“Olympic Request Theatre” needs to be added to the list of previous names. Very odd name, I know, but I posted a couple picture of some old programs from this theatre when it had that name for reference.
By the way, does anyone know the story of how it got that particular name?
No problem, Nick and thanks for sharing your knowledge!! It’s truly wonderful how we can all come together on here with our own historical knowledge, artifacts, photos, trivia,etc and piece it all together in a permanent,public place for posterity. I’ve always worried about what will happen when the handful of people who know a particular bit of theatre history pass away and that info is forever lost-one of the many reasons I heavily promote this site. I know many things about the theatres here in Colorado that I learned from the old timers, most of whom are now deceased and with many of the stories/facts they shared with me, I’m the last to know so I’m trying to get as much of what I know recorded as possible.
So are you saying that E. 7th and Broadway is or was one in the same street? And the program I posted is the exact same location as this listing?
As a perminent footnote here for all who see the Auto Park side of the program pictured or any picture that seems out of place for any of the theatres listed on CT that I have posted and are (quite understandably) confused, please see the picture description as I always explain why it’s there.
Nick, if you go into the photos tab, you will see the reverse side of the Auto Park program that you are referring which has the 40th Street program. As of this writing, there are only these two photos in there so it shouldn’t be difficult to find. This particular program had printing on both sides-one side for the 40th Street and the other for the Auto Park. I intentionally included them both for posterity as I wanted any interested parties to be able to examine this as though they had it in their hands as well as to show that at the time this was printed, these theatres likely shared management/ownership.
I’d like to note that on several printed references I’ve seen regarding this theatre (primarily issues of The Film Daily Yearbook) and a verbal reference by a local longtime theatre operator/theatre buff, it’s been printed as/referred to as “# 47 Drive-In” (key difference being the missing “#”).
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I chose to add “Castle Rock Drive-In Theatre” and “Castle Rock Cinema” to the list of previous names for the sole reason that I own 4-5 Reed Drive-In Speakers of various vintages from Castle Rock and while a couple say “47”, with one being spelled out as "Fourty-Seven”, there is at least one that says “Castle Rock Cinema” and at at least one that says “Castle Rock DI Theatre”. With that said, these engraved speakers are the only references to these names I have ever seen or heard. Since whoever ordered the speakers would have dictated what was engraved in them, I feel confident that these were legitimate names (although I have seen one case of a simple typo on the Reed Speakers-see the pictures I posted of the speakers I have for the Kar-Vue Drive-In-Springfield,CO-where they spelled the city as “Springflied”) and I also have a gut feeling that The #47 was the only Drive-In Castle Rock ever had which would indicate that these were former names of The #47 but I’d love it if someone else here could confirm this.
This seems to be one of the most illusive drive-ins I’ve ever researched in Colorado, with my research yeilding almost zero information so I’d love to know anything that someone might be able to contribute on this. The biggest thing I’d like to learn would be the ADDRESS as I haven’t been able to come up with anything that even gives a general location of the theatre.
Oh, and not to nitpick but while this was indeed a part of Wolfberg Theatres (since they owned Compass), Compass Drive-In Theares was Wolfberg’s drive-in circuit so I feel it would be pertinent to add that along with Wolf berg to the previous operators and the description. I realize that most of us know things like this but there are many, many people who don’t know the business who use this site for a countless number of research activities.
I have noticed that this 6360 E. Evans Avenue address is shared by Valley 3 Theatres (Wolfberg’s next door indoor house) not only on CT but on Cinematour and a handful of other internet sources. I find this shared address to be quite odd, especially since as far as I know, both these theatres operated at the same time for many years, meaning this wasn’t a case of a hardtop replacing a drive-in on the same site, as was/is fairly common.
Can someone please shed some light on this?
The original theatre herald I have for this theatre (and have shared pictures of) lists it as being located at “Broadway at 40th ST.” (See photo) while this listing here on CT has the location as being “E 7th Avenue and N. 40th Street”. I realize that exact addresses do quite often change over the course of multiple decades but can someone confirm that this listing is indeed for the same 40th Street Drive-In references in the herald that is pictured and that we are not talking about two separate theatres or an error either on my end or that of whomever approved this listing for CT? Thanks!
Ok, I am officially confused. Why does the Gilette Stadium in Massachusetts have to to with a drive in movie theatre and a racetrack that was allegedly located near it in down in Florida??
I have an old movie calendar from a Hallandale Drive-In Theatre and the only indication it gives about location is the following quote: “adjoining the west side of the Hollywood Dog Track”.
This is why I asked if anyone knew if this listing is for that same theatre or if there happened to be another Hallendale Drive-In somewhere. If it’s for this one, I’ll post a picture of the calendar.
I know that the theatre didn’t close in 1957, at least not perminently. I have a calendar from this theatre from July of 1987 (in the pictures) and the historical timeline on the reception center’s timeline states “On June 30th, 1985, after 84 years, The Grand showed its final movie”.
Of course, like many theatres (particularly small town ones) in the period between television and home video, it may have opened and closed several times but it doesn’t really sound like that either, given the timeline’s “after 84 years” bit.
Also, according to the same timeline, it opened on December 26th, 1899 as The Ware Auditorium so this info should be added as well.
I will copy and past the timeline in my next comment.
Again, perhaps it opened and closed -I’m just not sure. Unfortunately, I am a young guy working full time and already have a “to do” list consisting of literally hundreds of hours worth of my precious spare “theatre historian time” on this site adding thousands of theatre pictures, artifact pictures and town and/or theatre listings that simply do not exist presently so I just can’t take on any the research of any particular theatre as a pet project. I hope more people discover this site and more people step up to the plate along with all of us who work so hard as I think this site is inconceivably important. Think of how much history and how many theatre locations would be forever forgotten and how many theatre pictures and artifacts would either be seen only by their private owner or those who could attend the museum or other public location that they happened to be in, instead of it being as it is with Cinematreasures.org where any researcher from around the world who has internet access getting to enjoy and learn from them!
Pretty darn important site so let’s all spread the word to help it grow and live on!
Here is the event center that’s located in the Grand’s website; it should be added to the listing’s website area as there is lots of historical info on it:
The original Orpheum, that was on this very same site (1537 Welton Street in those days) opened in October of 1903 at the cost of $200,000. It was completely demolished in 1930 and was subsequently replaced with the last Orpheum to occupy the site which opened on February 11th, 1932.
Obviously, this existing description needs to be changed and a few of the photos are of the original Orpheum while a few are from the new.
How should this be handled-a case where a theater was closed, demolished and completely rebuilt as a theater with the same name. Should a new listing for the old Orpheum be created? What do you all think???
There is no remaining trace of the theater now that the projection/snack bar/manager’s house building and the box office have been demolished within the past couple years. Status should be changed to closed/demolished.
Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez on December 2, 2014 at 6:51 pm (remove)
The theater should be listed as CLOSED and DEMOLISHED. Its final day of operation was Sunday, July 20th 2014 and the last movie to play in the theater was a 4:40pm screening of “Tammy”. “How To Train Your Dragon 2” was another of the closing day films. The theater was demolished on August 1st, 2014. The theater was closed/demolished due to the fact that the entire Twin Peaks Mall was closed and demolished for redevelopment of a new mall. Regal plans to be opening a 12 screen theater with an RPX screen sometime in December 2015 on the site. The theater was built/opened in 1997 and had completely converted to digital in recent years. The Simplex 35mm projectors were donated to The University of Colorado, Boulder’s Film Studies Department and two of them have been reinstalled in the Visual Arts Center’s auditorium.
“Olympic Request Theatre” needs to be added to the list of previous names. Very odd name, I know, but I posted a couple picture of some old programs from this theatre when it had that name for reference. By the way, does anyone know the story of how it got that particular name?
No problem, Nick and thanks for sharing your knowledge!! It’s truly wonderful how we can all come together on here with our own historical knowledge, artifacts, photos, trivia,etc and piece it all together in a permanent,public place for posterity. I’ve always worried about what will happen when the handful of people who know a particular bit of theatre history pass away and that info is forever lost-one of the many reasons I heavily promote this site. I know many things about the theatres here in Colorado that I learned from the old timers, most of whom are now deceased and with many of the stories/facts they shared with me, I’m the last to know so I’m trying to get as much of what I know recorded as possible.
So are you saying that E. 7th and Broadway is or was one in the same street? And the program I posted is the exact same location as this listing?
As a perminent footnote here for all who see the Auto Park side of the program pictured or any picture that seems out of place for any of the theatres listed on CT that I have posted and are (quite understandably) confused, please see the picture description as I always explain why it’s there.
Nick, if you go into the photos tab, you will see the reverse side of the Auto Park program that you are referring which has the 40th Street program. As of this writing, there are only these two photos in there so it shouldn’t be difficult to find. This particular program had printing on both sides-one side for the 40th Street and the other for the Auto Park. I intentionally included them both for posterity as I wanted any interested parties to be able to examine this as though they had it in their hands as well as to show that at the time this was printed, these theatres likely shared management/ownership.
I’d like to note that on several printed references I’ve seen regarding this theatre (primarily issues of The Film Daily Yearbook) and a verbal reference by a local longtime theatre operator/theatre buff, it’s been printed as/referred to as “# 47 Drive-In” (key difference being the missing “#”).
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I chose to add “Castle Rock Drive-In Theatre” and “Castle Rock Cinema” to the list of previous names for the sole reason that I own 4-5 Reed Drive-In Speakers of various vintages from Castle Rock and while a couple say “47”, with one being spelled out as "Fourty-Seven”, there is at least one that says “Castle Rock Cinema” and at at least one that says “Castle Rock DI Theatre”. With that said, these engraved speakers are the only references to these names I have ever seen or heard. Since whoever ordered the speakers would have dictated what was engraved in them, I feel confident that these were legitimate names (although I have seen one case of a simple typo on the Reed Speakers-see the pictures I posted of the speakers I have for the Kar-Vue Drive-In-Springfield,CO-where they spelled the city as “Springflied”) and I also have a gut feeling that The #47 was the only Drive-In Castle Rock ever had which would indicate that these were former names of The #47 but I’d love it if someone else here could confirm this.
This seems to be one of the most illusive drive-ins I’ve ever researched in Colorado, with my research yeilding almost zero information so I’d love to know anything that someone might be able to contribute on this. The biggest thing I’d like to learn would be the ADDRESS as I haven’t been able to come up with anything that even gives a general location of the theatre.
Oh, and not to nitpick but while this was indeed a part of Wolfberg Theatres (since they owned Compass), Compass Drive-In Theares was Wolfberg’s drive-in circuit so I feel it would be pertinent to add that along with Wolf berg to the previous operators and the description. I realize that most of us know things like this but there are many, many people who don’t know the business who use this site for a countless number of research activities.
I have noticed that this 6360 E. Evans Avenue address is shared by Valley 3 Theatres (Wolfberg’s next door indoor house) not only on CT but on Cinematour and a handful of other internet sources. I find this shared address to be quite odd, especially since as far as I know, both these theatres operated at the same time for many years, meaning this wasn’t a case of a hardtop replacing a drive-in on the same site, as was/is fairly common. Can someone please shed some light on this?
The original theatre herald I have for this theatre (and have shared pictures of) lists it as being located at “Broadway at 40th ST.” (See photo) while this listing here on CT has the location as being “E 7th Avenue and N. 40th Street”. I realize that exact addresses do quite often change over the course of multiple decades but can someone confirm that this listing is indeed for the same 40th Street Drive-In references in the herald that is pictured and that we are not talking about two separate theatres or an error either on my end or that of whomever approved this listing for CT? Thanks!
Was a Compass Drive-In Theatres/Wolfberg Theatres of Denver location at one point. They should be added as a previous operator.
Was a Compass Drive-In Theatres/Wolfberg Theatres of Denver. They should be added as a previous operator.
Ok, I am officially confused. Why does the Gilette Stadium in Massachusetts have to to with a drive in movie theatre and a racetrack that was allegedly located near it in down in Florida??
I have an old movie calendar from a Hallandale Drive-In Theatre and the only indication it gives about location is the following quote: “adjoining the west side of the Hollywood Dog Track”. This is why I asked if anyone knew if this listing is for that same theatre or if there happened to be another Hallendale Drive-In somewhere. If it’s for this one, I’ll post a picture of the calendar.
The Lakeview was operated at one time by the Blatt Bros. This should be added to previous operators.
PLEASE CORRECT “Entranse” to “Entrance”
Must have been open in ‘64 too according to the other theatre calendars pictured here
December 26, 1899 First opens as The Ware Auditorium, offering opera and theatre
1904 The first talking pictures are demonstrated
February 5, 1917
The building changes it’s name from Ware Auditorium to The Grand Theatre
June 21, 1929 Vitaphone and Moviephone equipment are installed for more advanced talking pictures
1947
A wide screen is installed
June 30, 1985
After 84 years. The Grand shows its last movie
1989
The Grand is remodeled to become a fine restaurant
2001 The Grand Event Center is open for hosting wedding receptions, reunions, parties, concerts, and special events. Call Today 1-507-663-1773
Timeline is credited to The Grand Event Center and their website from where it was extracted in full.
I know that the theatre didn’t close in 1957, at least not perminently. I have a calendar from this theatre from July of 1987 (in the pictures) and the historical timeline on the reception center’s timeline states “On June 30th, 1985, after 84 years, The Grand showed its final movie”. Of course, like many theatres (particularly small town ones) in the period between television and home video, it may have opened and closed several times but it doesn’t really sound like that either, given the timeline’s “after 84 years” bit. Also, according to the same timeline, it opened on December 26th, 1899 as The Ware Auditorium so this info should be added as well. I will copy and past the timeline in my next comment.
Again, perhaps it opened and closed -I’m just not sure. Unfortunately, I am a young guy working full time and already have a “to do” list consisting of literally hundreds of hours worth of my precious spare “theatre historian time” on this site adding thousands of theatre pictures, artifact pictures and town and/or theatre listings that simply do not exist presently so I just can’t take on any the research of any particular theatre as a pet project. I hope more people discover this site and more people step up to the plate along with all of us who work so hard as I think this site is inconceivably important. Think of how much history and how many theatre locations would be forever forgotten and how many theatre pictures and artifacts would either be seen only by their private owner or those who could attend the museum or other public location that they happened to be in, instead of it being as it is with Cinematreasures.org where any researcher from around the world who has internet access getting to enjoy and learn from them! Pretty darn important site so let’s all spread the word to help it grow and live on!
Here is the event center that’s located in the Grand’s website; it should be added to the listing’s website area as there is lots of historical info on it:
http://www.thegrandnorthfield.com
Schuler should be changed to Shuler-auto correct error
Schuler should be changed to Shuler-auto correct error
Left, not “eft”
Sal-Mar Shop, a fashion store operated by longtime Fox owners Sally and Marie Sawaya
The original Orpheum, that was on this very same site (1537 Welton Street in those days) opened in October of 1903 at the cost of $200,000. It was completely demolished in 1930 and was subsequently replaced with the last Orpheum to occupy the site which opened on February 11th, 1932.
Obviously, this existing description needs to be changed and a few of the photos are of the original Orpheum while a few are from the new.
How should this be handled-a case where a theater was closed, demolished and completely rebuilt as a theater with the same name. Should a new listing for the old Orpheum be created? What do you all think???
From The Saturday Evening, November 9th, 1907 Denver Times
This theatre has been demolished within the past several months as part of the mall redevelopment. STATUS SHOULD BE CHANGED TO CLOSED/DEMOLISHED.
Was this theatre known at one time as the Hallandale Drive-In and located to the west side of the Hollywood Dog Track?
There is no remaining trace of the theater now that the projection/snack bar/manager’s house building and the box office have been demolished within the past couple years. Status should be changed to closed/demolished.
Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
Anthony L. Vazquez-Hernandez on December 2, 2014 at 6:51 pm (remove) The theater should be listed as CLOSED and DEMOLISHED. Its final day of operation was Sunday, July 20th 2014 and the last movie to play in the theater was a 4:40pm screening of “Tammy”. “How To Train Your Dragon 2” was another of the closing day films. The theater was demolished on August 1st, 2014. The theater was closed/demolished due to the fact that the entire Twin Peaks Mall was closed and demolished for redevelopment of a new mall. Regal plans to be opening a 12 screen theater with an RPX screen sometime in December 2015 on the site. The theater was built/opened in 1997 and had completely converted to digital in recent years. The Simplex 35mm projectors were donated to The University of Colorado, Boulder’s Film Studies Department and two of them have been reinstalled in the Visual Arts Center’s auditorium.