The Wolverine Theatre was dropped after its second 20-year lease by Butterfield Theatres. It closed permanently on April 27, 1952 with “Father’s Little Dividend” and “Breakthrough.” The theatre was redeveloped for retail in 1954.
The Marr celebrated its 20th Anniversary but limped to a close three years later shutting after a double features of “Let No Man Write My Epitaph” and “The Wild One” on May 14, 1961. A week later it became a house of worship for the Gethsemane Evangelical Luthern Church. It has been converted to a multi-occupant business center still in use in the 2020s.
After a soft launch that lasted a period of time, the formal opening of Janes Theatre took place on December 27, 1934 with Joe E. Brown in “The Circus Clown.” Janes Theater veteran Frank D. Brown closed up on June 23, 1957 with “Loophole” and “Star of Texas.” It then became a house of worship called the House of Corinthian Church / Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church. In the 2020s, it was home to the Emmanuel Church of Deliverance.
Hoffman Brothers of Detroit brought Saginaw a first class vaudeville house in the Palace during World War I. The genesis for the project is directly tied to the Saginaw Hippodrome Company’s stock sale and concept to build a new construction 1,600-seat Hippodrome in the city. By 1915, plans for the Hippodrome stalled due to a single property owner not selling a building on the proposed Hippodrome lot. So the quickest solution was to convert an existing building to a live venue.
Saginaw got its new showplace in a converted, 1880-built building. It was originally a printing press operation owned by Charles Peters and Joseph Seemann. The converted space opened on April 24, 1916. Designed by C. Howard Crane, the 1,000 seat theater featured a variety of vaudeville acts on opening night. Unfortunately, the theater’s policy didn’t wow audiences as people in Saginaw preferred films. The Palace was a major misfire switching to grind runs of exploitation films by late 1916. To make matters worse, the never-built Hippodrome property was the subject of a contentious lawsuit.
Mecca Theatres, which had the smaller 400-seat Mecca movie house that opened in 1914 and the Dreamland Theatre both in downtown Saginaw, took on the failed Palace renaming it the Mecca-Palace Theatre on July 19, 1917 with Jackie Saunders in “Betty Be Good.” Seat count was reduced to 798 for comfort and the policy became first-run feature films. The former Mecca was closed though would return as a movie house some years later.
Mecca Theaters Inc. later sold the Mecca-Palace to Butterfield / Paramount in 1926 and the Dreamland in 1927 exiting theatrical exhibition. The Mecca-Palace was converted to sound to remain viable. A streamlined makeover update the venue in 1933. The theater closed for the summer of 1935 for a major renovation that removed the last vestiges of the Palace as the box seating was removed and the original stage was ripped out for a new stage. On October 12, 1935 the “new” Mecca Palace Theatre opened with Bette Davis in “Special Agent”. On July 1, 1936, the “Palace” was dropped with the operation called the Mecca Theatre. The Mecca closed early in 1955 without being converted to widescreen projection. Butterfield Theatres altered the property for retail use guaranteeing that the building’s exhibition era was over.
Cinemark closed the venue at the expiry of its 25-year lease. B&B Theatres Macedonia 15 opened September 12, 2024 after a six-month, $6.75 million renovation.
E.M. Smith launched the Dreamland Theatre on March 28, 1908 replacing a retail music store. Managed by C.J. Wilder, the venue played movies and illustrated slides with singalongs. George E. Marr took on the venue before selling out to the competing Mecca Theatre Company in 1916. The Taffy Shop was built within the entrance of the theater becoming the de facto concession stand for the Dreamland.
George Wilbur took on the venue from Mecca Theatre Co. The Mecca had sold its Mecca Palace to Butterfield / Paramount in 1926 thus leaving the market after selling the Dreamland in 1927. On June 8, 1928, William A. Cassidy and Albert E. Zuchike took over the Dreamland Theatre from Wilbur which converted to sound to remain viable. The Taffy Shop closed with concessions handled in house from 1929 to 1936.
Cassidy and Zuchike opted to move the venue to the superior and larger, former Mecca-Palace location when Butterfield/Paramount opened a new Mecca-Palace. Cassidy and Zuchike discontinued the Dreamland on March 1, 1936 with “The Dark Angel.” They then moved to their new location opting to rename it there at 110 S. Washington as the DeLuxe Theatre. The newspaper account says that the space once occupied by the Dreamland was converted to retail just three months later in June of 1936.
A.J. Kerfoot launched the Princess Theatre on June 10, 1912 with live vaudeville that played the Orpheum in Memphis and the Majestic Theatre in Little Rock.Carson and Will Mack took on the venue turning into a movie house. On August 12, 1918, new owner Eli Whitney Collins changed the name of the Princess Theatre to the World War I favorite theater moniker, the Liberty Theatre. The Liberty would switch to sound presentations to remain viable.
In July of 1957, Malco’s Liberty became Malco’s State Theatre when “name that theater” contestant Glenda Willent thought that “State” should be its new name in honor of Arkansas State then College. Manager Jay Kimbro unveiled not only the new name but the State’s state of the art widescreen projection equipped to play CinemaScope titles and a new air conditioning system
Midcontinent Theatres Co. opened the Midco 10 on May 6, 1994 as Grand Forks' first modern megaplex. On September 13, 1995 Carmike Theatres bought the company’s theatrical portfolio with Midco keeping its television interests. AMC purchased Carmike Theatres in 2016.
AMC rebranded the vast majority of inherited Carmike and Kerasotes theatres as AMC Classics. The Classic brand generally meant the location would receive just modest updates and were likely not going to be candidates for lease renewals. This location became the AMC Classic Grand Forks 10. It closed along with most U.S. cinemas on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. The AMC Classic Grand Forks 10 reopened September 3, 2020. But AMC closed here at the expiry of a 30-year lease on June 29, 2023.
Odyssey Cinemas took on the venue in 2024 and decided to gut the building in favor of a family entertainment center including theatrical films including a premium large screen format (PLF) three-story auditorium, duckpin bowling, live stage, and high-end bar. The Odyssey Cinemas Grand Forks would open in 2025 though is currently renovating. A picture of a new auditorium is in photos.
The Showboat Drive-In closed on September 15, 2024 with “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” The land was sold and the operators vowed to utter “Beetlejuice” a third time and reappear in the Spring of 2026 in a new location.
Carmike Theatres was bought by AMC in 2016 with the official switchover to the AMC nameplate on March 24, 2017. It became the AMC Classic Ohio Valley Mall 11. The Classic designation was given to the bulk of acquired locations, including Carmike and Kerasotes venues, that generally would receive more modest updates and were likely not going to be renewed past the leasing expiry. The AMC COVM closed on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened September 3, 2020. It then closed at the end of a 25-year leasing period on September 8, 2024. The mall owners were in search of a new operator.
T he project began in planning as the Delsea Theatre. Just two months prior to it announced opening, the owners were gone and the project stalled. I. Mayer picked up the project renaming it as the Roxy. The Roxy opened with “Glorious Betsy” on September 21, 1928. The operator quickly went bankrupt forcing a sheriffs sale. It reopened April 23, 1930 with sound, a new operator, and a new name: the Glassboro Theatre.
Such things may not matter too much but the phrase above, “Nonetheless, the cinema survived on this format until it closed on April 20, 2002” is off by ten years (and, technically, more).
The theatre showed 95% mainstream Hollywood fare from May 10, 1972 to 1981 under Platt Showcase Theatres Circuit and then Milgrim Theatres with only a few midnight adult titles. Platt was responding to the picketing that dogged the theater under previous owner Countryside’s X-rated policy.
Under new operators, it returned to X-rated fare in 1982. The Plaza actually returned to the format / policy referenced above only for a little over a year.
Then in the Summer of 1983 it switched to racier, unrated “XXX” films - for the first time - under most likely a subleasing deal. Unrated XXX films are actually a different format than X-rated porno chic films. It stayed with that format 19 years throughout the home video era - the longest period for this venue. And it stayed with the policy longer than most theaters did in the United States. An impressive run for a most unimpressive facility.
Again, probably doesn’t matter but there you have it.
Carrols Development opened its 400-seat automated mini-cinema in the W.T. Grant’s Plaza on October 6, 1971 with Jacqueline Susann’s “The Love Machine.” Its address was 751 Black Horse Pike. Countryside Theaters, Inc. takes on the venue running into major protests and an obscenity charge for showing X-rated film in February of 1972. The theater closes and reopens with second-run Hollywood fare on April 14, 1972 with neither protests or many customers. The theater closes soon thereafter. Platt Showcase Theatres takes on the venue on May 10, 1972 with first-run Hollywood films starting with Dirty Harry.
On July 30, 1982, it shifts to X-rated fare likely on a sublease from Milgrim Theatres. It then switches to unrated XXX films. With Grant’s long-bankrupt, the shopping center changes names to the Route 42 Shop Center. It found its audience as it would become one of the area’s longest running adult theatres. By the turn of the Century, there were just three adult theatres left in all of the Delaware Valley. But on April 30, 2002 at the end of a 20-year subleasing agreement and following a double feature of Avi Scott and Bobbi Barrington in “The Girl Next Door” and Briana Banks and Nikita Denise in “Up the Wahoo” it was over. The Plaza would remain empty until its demolition in 2008.
Louis C. Joyce, Jr. built the brick-based Blackwood Theatre in 1921 as a photoplay house launching August 24, 1921. I.J. Legal took on the venue opening it four days a week in 1930 as the theater converted to sound to remain viable. Saul Cohen operated the venue from 1940 to 1955. In the 1970s, it closed and opened several times under a variety of operators. It was renamed the Movie Box on May 16, 1974 showing discount, second-run dollar movies until September of 1980.
On September 19, 1980, it became Movies! until its final showing of “Annie" on November 30, 1982 ending a 60 year photoplay / movie exhibition run. It was donated to the city. In October of 1983 it returned to its Blackwood Theatre moniker with live plays first by adults and then by children closing in 1984. The building needed $500,000 in interior improvements and the same amount for a new roof. Still owned by the city, it was demolished in April of 1990.
Opened as the New Hill Theatre replacing a previous Hill Theatre. Herbert Hill opened on April 8, 1938 with “Radio City Revels.” It was converted to a TV production studio early in the 21st Century
The Goff Block was a three-story brick building that housed the Jeffers turned Strand Theatre long after the venue closed.
The Wolverine Theatre was dropped after its second 20-year lease by Butterfield Theatres. It closed permanently on April 27, 1952 with “Father’s Little Dividend” and “Breakthrough.” The theatre was redeveloped for retail in 1954.
Closed following the May 10, 1953 double feature of The Lion and the Horse and Moonlight Bay. It was converted to an upholstery shop soon thereafter.
The Marr celebrated its 20th Anniversary but limped to a close three years later shutting after a double features of “Let No Man Write My Epitaph” and “The Wild One” on May 14, 1961. A week later it became a house of worship for the Gethsemane Evangelical Luthern Church. It has been converted to a multi-occupant business center still in use in the 2020s.
After a soft launch that lasted a period of time, the formal opening of Janes Theatre took place on December 27, 1934 with Joe E. Brown in “The Circus Clown.” Janes Theater veteran Frank D. Brown closed up on June 23, 1957 with “Loophole” and “Star of Texas.” It then became a house of worship called the House of Corinthian Church / Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church. In the 2020s, it was home to the Emmanuel Church of Deliverance.
Closed March 2, 1952 with “Kon-Tiki”. Was remodeled for two storefronts in 1955 in Milton’s Clothes and Boston’s Shoes.
Final showtimes: April 3, 1955 with “The Nebraskan” and “Drums of Tahiti.”
The new-build Franklin Theatre opened with vaudeville on January 25, 1915 - and was sold out weeks prior to its launch.
Hoffman Brothers of Detroit brought Saginaw a first class vaudeville house in the Palace during World War I. The genesis for the project is directly tied to the Saginaw Hippodrome Company’s stock sale and concept to build a new construction 1,600-seat Hippodrome in the city. By 1915, plans for the Hippodrome stalled due to a single property owner not selling a building on the proposed Hippodrome lot. So the quickest solution was to convert an existing building to a live venue.
Saginaw got its new showplace in a converted, 1880-built building. It was originally a printing press operation owned by Charles Peters and Joseph Seemann. The converted space opened on April 24, 1916. Designed by C. Howard Crane, the 1,000 seat theater featured a variety of vaudeville acts on opening night. Unfortunately, the theater’s policy didn’t wow audiences as people in Saginaw preferred films. The Palace was a major misfire switching to grind runs of exploitation films by late 1916. To make matters worse, the never-built Hippodrome property was the subject of a contentious lawsuit.
Mecca Theatres, which had the smaller 400-seat Mecca movie house that opened in 1914 and the Dreamland Theatre both in downtown Saginaw, took on the failed Palace renaming it the Mecca-Palace Theatre on July 19, 1917 with Jackie Saunders in “Betty Be Good.” Seat count was reduced to 798 for comfort and the policy became first-run feature films. The former Mecca was closed though would return as a movie house some years later.
Mecca Theaters Inc. later sold the Mecca-Palace to Butterfield / Paramount in 1926 and the Dreamland in 1927 exiting theatrical exhibition. The Mecca-Palace was converted to sound to remain viable. A streamlined makeover update the venue in 1933. The theater closed for the summer of 1935 for a major renovation that removed the last vestiges of the Palace as the box seating was removed and the original stage was ripped out for a new stage. On October 12, 1935 the “new” Mecca Palace Theatre opened with Bette Davis in “Special Agent”. On July 1, 1936, the “Palace” was dropped with the operation called the Mecca Theatre. The Mecca closed early in 1955 without being converted to widescreen projection. Butterfield Theatres altered the property for retail use guaranteeing that the building’s exhibition era was over.
Cinemark closed the venue at the expiry of its 25-year lease. B&B Theatres Macedonia 15 opened September 12, 2024 after a six-month, $6.75 million renovation.
E.M. Smith launched the Dreamland Theatre on March 28, 1908 replacing a retail music store. Managed by C.J. Wilder, the venue played movies and illustrated slides with singalongs. George E. Marr took on the venue before selling out to the competing Mecca Theatre Company in 1916. The Taffy Shop was built within the entrance of the theater becoming the de facto concession stand for the Dreamland.
George Wilbur took on the venue from Mecca Theatre Co. The Mecca had sold its Mecca Palace to Butterfield / Paramount in 1926 thus leaving the market after selling the Dreamland in 1927. On June 8, 1928, William A. Cassidy and Albert E. Zuchike took over the Dreamland Theatre from Wilbur which converted to sound to remain viable. The Taffy Shop closed with concessions handled in house from 1929 to 1936.
Cassidy and Zuchike opted to move the venue to the superior and larger, former Mecca-Palace location when Butterfield/Paramount opened a new Mecca-Palace. Cassidy and Zuchike discontinued the Dreamland on March 1, 1936 with “The Dark Angel.” They then moved to their new location opting to rename it there at 110 S. Washington as the DeLuxe Theatre. The newspaper account says that the space once occupied by the Dreamland was converted to retail just three months later in June of 1936.
The Michigan Theatre’s Hammond Organ at its grand opening launch.
A.J. Kerfoot launched the Princess Theatre on June 10, 1912 with live vaudeville that played the Orpheum in Memphis and the Majestic Theatre in Little Rock.Carson and Will Mack took on the venue turning into a movie house. On August 12, 1918, new owner Eli Whitney Collins changed the name of the Princess Theatre to the World War I favorite theater moniker, the Liberty Theatre. The Liberty would switch to sound presentations to remain viable.
In July of 1957, Malco’s Liberty became Malco’s State Theatre when “name that theater” contestant Glenda Willent thought that “State” should be its new name in honor of Arkansas State then College. Manager Jay Kimbro unveiled not only the new name but the State’s state of the art widescreen projection equipped to play CinemaScope titles and a new air conditioning system
Midcontinent Theatres Co. opened the Midco 10 on May 6, 1994 as Grand Forks' first modern megaplex. On September 13, 1995 Carmike Theatres bought the company’s theatrical portfolio with Midco keeping its television interests. AMC purchased Carmike Theatres in 2016.
AMC rebranded the vast majority of inherited Carmike and Kerasotes theatres as AMC Classics. The Classic brand generally meant the location would receive just modest updates and were likely not going to be candidates for lease renewals. This location became the AMC Classic Grand Forks 10. It closed along with most U.S. cinemas on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. The AMC Classic Grand Forks 10 reopened September 3, 2020. But AMC closed here at the expiry of a 30-year lease on June 29, 2023.
Odyssey Cinemas took on the venue in 2024 and decided to gut the building in favor of a family entertainment center including theatrical films including a premium large screen format (PLF) three-story auditorium, duckpin bowling, live stage, and high-end bar. The Odyssey Cinemas Grand Forks would open in 2025 though is currently renovating. A picture of a new auditorium is in photos.
The New Grand launched November 10, 1919 with Elsie Ferguson in “Witness for the Defense”
Mercifully closed by Look Cinemas September 2, 2024 likely putting this location out of its misery.
Look sprinted away from the building on September 2, 2024 undoubtedly ending this four time losing location
The Showboat Drive-In closed on September 15, 2024 with “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” The land was sold and the operators vowed to utter “Beetlejuice” a third time and reappear in the Spring of 2026 in a new location.
Carmike Theatres was bought by AMC in 2016 with the official switchover to the AMC nameplate on March 24, 2017. It became the AMC Classic Ohio Valley Mall 11. The Classic designation was given to the bulk of acquired locations, including Carmike and Kerasotes venues, that generally would receive more modest updates and were likely not going to be renewed past the leasing expiry. The AMC COVM closed on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened September 3, 2020. It then closed at the end of a 25-year leasing period on September 8, 2024. The mall owners were in search of a new operator.
Closed for the season on October 19, 1980 with “Cheerleaders Wild Weekend” and does not appear to have reopened.
T he project began in planning as the Delsea Theatre. Just two months prior to it announced opening, the owners were gone and the project stalled. I. Mayer picked up the project renaming it as the Roxy. The Roxy opened with “Glorious Betsy” on September 21, 1928. The operator quickly went bankrupt forcing a sheriffs sale. It reopened April 23, 1930 with sound, a new operator, and a new name: the Glassboro Theatre.
Such things may not matter too much but the phrase above, “Nonetheless, the cinema survived on this format until it closed on April 20, 2002” is off by ten years (and, technically, more).
The theatre showed 95% mainstream Hollywood fare from May 10, 1972 to 1981 under Platt Showcase Theatres Circuit and then Milgrim Theatres with only a few midnight adult titles. Platt was responding to the picketing that dogged the theater under previous owner Countryside’s X-rated policy.
Under new operators, it returned to X-rated fare in 1982. The Plaza actually returned to the format / policy referenced above only for a little over a year.
Then in the Summer of 1983 it switched to racier, unrated “XXX” films - for the first time - under most likely a subleasing deal. Unrated XXX films are actually a different format than X-rated porno chic films. It stayed with that format 19 years throughout the home video era - the longest period for this venue. And it stayed with the policy longer than most theaters did in the United States. An impressive run for a most unimpressive facility.
Again, probably doesn’t matter but there you have it.
Carrols Development opened its 400-seat automated mini-cinema in the W.T. Grant’s Plaza on October 6, 1971 with Jacqueline Susann’s “The Love Machine.” Its address was 751 Black Horse Pike. Countryside Theaters, Inc. takes on the venue running into major protests and an obscenity charge for showing X-rated film in February of 1972. The theater closes and reopens with second-run Hollywood fare on April 14, 1972 with neither protests or many customers. The theater closes soon thereafter. Platt Showcase Theatres takes on the venue on May 10, 1972 with first-run Hollywood films starting with Dirty Harry.
On July 30, 1982, it shifts to X-rated fare likely on a sublease from Milgrim Theatres. It then switches to unrated XXX films. With Grant’s long-bankrupt, the shopping center changes names to the Route 42 Shop Center. It found its audience as it would become one of the area’s longest running adult theatres. By the turn of the Century, there were just three adult theatres left in all of the Delaware Valley. But on April 30, 2002 at the end of a 20-year subleasing agreement and following a double feature of Avi Scott and Bobbi Barrington in “The Girl Next Door” and Briana Banks and Nikita Denise in “Up the Wahoo” it was over. The Plaza would remain empty until its demolition in 2008.
Louis C. Joyce, Jr. built the brick-based Blackwood Theatre in 1921 as a photoplay house launching August 24, 1921. I.J. Legal took on the venue opening it four days a week in 1930 as the theater converted to sound to remain viable. Saul Cohen operated the venue from 1940 to 1955. In the 1970s, it closed and opened several times under a variety of operators. It was renamed the Movie Box on May 16, 1974 showing discount, second-run dollar movies until September of 1980.
On September 19, 1980, it became Movies! until its final showing of “Annie" on November 30, 1982 ending a 60 year photoplay / movie exhibition run. It was donated to the city. In October of 1983 it returned to its Blackwood Theatre moniker with live plays first by adults and then by children closing in 1984. The building needed $500,000 in interior improvements and the same amount for a new roof. Still owned by the city, it was demolished in April of 1990.
Opened as the New Hill Theatre replacing a previous Hill Theatre. Herbert Hill opened on April 8, 1938 with “Radio City Revels.” It was converted to a TV production studio early in the 21st Century