Exhibitors Herald of October 4, 1924 had news of the organ replacement project then being undertaken at the Mars theatre: “La Fayette, Ind., House Reopened for Season
“After being closed for the past two months the Mars theatre, Lafayette Ind., has been reopened for the fall and winter season. The theatre will follow the same policy as last year, which calls for high class picture productions, interspersed with a number of notable legitimate stage productions which are now being booked.
“The stage and the dressing rooms beneath it are filled and cluttered with pipe organ paraphernalia, as work proceeds in tearing down one organ and installing another. The organ which has been in the theatre since it was opened has now been completely dismantled, and work is
proceeding rapidly on a new Wurlitzer organ, made especially for the theatre and which will be one of the largest organs in Indiana.”
The January 10, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World had this item about the Arc Theatre: “J. M. Smith, of Columbus, Ohio, an experienced exhibitor, has purchased the Arc Theatre from Martin M. Levitt, who has operated the house for the past nine years. The theatre, which was formerly on Main street, between Fourth and Fifth, Lafayette, Ind., came under the management of Mr. Levitt in April, 1916. In 1920 it was moved around the corner to its present location, which was remodeled for that purpose, with seating capacity of 500. The
house will be conducted under the management of William G. Outland. Policy of first-class pictures will prevail. Admission prices, it is
announced, will be five cents for children and ten cents for adults.”
Here is an item about the Orpheum from the January 6, 1917 issue of Motion Picture News: “INDIANA.—Lafayette: James L. Sheetz has purchased the Orpheum theatre, Lafayette, Indiana, from Charles Reichard and John Chamberlin. Mr. Sheetz will make extensive changes in the interior of the building. The seats will be rearranged, a new booth placed in the front of the house and a new lobby installed."
The Orpheum was still in operation as late as 1923, when the September 1 issue of Moving Picture World said that the house had been bought by Brooks Nixon.
The 1908-1909 Cahn guide lists the Grand Opera House at Lafayette as a ground floor theater with 1,400 seats, but does not provide a breakdown of their distribution. Plans to rename the house Dreyfus (the correct spelling) Theatre for owner Leopold Dreyfus were noted in the October 9, 1909 issue of the New York Dramatic Mirror. The Dreyfus Theatre was destroyed by a fire on the morning of April 10, 1914. The fire caused the death of firefighter Captain John Mitchell, 47.
Although movies had been shown intermittently at the house for several years, at the time of the fire a play was about to be mounted by the Purdue University drama society, who lost $1,400 in scenery to the blaze. Later in the month, a road show production of “Ben Hur” was to have been presented by the Klaw and Erlanger circuit.
Here is some history about the Lyric from the August 4, 1917 issue of Moving Picture World:
“Boes Buys Pioneer Picture Theater.
“Lafayette, Ind. — Lafayette’s pioneer motion picture house, the Lyric, was sold last week by William H. Johnson to J. W. Boes, who will take up the management of the place at once. Mr. Johnson intends to engage in the manufacture of metal paint and will start in business in
Lafayette with his brother-in-law, Charles Helveye.
“The Lyric theater was originally the Happy Half Hour theater and was established by Schuyler C. Lank about ten years ago. Edward W. Frank succeeded Mr. Lank as owner of the theater, and changed its name to the Lyric. Four years ago Mr. Johnson remodeled the house and made it one of the finest in this section of the state. It is now one of the most popular amusement places in the city.”
An April 14, 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier mentioned a nickelodeon operating at 632 Main Street as early as 1906, which must have been this house, though the article didn’t mention the name Happy Half Hour. It’s likely the author didn’t know the original name, although the article does later give this as the address of the Lyric.
The 1918 opening of the Luna was actually a re-opening, following extensive remodeling. A 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier indicates that the house had originally opened by 1915. The May 25, 1918 Moving Picture World published this extensive article about the project:
“LAFAYETTE, IND.—The opening of the new Luna theater, Thursday, April 25, marked an epoch in the history of the motion picture business in the city of Lafayette. Long before the doors of the pretty remodeled playhouse were thrown open an immense crowd had assembled in an effort to obtain advantageous positions before the ticket window. It was estimated that approximately 2,500 persons attended the affair.
“H. H. Johnson, manager of the Luna, and his corps of assistants were unusually busy in handling the throng, and did so without a hitch.
“The lobby of the new playhouse was a veritable bower of gorgeous flowers that had been sent by friends of the management. Mr. Johnson in turn distributed carnations to the women patrons.
“The beauty and comfort of the new theater was a matter of universal comment. The seating arrangements proved ideal under the test of service. The lighting arrangements are ideal, and the magnificent organ can be heard to splendid advantage.
“After being closed since November 1, the Luna has been transformed into one of the prettiest and most up-to-date motion picture theaters in the country. The cost of this transformation represents an expenditure of approximately $50,000.
“Mr. Johnson will have associated with him in the operation of the Luna as assistant manager, Chester Raub, who has served in that capacity for the last three years; Mrs. James L. Johnson, cashier; Carl W. Rumsey, operator for the past five years, will still be in charge of the operating room: Edward Kern, Walter Wolover, Milton Lorenz, and Donald McClurg as ushers, and Edward H. Bailey in charge of the sanitary department.”
An article in the April 14, 2017 issue of the Lafayette Journal &
Courier noted the Star Theatre as one of the downtown movie houses in operation by 1915.
An April 14, 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier said that the Victoria Theatre opened on April 19, 1909 as a vaudeville house operated by the Star City Amusement Co. By 1911 it was one of seven houses showing movies in downtown Lafayette.
The February, 1912 issue of Motography had this item with
news from Lafayette: “The Victoria theater at Lafayette has been taken over by Aaron M. Gollos, a well-known theatrical manager of Chicago,
who will open the same with novelty photo plays and musical acts. Mr. Gollos is establishing an Indiana circuit of theaters to add to his already large combination of amusement places.”
An April 14, 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier said that the Family Theatre opened in February, 1906. It initially ran three shows a day, one in the afternoon and two in the evening.
This house had become the Park Theatre by late 1918. This item from Moving Picture World of January 4, 1919 notes the house’s struggles to find a viable policy: “Park Will Revert to Dramatic Stock.
“The Park Theatre, Utica, unable to do business with pictures, will go into dramatic stock. The last time the theatre opened was on September 23 last, at which time three vaudeville acts, a feature picture, comedy and weekly were given. Following a three weeks' closing due to the epidemic the house reopened with a picture policy, and after a week went into a double feature policy. The Park is located in an out-of-the-theatre district, but is a beautiful house. Last year it was run in the same manner as the Strand, New York, with a big orchestra, best productions and concert singers.”
An article in the January 4, 1919 Moving Picture World reveals that this house opened in July, 1914 as the South Street Theatre. It was originally operated by Lumberg and Mackie. William P. Donlon, operator of the Orpheum Theatre on Lafayette Street, took over this house after the original Orpheum burned in March, 1917.
Our Movie Houses: A History of Film & Cinematic Innovation in Central New York, by Norman O. Keim, lists the Orpheum as having been in operation until 1953.
Mike (saps) uploaded a copy of the 1919 article to the photo page some time ago, but it is too small to read in that format. The text is too long to transcribe here, so here is a link to a full-sized copy of the article at Internet Archive.
The February 24, 1917 issue of Motion Picture News published this effusive description of the new Rialto Theatre, then under construction in Butte: “Walls and roof of the new Rialto theatre, Butte, are now completed and interior work is being rushed. The exterior of this building is the finest looking of anything in the northwest excelling by far anything seen in Denver, Salt Lake, Minneapolis or Spokane. It is a newly constructed concrete building of four stories, the outer walls of which are faced with especially made white terra cotta, beautifully decorated and set off by bits of highly colored stone here and there. The interior is to be most elaborately
decorated and furnished, and when completed, the Rialto will be one of the show places of the west. It will be operated by the Greater Theatres Company of Seattle, Jensen and Von Herberg, and it is rumored that it will show Artcraft, Paramount, Vitagraph and Pathe pictures.”
Perhaps the beginning of this house is addressed in this item from Moving Picture World of June 10, 1922: “ROY, NEW MEXICO— S. E. Paxton and M. Floersheim are interested in proposed theatre and community hall.”
Another mention of Roy appears in Film Daily for July 2, 1938: “W. J. Sturgess has bought the Real Theater in Roy, N. M., from H. H. Butler.”
The earliest theatre I see listed at Roy in the FDY is a 150-seat house called the Pendick, appearing in 1929, along with the High School. Part of a now-vanished Facebook post saying the house was owned by a man named Pendick and was renamed the Mesa Theatre after he moved to Albuquerque turns up in a Google search.
The official web site link is dead, and I can’t find a new one. They don’t even have a Facebook page, but the nonprofit organization that owns the theater, Friends of Historic Boonville, has a web site under construction that might have a page for the theater, there’s just nothing there yet.
This is an item from the July 3, 1948 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review: “Washington Theatres, Inc., in which P. B. Shearer and Dr. H. C. Thompson are associated, are constructing a 5OO-seat theatre for the Negro trade at Shelby, N. C. The brick and steel will cost $40,000, it is stated.”
Opened with four screens in 1998, the November, 2015 Boxoffice reported that B&B planned a recliner remodel of the house that winter as part of a chain-wide upgrading project.
This history of Bolivar’s theaters says that members of the Drake family owned this house until 1987. The new owners leased the house to the B&B chain, and it was renamed the Esquire Theatre. B&B operated the house until opening their new multiplex in 1998. The owners then sold the house to the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, who still own it today, using it as a secondary worship center and for various church-related and community events.
A history of Bolivar’s movie theaters on this web page says that this house opened in 1928 as the Davis Ritz Theatre. It was located in a former overall factory remodeled for theater use for Mr. Howard Davis. Davis leased the house to T. F. Cole, who already operated theaters in three other small towns in the region. In 1929, Davis sold the theater to Jerry L. Drake, who operated the Ritz for the next two decades, closing the house only after opening his new Drake Theatre in March, 1948. In 1938, Drake had affiliated the Ritz with the Dickinson chain, which gave him earlier access to new movies, showing them soon after the Dickinson houses in Springfield, the State capital.
During construction of the Drake Theatre, a long process due to post-war materials shortages and government restrictions on civilian construction, it was reported that the Ritz would remain open on weekends following the opening of the new house, but the January 3, 1948 Boxoffice said that Drake planned to retain ownership but keep the Ritz dark. The history page says that Drake converted the Ritz into a studio which included both film and recording facilities. This included three soundproof booths for recording. I don’t see how the house could have been open in the 1960s unless this costly remodeling had been reversed. With another theater operating in town this seems unlikely.
The Ritz was on North Springfield Avenue, not South Springfield. At the time the history I linked to was written (2013) it was in use as part of a home center (essentially a glorified hardware store) and after its days as a studio had for some time been occupied by a bowling alley. I’m about 98% certain that the Ritz was in the (now much remodeled) building that is still standing at 114 N. Springfield Avenue, and is in use as a recreation center operated by the same First Baptist Church that also owns the former Drake Theatre building.
This web page has a history of Bolivar’s movie theaters, and says that the Bolivar Electric Theatre opened in 1908 on the east side of the square. If this house is the only one on the east side of the square on the 1909 map it must have been the Electric. A later section of the history page says that “[b]y April of 1929 Jerry L. Drake had bought the Davis Ritz Theater and the Electric Theater. He immediately closed the Electric Theater.”
Aside from a few capsule movie reviews by the Electric’s manager, J. C. McKee, in 1922 and 1923, I’ve found no mentions of the house in theater industry trade journals.
This item datelined Garfield, New Jersey, appeared in the November 4, 1953 issue of Exhibitor: “The Ritz, a closed house that has been refurbished and redecorated, will have a gala opening on Nov. 5 with local city, church, and veteran groups cooperating. The opening attraction will be ‘Stalag 17’ and ‘Safari Drums.’ Deon De Titta, former chief projectionist, 20th-Fox home office, will manage the 800-seat house for Marjoel, Inc., of which L. Nocerino is president. Liggett-Florm will buy and book. The Holy Name Cadet and Bugle Corps, Garfield Post, American Legion, five times national champions, is scheduled to help out with the festivities.”
I wonder if the photo we have depicts that event?
CinemaTour gives the aka’s Garden Theatre and Garfield Auditorium for this house. I haven’t found any references to Garden Theatre, but Garfield Auditorium was the site of boxing matches in 1929. Garfield has nothing listed in the FDYs for 1926 or 1928, and I don’t think this house was a movie theater at that time. The façade of the building is clearly quite old, perhaps even 19th century, and it’s a bit frustrating being unable to find any references to the place earlier than 1929.
The June 29, 1960 issue of Boxoffice listed the Park Theatre at Pelican Bay among Minnesota houses that had recently closed. It had been operated by Ivan Johnson of Fergus Falls.
This article from the Santa Maria Times of March 5, 1946 gives some early history of the Commercial Hotel and its theater. They were both owned by the Campodonico brothers, and both opened in 1912. The premises were originally leased to other operators, but Charles Campodonico bought out one of the leasing partners in 1913 and the other in 1914, and thereafter operated at least the hotel by himself until selling the property in 1946.
As noted in the MPW item cited in my previous comment, the Campodonico brothers were operating the theater themselves by 1922 (but probably much earlier.) Most likely the house closed when the Royal Theatre opened nearby in 1940. The Times article makes reference to “[t]he Campodonico Theatre….” presenting movies, vaudeville and travelling shows in the period leading up to WWI, so that might have been an aka in the early years.
A brief history of Gaylord’s American Legion post in the April 8, 2017 issue of the Mankato Free Press said that the post took over operation of the Hub theatre in 1933, and acquired another building for renovation into the Legion theatre in 1938.
Exhibitors Herald of October 4, 1924 had news of the organ replacement project then being undertaken at the Mars theatre: “La Fayette, Ind., House Reopened for Season
“After being closed for the past two months the Mars theatre, Lafayette Ind., has been reopened for the fall and winter season. The theatre will follow the same policy as last year, which calls for high class picture productions, interspersed with a number of notable legitimate stage productions which are now being booked.
“The stage and the dressing rooms beneath it are filled and cluttered with pipe organ paraphernalia, as work proceeds in tearing down one organ and installing another. The organ which has been in the theatre since it was opened has now been completely dismantled, and work is proceeding rapidly on a new Wurlitzer organ, made especially for the theatre and which will be one of the largest organs in Indiana.”
The January 10, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World had this item about the Arc Theatre: “J. M. Smith, of Columbus, Ohio, an experienced exhibitor, has purchased the Arc Theatre from Martin M. Levitt, who has operated the house for the past nine years. The theatre, which was formerly on Main street, between Fourth and Fifth, Lafayette, Ind., came under the management of Mr. Levitt in April, 1916. In 1920 it was moved around the corner to its present location, which was remodeled for that purpose, with seating capacity of 500. The house will be conducted under the management of William G. Outland. Policy of first-class pictures will prevail. Admission prices, it is announced, will be five cents for children and ten cents for adults.”
Here is an item about the Orpheum from the January 6, 1917 issue of Motion Picture News: “INDIANA.—Lafayette: James L. Sheetz has purchased the Orpheum theatre, Lafayette, Indiana, from Charles Reichard and John Chamberlin. Mr. Sheetz will make extensive changes in the interior of the building. The seats will be rearranged, a new booth placed in the front of the house and a new lobby installed."
The Orpheum was still in operation as late as 1923, when the September 1 issue of Moving Picture World said that the house had been bought by Brooks Nixon.
The 1908-1909 Cahn guide lists the Grand Opera House at Lafayette as a ground floor theater with 1,400 seats, but does not provide a breakdown of their distribution. Plans to rename the house Dreyfus (the correct spelling) Theatre for owner Leopold Dreyfus were noted in the October 9, 1909 issue of the New York Dramatic Mirror. The Dreyfus Theatre was destroyed by a fire on the morning of April 10, 1914. The fire caused the death of firefighter Captain John Mitchell, 47.
Although movies had been shown intermittently at the house for several years, at the time of the fire a play was about to be mounted by the Purdue University drama society, who lost $1,400 in scenery to the blaze. Later in the month, a road show production of “Ben Hur” was to have been presented by the Klaw and Erlanger circuit.
Here is some history about the Lyric from the August 4, 1917 issue of Moving Picture World:
An April 14, 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier mentioned a nickelodeon operating at 632 Main Street as early as 1906, which must have been this house, though the article didn’t mention the name Happy Half Hour. It’s likely the author didn’t know the original name, although the article does later give this as the address of the Lyric.The 1918 opening of the Luna was actually a re-opening, following extensive remodeling. A 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier indicates that the house had originally opened by 1915. The May 25, 1918 Moving Picture World published this extensive article about the project:
An article in the April 14, 2017 issue of the Lafayette Journal & Courier noted the Star Theatre as one of the downtown movie houses in operation by 1915.
An April 14, 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier said that the Victoria Theatre opened on April 19, 1909 as a vaudeville house operated by the Star City Amusement Co. By 1911 it was one of seven houses showing movies in downtown Lafayette.
The February, 1912 issue of Motography had this item with news from Lafayette: “The Victoria theater at Lafayette has been taken over by Aaron M. Gollos, a well-known theatrical manager of Chicago, who will open the same with novelty photo plays and musical acts. Mr. Gollos is establishing an Indiana circuit of theaters to add to his already large combination of amusement places.”
An April 14, 2017 article in the Lafayette Journal & Courier said that the Family Theatre opened in February, 1906. It initially ran three shows a day, one in the afternoon and two in the evening.
This house had become the Park Theatre by late 1918. This item from Moving Picture World of January 4, 1919 notes the house’s struggles to find a viable policy: “Park Will Revert to Dramatic Stock.
“The Park Theatre, Utica, unable to do business with pictures, will go into dramatic stock. The last time the theatre opened was on September 23 last, at which time three vaudeville acts, a feature picture, comedy and weekly were given. Following a three weeks' closing due to the epidemic the house reopened with a picture policy, and after a week went into a double feature policy. The Park is located in an out-of-the-theatre district, but is a beautiful house. Last year it was run in the same manner as the Strand, New York, with a big orchestra, best productions and concert singers.”
An article in the January 4, 1919 Moving Picture World reveals that this house opened in July, 1914 as the South Street Theatre. It was originally operated by Lumberg and Mackie. William P. Donlon, operator of the Orpheum Theatre on Lafayette Street, took over this house after the original Orpheum burned in March, 1917.
Our Movie Houses: A History of Film & Cinematic Innovation in Central New York, by Norman O. Keim, lists the Orpheum as having been in operation until 1953.
Mike (saps) uploaded a copy of the 1919 article to the photo page some time ago, but it is too small to read in that format. The text is too long to transcribe here, so here is a link to a full-sized copy of the article at Internet Archive.
The Luna Theatre opened on April 25, 1918, according to a retrospective in the January 4, 1919 issue of Moving Picture World.
The February 24, 1917 issue of Motion Picture News published this effusive description of the new Rialto Theatre, then under construction in Butte: “Walls and roof of the new Rialto theatre, Butte, are now completed and interior work is being rushed. The exterior of this building is the finest looking of anything in the northwest excelling by far anything seen in Denver, Salt Lake, Minneapolis or Spokane. It is a newly constructed concrete building of four stories, the outer walls of which are faced with especially made white terra cotta, beautifully decorated and set off by bits of highly colored stone here and there. The interior is to be most elaborately decorated and furnished, and when completed, the Rialto will be one of the show places of the west. It will be operated by the Greater Theatres Company of Seattle, Jensen and Von Herberg, and it is rumored that it will show Artcraft, Paramount, Vitagraph and Pathe pictures.”
Perhaps the beginning of this house is addressed in this item from Moving Picture World of June 10, 1922: “ROY, NEW MEXICO— S. E. Paxton and M. Floersheim are interested in proposed theatre and community hall.”
Another mention of Roy appears in Film Daily for July 2, 1938: “W. J. Sturgess has bought the Real Theater in Roy, N. M., from H. H. Butler.”
The earliest theatre I see listed at Roy in the FDY is a 150-seat house called the Pendick, appearing in 1929, along with the High School. Part of a now-vanished Facebook post saying the house was owned by a man named Pendick and was renamed the Mesa Theatre after he moved to Albuquerque turns up in a Google search.
The official web site link is dead, and I can’t find a new one. They don’t even have a Facebook page, but the nonprofit organization that owns the theater, Friends of Historic Boonville, has a web site under construction that might have a page for the theater, there’s just nothing there yet.
This is an item from the July 3, 1948 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review: “Washington Theatres, Inc., in which P. B. Shearer and Dr. H. C. Thompson are associated, are constructing a 5OO-seat theatre for the Negro trade at Shelby, N. C. The brick and steel will cost $40,000, it is stated.”
Here is an up-to-date link to the official web site for the Don Gibson Theatre.
Opened with four screens in 1998, the November, 2015 Boxoffice reported that B&B planned a recliner remodel of the house that winter as part of a chain-wide upgrading project.
This history of Bolivar’s theaters says that members of the Drake family owned this house until 1987. The new owners leased the house to the B&B chain, and it was renamed the Esquire Theatre. B&B operated the house until opening their new multiplex in 1998. The owners then sold the house to the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, who still own it today, using it as a secondary worship center and for various church-related and community events.
A history of Bolivar’s movie theaters on this web page says that this house opened in 1928 as the Davis Ritz Theatre. It was located in a former overall factory remodeled for theater use for Mr. Howard Davis. Davis leased the house to T. F. Cole, who already operated theaters in three other small towns in the region. In 1929, Davis sold the theater to Jerry L. Drake, who operated the Ritz for the next two decades, closing the house only after opening his new Drake Theatre in March, 1948. In 1938, Drake had affiliated the Ritz with the Dickinson chain, which gave him earlier access to new movies, showing them soon after the Dickinson houses in Springfield, the State capital.
During construction of the Drake Theatre, a long process due to post-war materials shortages and government restrictions on civilian construction, it was reported that the Ritz would remain open on weekends following the opening of the new house, but the January 3, 1948 Boxoffice said that Drake planned to retain ownership but keep the Ritz dark. The history page says that Drake converted the Ritz into a studio which included both film and recording facilities. This included three soundproof booths for recording. I don’t see how the house could have been open in the 1960s unless this costly remodeling had been reversed. With another theater operating in town this seems unlikely.
The Ritz was on North Springfield Avenue, not South Springfield. At the time the history I linked to was written (2013) it was in use as part of a home center (essentially a glorified hardware store) and after its days as a studio had for some time been occupied by a bowling alley. I’m about 98% certain that the Ritz was in the (now much remodeled) building that is still standing at 114 N. Springfield Avenue, and is in use as a recreation center operated by the same First Baptist Church that also owns the former Drake Theatre building.
This web page has a history of Bolivar’s movie theaters, and says that the Bolivar Electric Theatre opened in 1908 on the east side of the square. If this house is the only one on the east side of the square on the 1909 map it must have been the Electric. A later section of the history page says that “[b]y April of 1929 Jerry L. Drake had bought the Davis Ritz Theater and the Electric Theater. He immediately closed the Electric Theater.”
Aside from a few capsule movie reviews by the Electric’s manager, J. C. McKee, in 1922 and 1923, I’ve found no mentions of the house in theater industry trade journals.
This item datelined Garfield, New Jersey, appeared in the November 4, 1953 issue of Exhibitor: “The Ritz, a closed house that has been refurbished and redecorated, will have a gala opening on Nov. 5 with local city, church, and veteran groups cooperating. The opening attraction will be ‘Stalag 17’ and ‘Safari Drums.’ Deon De Titta, former chief projectionist, 20th-Fox home office, will manage the 800-seat house for Marjoel, Inc., of which L. Nocerino is president. Liggett-Florm will buy and book. The Holy Name Cadet and Bugle Corps, Garfield Post, American Legion, five times national champions, is scheduled to help out with the festivities.”
I wonder if the photo we have depicts that event?
CinemaTour gives the aka’s Garden Theatre and Garfield Auditorium for this house. I haven’t found any references to Garden Theatre, but Garfield Auditorium was the site of boxing matches in 1929. Garfield has nothing listed in the FDYs for 1926 or 1928, and I don’t think this house was a movie theater at that time. The façade of the building is clearly quite old, perhaps even 19th century, and it’s a bit frustrating being unable to find any references to the place earlier than 1929.
The June 29, 1960 issue of Boxoffice listed the Park Theatre at Pelican Bay among Minnesota houses that had recently closed. It had been operated by Ivan Johnson of Fergus Falls.
This article from the Santa Maria Times of March 5, 1946 gives some early history of the Commercial Hotel and its theater. They were both owned by the Campodonico brothers, and both opened in 1912. The premises were originally leased to other operators, but Charles Campodonico bought out one of the leasing partners in 1913 and the other in 1914, and thereafter operated at least the hotel by himself until selling the property in 1946.
As noted in the MPW item cited in my previous comment, the Campodonico brothers were operating the theater themselves by 1922 (but probably much earlier.) Most likely the house closed when the Royal Theatre opened nearby in 1940. The Times article makes reference to “[t]he Campodonico Theatre….” presenting movies, vaudeville and travelling shows in the period leading up to WWI, so that might have been an aka in the early years.
A brief history of Gaylord’s American Legion post in the April 8, 2017 issue of the Mankato Free Press said that the post took over operation of the Hub theatre in 1933, and acquired another building for renovation into the Legion theatre in 1938.