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.
Here is an article from the Ironwood Daily Globe dated 7/8/30:
CHANGE THEATRE PLANS
Officers of Delft Theaters, Inc., said Saturday that for business reasons they have set aside, temporarily, the plans which they announced a few months ago for building new theaters in Marquette and Escanaba. It was stated, also, that specifications had been sent to contractors and bids asked for remodeling the Strand Theater in Escanaba. It is expected that this work will be started by the middle of July.
The Delft Theater in Munising, it was announced, will be redecorated and improved by the installation of Western Electric sound picture equipment, the same as that used in the Delft Theater in Marquette. This equipment will, it is expected, be ready for operation early in August. Rumors current in Marquette for some time that Delft Theaters, Inc., was about to become affiliated with a large chain of theaters and that 11 Delft theaters in the Upper Peninsula would be sold or leased to a chain organization were declared Saturday by Delft officials to be false. No negotiations are pending for a change of ownership of the Delft properties, they said.
There was an obscenity issue at the theater in January 1970:
‘Curious (Yellow)’ Case Ruling Delayed by Judge
U.S. District Judge Francis G. Whalen delayed ruling Friday on a motion that would prohibit Los Angeles County officials from making further arrests or film seizures involving “I Am Curious, Yellow”.
Long Beach police 48 hours later seized a print of “I Am Curious (Yellow)” which was being shown New Year’s Eve at United Artists Theater, 217 E. Ocean Blvd. But theater officials got another copy of the film a day later, and it is still being exhibited here.
The Montrose Theater was destroyed by fire early Monday morning in what many longtime residents called a sad end to what had been an important part of the community for more than 60 years. The fire erupted at 4:22 a.m. in the stage area — a remnant of the days when the theater hosted live vaudeville shows as well as motion pictures, said John Orr, a fire investigator with the Glendale Fire Department.
This suit states that the Larchmont closed in November 1952. It’s unclear to me if the theater then re-opened and closed at a later date: http://tinyurl.com/yxrvh8
I actually asked my wife that when I was taking the picture yesterday. We agreed that it vaguely looked like a theater but that it was probably not the original building.
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
This is the building at 431 S. Main as of today. Note the fine architectural detail:
http://tinyurl.com/ysdfz5
Here is an article from the Ironwood Daily Globe dated 7/8/30:
CHANGE THEATRE PLANS
Officers of Delft Theaters, Inc., said Saturday that for business reasons they have set aside, temporarily, the plans which they announced a few months ago for building new theaters in Marquette and Escanaba. It was stated, also, that specifications had been sent to contractors and bids asked for remodeling the Strand Theater in Escanaba. It is expected that this work will be started by the middle of July.
The Delft Theater in Munising, it was announced, will be redecorated and improved by the installation of Western Electric sound picture equipment, the same as that used in the Delft Theater in Marquette. This equipment will, it is expected, be ready for operation early in August. Rumors current in Marquette for some time that Delft Theaters, Inc., was about to become affiliated with a large chain of theaters and that 11 Delft theaters in the Upper Peninsula would be sold or leased to a chain organization were declared Saturday by Delft officials to be false. No negotiations are pending for a change of ownership of the Delft properties, they said.
There was an obscenity issue at the theater in January 1970:
‘Curious (Yellow)’ Case Ruling Delayed by Judge
U.S. District Judge Francis G. Whalen delayed ruling Friday on a motion that would prohibit Los Angeles County officials from making further arrests or film seizures involving “I Am Curious, Yellow”.
Long Beach police 48 hours later seized a print of “I Am Curious (Yellow)” which was being shown New Year’s Eve at United Artists Theater, 217 E. Ocean Blvd. But theater officials got another copy of the film a day later, and it is still being exhibited here.
Here is a short account of the fire:
3/24/87 Daily News
The Montrose Theater was destroyed by fire early Monday morning in what many longtime residents called a sad end to what had been an important part of the community for more than 60 years. The fire erupted at 4:22 a.m. in the stage area — a remnant of the days when the theater hosted live vaudeville shows as well as motion pictures, said John Orr, a fire investigator with the Glendale Fire Department.
Mrs. McIntyre was knocked around by some kids at the La Mar in 1952. She’s not a relative, as far as I know:
http://tinyurl.com/ykd3js
This suit states that the Larchmont closed in November 1952. It’s unclear to me if the theater then re-opened and closed at a later date:
http://tinyurl.com/yxrvh8
It’s always society’s fault:
http://tinyurl.com/sdprn
I actually asked my wife that when I was taking the picture yesterday. We agreed that it vaguely looked like a theater but that it was probably not the original building.
Here is a 1976 lawsuit against the Mitchell Brothers. Apparently there were some improper goings-on during the features:
http://tinyurl.com/y9dup6
Here is a January 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/skwoc
The Optic would be on the far left of this January 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y5yxb2
Here is a January 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y3bkc5
Here is the approximate location of the Art on Main Street:
http://tinyurl.com/yzvq7y
Here is a January 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yhgxd5
Here are two photos from January 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/yja6b5
http://tinyurl.com/ykkvln
Right you are. Here is the correct picture:
http://tinyurl.com/ylj9ld
Here are some photos from January 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/yewnex
http://tinyurl.com/yj9vf9
http://tinyurl.com/ycx7n9
http://tinyurl.com/yzj842
http://tinyurl.com/ygc9ug
http://tinyurl.com/yaygae
http://tinyurl.com/yjpewp