the Nevada State Journal mentions the Hi-Way:
Slated to open Friday, March 14, is the new Sparks Theater which has been under construction for the past several months. Built to seat 773 spectators, it is one of the most modern in theater design in the state. The 164 loge seats occupy the last seven seat rows instead of being placed in a balcony. An exaggerated slope to the floor will offer better vision to the theater goers and the cement floor will reduce fire hazard. Coated with a special acoustical plaster which prevents sound reverberation, the auditorium part of the theater is barrel shaped and posseses 12 ultra-violet ray germicide lights. The new building is fire-proof and is equipped with an air conditioning system which constantly changes and filters the air.
The old Hiway Theater, under lease to the T. and D. Enterprises, may run on a part time basis, showing Spanish movies and others on the weekends, the management announced.
The owner of the Royal was one R.E. Martin, who had quite a few theaters in the area, according to this lawsuit:
http://tinyurl.com/2trl5s
There was a fire at the Coliseum on July 2, 1935:
The Coliseum Theater at Ninth Avenue and Clement Street, one of San Francisco’s largest neighborhood theaters, was swept by a major fire causing undetermined damage early today. An unidentified motorist at 2:30 a.m. notified a special policeman two blocks from the playhouse that he had seen smoke issuing from the building as he drove past it. An alarm summoned firemen, who broke down the heavy doors of the main entrance. This action, they said, resulted in a draft which caused the entire balcony section of the theater to burst into flames. A second alarm brought additional men and apparatus to the scene and a stubborn battle against the flames began. Five hours later the battle was still in progress.
Reports from the scene said the whole balcony section of the theater had been destroyed and the main floor seriously damaged by smoke and water. Valuable projection and sound equipment also was lost, the report said. The origin of the fire had not been determined, but fire department officials expressed belief that it was caused by a carelessly discarded cigaret in the balcony section, where smoking was permitted. The theater is owned by the San Francisco Theater Corporation, with offices at Taylor Street.
The Apollo was gutted by fire on June 2, 1949:
Fire Guts Vacant Theater In Chicago
The interior of the vacated Apollo theater at Randolph and Clark Streets in Chicago’s Rialto was destroyed by fire Thursday morning. The fire apparently started in the pit under the stage of the old movie theater and burned up through the roof of the building. The cause of the blaze was not determined immediately. Fire officials did not estimate damages to the structure.
Here is an anti-trust lawsuit involving the Rialto, Grove and some other theaters in Elgin:
http://tinyurl.com/3arm8a
Here is an account of the fire on June 26, 1959:
Fire Threatens Business Area Of Hancock
Two wooden buildings, both landmarks of Hancock’s earlier days, were virtually destroyed by fire of undetermined origin Thursday night. The Mason building was gutted by flames that spread in an adjacent apartment building.
The Mason building, which had two apartments upstairs, was built by the late Col. William Mason before the turn of the century. Among the Mason structures threatened was the Orpheum Theater, Hancock’s last. The Kenesaw Theater was destroyed by fire in April.
The correct spelling of the town is Estherville.
This article is dated 11/7/60. The total loss comment was apparently premature:
Fire Destroys Alma Theater
ALMA (UPI)â€" An early-morning fire destroyed Alma’s only movie house, the Strand Theater, today with firemen fighting the blaze for more than four hours. Alma Police Chief Robert V. Reed said the blaze was discovered by a newsboy picking up his papers in front of the theater at 4:28 am. The newsboy ran next door to the city hall where the police station is located and shouted, “Mr. Reed, there’s a fire at the Strand.”
Reed said the theater closed at 9 p.m Sunday night, almost 7 ½ hours before the blaze broke out. He said the fire apparently started at the rear of the building and spread rapidly. The roof collapsed and the front of the building caved in. “I’d say it is a total loss.” Reed said “The theater is owned by a Mrs. Cassidy of Midland. But we understand she is in Chicago now and we haven’t been contact her for a loss figure.”
Reed said there was no damage to the city hall or other nearby buildings. One firemen was overcome by smoke and was hospitalized.
Status should be closed/demolished:
Broadway stretches through the heart of Camden, a wide street lined with struggling shops and rotting rowhouses, a three-mile tour of desperation and lost hope. Prostitutes flit between vacant stores and abandoned banks, plying an older form of commerce, while drugs are sold on side streets. The old Towers Theater at Broadway and Pine has been replaced by a Citgo gas station. This road has been down a long time – many of the businesses that didn’t burn during the 1971 riots fled.
There was a speakeasy above the theater in the 1920s:
http://tinyurl.com/3afxos
According to the Mason City Globe-Gazette, the Cecil opened on June 3, 1912, replacing the Wilson Theater, which was in the same location but had burned to the ground.
I hear that the interior is kind of shabby. Maybe someone can comment who has been in there recently.
I was a member of the LA Conservancy a few years ago. They have interesting walking tours of downtown LA, including a tour of the theaters on Broadway.
In 1957, the Mason City Globe-Gazette was advertising films at the Strand, Cecil, Palace and Lake.
The theater was severely damaged in a 1950 fire, but obviously was rebuilt:
Most Recent Big Fire 1950 Theatre Blaze
The most spectacular fire in history struck Forest City Jan. 10, 1950. It raged out of control nearly two hours and left only three bare wall of the Forest Theatre standing. Loss to the building and its contents plus the damage to adjacent businesses reached the staggering total of $125,000. Only the heroic efforts of the Forest City Fire department prevented the fire from destroying an entire half block of business buildings. The fire was discovered in the front part of the second floor of the theatre building at 8:40 p.m. The hundred or more persons attending the first show left the theatre in an orderly fashion and no one was injured in the fire.
When the flames had threatened to spread to the Soda Bar building to the north and to Olson Furniture and Lyons to the south, a call for assistance was sent out to Lake Mills, Garner, Clear Lake and Mason City fire departments. The Lake Mills and Garner trucks were the first to report. Clear Lake’s truck froze up near Ventura and was forced to turn back.
Demolition began on 12/1/65:
Workmen Start Razing Old Symphony Theater
An Austin News campaign to get an Austin eyesore cleaned up or demolished reached its climax this week as workmen started destruction of the Symphony theater at 4935 Chicago. Monday unseen workmen sent chunks of plaster and metal reverberating to the concrete floor as they enlarged the gaping hole in the roof started last week. The roof should be completely removed by the end of this week, according to Scott Moore, foreman of the demolition crew. Then the wall on the east side of the brick structure will be leveled.
Whether razing of the theater will bring an end to the court litigation that has gone on for the past three years remained uncertain. When the demolition crews arrived Dave Pielet, building owner, said he had an injunction to stop the work. Later, however, he said he would sue the city for damages. As of Monday, city officials had not heard of any new court action initiated by Pielet.
The theater, vacant since the early 1950s, had long been a source of complaints to the Austin News’ Willing Willie column both as to its condition and as a hangout for young hoodlums. At one time Austin district police commander John Neurauter ordered special inspection of the premises at regular intervals to keep undesirables from gathering there. Last April 3 a number of bricks from a side wall fell from the building and damaged a car parked below.
Early in 1962 the city filed suit against the Symphony as a dangerous building open to vagrants. When Pielet agreed to board up the building and remove an overhanging fire escape the case was dismissed. An inspection conducted by city building inspectors in the fall of 1964, however, showed that the building, previously listed as only 8 per cent depreciated, was now 56 per cent depreciated. They found the inside had been gutted and entry was available to vandals through a large broken window and a door.
As a result of this inspection a suit for demolition was filed last March. A demolition order was issued by Judge Richard Napolitano April 20 in Housing court. However, after Pielet appealed that he intended to fix up the building, Judge Napolitano agreed to lift the order if such action was taken.
On Nov. 10 of last monthâ€"six months after the demolition order had first been issuedâ€"-Napolitano ruled that work done by Pielet had amounted to “just about nothing” and permitted the demolition decree to stand. As the city had already taken bids for the demolition work last summer all it had to do after the Nov. 10 ruling was tell the low bidder to start work.
Arthur F.D. Kalbfell and Marie K. Wimberley bought the Robin in 1936, according to this lawsuit:
http://tinyurl.com/2tyk3p
Demolition began in March 1990.
Demolition was in June 1994, according to this blurb:
http://tinyurl.com/yoaw94
Here is a March 2005 article that discusses both theaters:
http://tinyurl.com/2durtb
Here is a 2002 article about a wave of theater closures in Clearwater:
http://tinyurl.com/ywxf9n