(Chicago Reader, June 20, 1991 by Peter Strazzabosco) Now featured at the Sheridan Theatre: squatters, politics, and two plans for rehabilitation —–
Once one of the finest theaters in the country, the Sheridan Theatre now serves as a premier playhouse for vandals, the homeless, and the curious. The front doors now stand open for months at a time, even though the theater has been closed for years. Reckless renovation, fires, and public dumping have all but destroyed the building’s original magnificence. There were plans to resuscitate it a few years ago, but strangely enough they were scuttled by the city. Now two organizations have submitted competing renovation proposals to the city, and if officials think one of them is feasible, the street people may finally have to move out.
The 2,469-seat theater at 4038 N. Sheridan was built by Ascher Brothers in 1927 to accommodate stage shows and first-run movies. It was a breathtaking if expensive structure. Doric columns topped by gigantic Grecian urns soared above the street, and theatrical bas-relief figures highlighted the pediment. The facade, which recalled a Grecian temple, was a gem, marred only by the ground-floor retail shops. Inside, the architect, J.E.O. Pridmore, showed little restraint in his neoclassic design. He put in statues, chandeliers, and coffered ceilings, Corinthian columns and archways. The auditorium was topped with a canopied dome encircled by an intricate frieze of Roman charioteers. Lounges and smoking rooms catered to the elite clientele, and a bellowing four-manual Wurlitzer pipe organ shook the patrons in their seats.
But the Sheridan had to compete with Balaban and Katz’s Uptown Theatre just a mile north. This behemoth’s 4,320 seats made it the largest theater in the world when it was built, and the quality of its stage shows was hard to beat. The neighborhood surrounding it also offered more parking.
Unable to profit in such a shadow, Ascher Brothers eventually gave up the Sheridan to the William Fox chain. But Fox didn’t do any better and finally sold the theater to Balaban and Katz–who were plagued by the same problem. The public did little more than trickle in.
Balaban and Katz held on until 1951, when they accepted an offer from the Anshe Emet Synagogue, which refurbished the building for religious services. The refurbishers removed the ornate interior friezes and artwork and dismantled the outside facade, leaving a generic veneer. The Solomon Goldman Auditorium, as it was called, lasted a remarkable 15 years, and then the synagogue moved to new quarters. The building stood empty for a brief period before becoming the now infamous Palacio Teatro, where Spanish films were shown. “No fumar” signs were added to the Jewish symbols.
By 1987 the building was vacant again. Pyromaniacs torched the place repeatedly. One aspiring entrepreneur took over the lobby and tried to sell used hotel furniture, the remnants of which are now strewn about the building. The lobby’s floors and stairways are covered with the charred remains of mattresses and clothing, making it almost impossible to walk in some areas. Curtains from above the stage have been pulled down and burned, and about a third of the seats have disappeared. But at the top of the auditorium, where the dome used to be, there is still a gigantic likeness of a menorah.
Most of the small rooms seem like studio apartments, complete with food, beds, chairs, couches, tables, and clothing. The people who live on the fourth floor have a penthouse view, but their feces foul the air.
The Sheridan saga is not without blood and violence. Late last year the torso of an adult male was discovered in the alley behind the building. When police arrived, they found additional body parts scattered about the area. Panicky neighbors demanded action, and a community meeting was held with 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller in a vacant apartment just north of the theater.
The 20 or so people who showed up to voice their fears were dismayed when Shiller told them that the city itself had thwarted plans to renovate the building after the Palacio folded. In 1987 the Sheridan was set to become the new home of the Uptown library. It seemed like a perfect idea at the time; it would provide the neighborhood with a sorely needed library, preserve what was left of the Sheridan, and rid the community of one of its biggest eyesores. The deal seemed like a sure thing. The county had seized the property after the owner failed to pay the property taxes, and the city planned to acquire it at a scavenger sale through a prearranged noncash bid.
But then Cook County treasurer Ed Rosewell mysteriously decided to sell the building for the back taxes to Lou Wolf, who was on the cover of Chicago magazine two years ago above the headline “Chicago’s Worst Landlord.” Wolf did nothing with the property–he didn’t even pay the taxes–and the building fell back into the county’s hands. Through a special arrangement, the owner of a local hardware store attempts to keep it secure, though the ingenuity of the residents makes that difficult.
Now two organizations have submitted renovation proposals to the city’s Department of Economic Development, which is reviewing them. The for-profit ERTA, which already owns a handful of historically significant structures in the area, wants to put in 128 efficiency apartments for low- and medium-income elderly people, a commissary, administrative offices, retail shops along the street, and parking for 40 cars behind the building. A small movie theater might also be included. According to Bob Racky of ERTA, the Illinois Masonic Medical Center is being wooed as a possible partner. Estimates to complete the project are at $8 million.
The nonprofit Uptown Unified Arts Coalition (TUUAC) also has plans for the Sheridan. It would like to turn the building into an “education and cultural enhancement facility … available to local and regional community theater groups and other performance artists.” In the front rooms of the building, a performing-arts center would offer training and job counseling to community artists. The entire main floor of the auditorium and part of the balcony would be retained, creating a 1,500-seat theater. And a fifth floor would be built to accommodate the musicians, dancers, actors, photographers, and film and video artists who would use the facility. According to Franc Beeson of TUUAC, the building’s original architecture would be restored or replaced wherever possible. Funding for both renovation and operating costs would come from foundations, government agencies, and private philanthropists, as well as from the revenues generated by a gift shop, a restaurant, and the theater. TUUAC’s estimate is also at $8 million.
The city will have to acquire the theater from the county before either group can move ahead, but the building would undoubtedly be transferred to any developer at no cost. The city, which would have to pay around $350,000 to have the building torn down, seems eager to have someone start work as soon as possible.
The scavenger sale that would include the theater is coming up soon, yet there is no guarantee that the city will find either of the plans that have been submitted viable. And even if a plan is approved, the developer will have to scramble for financing so that he can start construction quickly. Both groups have had the structure inspected. The foundation appears to be sound, even though the basement flooded and froze last winter. Racky and Beeson agree that another winter might crack the building’s foundation beyond repair. And then it would have to be razed.
(July 21, 1943) –
Announce New Policy for Chief – Chief’s Name Changed to Ken Theater and Also Inaugurates New Policy —– Francis' Schlax, manager of the Kenosha theater, announced today that a new policy had been adopted by the Chief theater for the future months — and in addition he also announced that the theater known as the Chief would undergo a change of name also. In the future it is to be known as the Ken theater. The change of policy according to Schlax is that the theater, starting this Friday and continuing each Friday, Saturday and Sunday thereafter, will show the main features which had been shown on the Kenosha or Gateway screens the first of the previous week. — Headline Attractions — As an example, Saroyan’s “The Human Comedy” starring Mickey Rooney together with “Yanks Ahoy” will open at the Ken this Friday and play through Sunday. These two films have been attracting large audiences at the Kenosha theater. In addition, next week’s showing will be “Lady of Burlesque” starring Barbara Stanwyck, which is the headliner attraction at the Kenosha starting this Friday. The new plan, according to Schlax, has been adopted to better accommodate the defense workers.
Eden Theatre architect Jack Train, FAIA, a founding principal of Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in Chicago, died on March 17, 2014 at 91. He was known for his technical and design excellence, along with his many contributions the architecture profession. He spent the first 20 years of his career with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he designed the award-winning US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Inland Steel Building in Chicago. In 1966, he was a principal of Metz, Train, Olson & Youngren; ten years later the firm became Metz, Train & Youngren. In 1982, he founded Jack Train Associates and in 1993 brought longtime colleague Mark Dewalt on board. A year later, the pair teamed with Joseph Valerio to become Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. Train was the firm’s president until his retirement in 1998, after which he was named principal emeritus. Jack Train was actively involved with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on the local, state, and national levels, served as its Chicago Chapter president from 1962 to 1964, and was the first president of AIA Illinois (then known as the Illinois AIA Council) and later its chairman. He also chaired several task forces and committees at the national level. In 1974, Train received that year’s Edward C. Kemper Award for outstanding service to the profession. He also wrote “The Unsung Essentials of Architecture” on the business of architecture. Train was survived by his wife Virginia; children Jack, Barbara, and Pamela; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Norge Theater Opens Saturday – New West Side Theater Makes Formal Bow in Kenosha This Week —— The Norge theater, formerly the Strand on Twenty-Second avenue, will have its first program on Saturday afternoon. The theater, completely re-decorated and re-equipped at a cost of $10,000, makes its introduction as one of the prettiest neighborhood theaters in this section with every effort made to provide the most comfortable and most convenient entertainment available. Opening Saturday with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in “Behind the Front”, the theater will begin a policy of entertainment that will make it one of the most popular show houses of the city. Everything in the way of equipment is the most modern in the industry and nothing has been spared to make the Norge as attractive as possible. Opening the programs will be Miss Anna DeFazio, a brilliant young Kenosha musician at the golden-voiced Bartola organ. Miss DeFazio will be the regular organist at the theater. An orchestra offering popular music will also take part in the day’s program. A special program has been planned for Sunday beginning at 1 o’clock. The motion picture feature is Richard Dix’s famous “Lucky Devil”. In the evening there will be vaudeville. For the first time Kenosha will have an opportunity to hear and see the Salerno brbthers, famous entertainers in voice and accordion from WGN Chicago. The theater management will offer souvenirs to the ladies on the opening day. Fred N. Logue, the manager of the Norge, will be present to greet the many patrons of the theater. The policies of the theater as announced today by Manager Logue include performances each evening and matinees on Saturday and Sunday with vaudeville on Sundays. Popular admission prices will prevail. (March 31, 1927 – Kenosha Evening News)
NEW THEATRE OPENS – New Columbia Theatre on Elizabeth St Opens to Public Thursday – The new Columbia Theatre, located on Elizabeth street just west of Howland avenue, was opened to the public for the first time yesterday. No pains have been spared to make the new theatre the neatest and most attractive motion picture theatre in the city. Thoroughly ventilated, well heated and lighted, showing the best of motion pictures, it promises to become a popular place for lovers of good pictures. The theatre has a seating capacity of 500 and every seat in the house is a desirable one, giving a perfect view of the screen.
(Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Nov 1913, Fri. Page 9)
FIRE IN A THEATRE – Fire Breaks Out In New Grand Theatre During First Performance Saturday Night —– The new Grand Theatre in one of the rooms in the Meyers block on Market Square which opened for business on Thursday evening had a baptism of fire on Saturday evening when flames broke out in the little compartment in the front of the theatre used for housing the picture machine and before they had been extinguished by the department, damage to the amount of nearly a thousand dollars resulted. Fortunately there was no panic connected with the fire. The first show of the evening was just well under way when the flames broke out and there were about 200 people in the theatre. Some man saw a small line of smoke coming out of the moving picture compartment and gave the alarm of fire and the people began to stampede toward the doors, but the men in charge of the theatre showed great presence of mind and quickly opened the exits at the rear of the building and the audience managed to get out of the building without any one being injured. In the meantime the flames were burning furiously in the little compartment where the moving picture machine was in operation. John McConnell Jr., one of the managers of the theatre, was in charge of the operation of the machine. He was throwing an advertising picture on the screen and at the same time was re-winding one of the long films which had been shown earlier in the evening. A portion of the film dropped down and struck a hot wire connected with the machine and it burned like timber. The machine was supposed to be a fire proof machine, but it was burned up in the flames which followed the burning of the film. McConnell proved himself a hero on the occasion as he hurriedly shouted to the ushers to get the crowd out of the building and then attempted to smother the fire with his bare hands. In his efforts he was terribly burned on the right hand. The flesh on this hand was burned to the bone and it will be weeks before he is able to use the hand again. The flames in the little compartment were so hot that the big plate glass windows in the front of the building were cracked and considerable damage was done to the decorations of the little theatre. The picture machine is considered a complete loss as are the two large films. The loss on the machine and films is placed at $500 and there was no insurance to cover this loss. The damage to the building will probably be four hundred dollars more but this loss is covered by insurance. As a result of the fire, Chief Isermann sent out men to look over the other theatres having moving picture machines in operation. The Columbia Theatre did not open on Sunday and the machine at the Bijou was operated with a member of the fire department with a chemical on guard. Today all of the theatres are lining the rooms in which the moving picture machines are operated with tin and asbestos and there will be no great danger from this sort of fire in the future. The managers of the Grand Theatre are planning to re-open the house just as soon as the damage done by the fire can be repaired with a new machine. {Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Dec 1908, Mon. Page 1}
New State Theatre owner plans to revive the downtown Kingsport venue (December 2019, WJHL)– Mark Hunt plans to bring new life to a historic landmark of downtown Kingsport. “It’s been an infatuation I guess, and a dream of mine since I was in my twenties to have a little theater,” Hunt said. Hunt is a Kingsport native and owner of auto repair business The Body Shop. But now he also owns a piece of Model City history. Hunt purchased the State Theatre on Broad Street in November from Kingsport real estate agency Urban Synergy. He plans to restore the venue into an entertainment spot for the whole community. “We’re going to try to get it back just the way it was,” said Hunt. “Just tweak it a little bit, outside of just [showing] movies. Try to get some live music or stand-up comedy. Mix it up a little bit.” The State Theatre opened in 1936 and drew in audiences with movies and plays throughout the decades. Its doors closed in the 1970s and the building fell into disrepair. There have been several owners and temporary businesses in the building since. Hunt says there’s plenty of work to be done to restore the State’s former glory. “The seats are gone, the stage is there. Ninety to ninety five percent of the electrical is finished. So the big part is over.”
Hunt’s efforts have the City of Kingsport’s support. “Downtown buildings and especially theatres from back in the day, those are harder venues [to revive] because of your capacity and your seating,” said Jason Hudson, Kingsport’s economic development director. “It takes passion. And having a local business owner who has that passion to bring it downtown is the best chance of success for the theater.“ Hunt said the State Theatre will likely reopen in 2021, but a late 2020 opening is also possible. “We’re going to try to shake Kingsport up a little bit here in the next couple of years,” said Hunt.
The CASWELL Theatre building was built in the late 1800s and originally operated as a store. The theatre opened in 1938 and was owned by the North Carolina Amusement Company. The first movie to play was ‘Stablemates’, starring Mickey Rooney. The price of admission was $.10 for children and $.20 for adults. The theatre closed its doors in 1957.
(January 13, 1920)–
Union Dye Works Regain Lease on Blue Mill Theatre Building and Start $45000 Addition – LARGE ADDITION FOR UNION DYE – Cleaning and Dyeing Co to Erect Big Building Adjoining Their Present Quarters to Make Room for Their Growing Business ……… Announcement was made this morning by Louis and Morris Plous, the proprietors of the Union Dye Works, that they had secured from the Collins Amusement Company the lease for the building formerly known as the Blue Mill Theatre and that the building would be remodeled immediately as a large addition to the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Two stories will be added to the present structure and this with the purchase of new equipment for the building will cost in the neighborhood of $45,000. Work was started this morning in dismantling the Blue Mill Theatre to make way for the new addition. The entire interior of the theatre was torn out today and as soon as the work advances far enough the front will be torn out to be replaced by one similar to the front of the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Work will be rushed on the addition by Contractor Otto Windorf in an attempt to complete the building by the first of March to have it in readiness for the spring business of the company. Louis Plous, one of the owners of the Union Dye Company in explaining the plans for the- new addition, declared that the business of the company had long outgrown its present quarters and that the company had long sought to secure the present site for their new building. The mail order business of the company has increased by leaps and bounds and the new addition will be turned over largely for the handling of this business. There will also be quartered in the new building a complete dyeing department which will leave more room in the present building of the company for its cleaning establishment. Contracts have also been let by the company for a large amount of new machinery which will make the plant one of the most complete cleaning and dyeing institutions of the kind in Wisconsin. The addition will cause the addition of a large number of employees to the pay-roll of the company, bringing the total above seventy-five. The transaction closed this morning marks the passing of the Blue Mill Theatre, one of Kenosha’s best known film houses. The building was built by the Plous Brothers several years ago and has been leased and managed for several years by the Collins Amusement Company in connection with the management of the Burke Theatre. During this time it has showed many of the film successes of the country and has been one of the most popular playhouses of the city. (Kenosha Evening News)
The Village Board, at its August 11th Village Board meeting at 8:00 p.m. will consider the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation to deny a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of the Libertyville theater building. The meeting will be held virtually due to the Restore Illinois Phase 4 restrictions. Members of the public who wish to comment may do so prior to the meeting by sending an e-mail to or dropping off a written comment to the Village Hall at 118 W. Cook Avenue. The meeting agenda may be found here: www.libertyville.com/agendacenter . The virtual meeting link is located at the top of the agenda. Members of the public may also comment during the meeting by using the chat function or sending an e-mail to .
Daily Herald, Feb. 27, 2015: Community cheers refurbished Antioch Theatre’s encore
Converted from a live performance venue in 1924, the Antioch Theatre never was known for the ornate architecture seen in some other suburban movie palaces of the era. But for 90 years, it has been a mainstay of downtown Antioch, a place where generations of residents in the small town were drawn for entertainment and camaraderie.
Over time, the theater lost its luster. By last summer, attendance was down, the building was in extensive disrepair and an auction in lieu of foreclosure was a possibility.
Downtown business owner Tim Downey bought the building with the hope of a rekindling the attraction.
The result is a complete $750,000 renovation and upgrade to digital equipment and the conversion of an adjoining retail space into a second, more intimate theater.
The encore of the Antioch Theatre began Friday afternoon and the community responded.
For kids, the attraction in the smaller space was “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water.”
The audience also filled 160 floor seats and 56 balcony seats in the main theater to see “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”
“This is great,” said Mike Malone of Antioch. “We’re really excited to see the theater reopen up. It’s great to be back”
“Your downtown is still the social center, it’s the heartbeat of most communities,” said Mayor Larry Hanson, who grew up in Antioch.
And once again, the Antioch Theatre is contributing to that sentiment.
The last picture show
(Joyce Whitis, Mar. 25, 2007)
“Five or six years ago they had a big shin dig up in Archer City when several hundred movie buffs motored into town. Scattered among the guests were movie stars, Jeff Bridges and Cloris Leachman, who played in The last Picture Show, a movie that first opened in 1972. The occasion for this celebration and a trip down memory lane, was the first showing of that movie in the town in which it was depicted nearly 40 years ago. The movie wasn’t popular in town in ‘72. This time would be different. Folks had matured so they said.
You remember that Archer City’s Pulitzer Prize winning author, Larry McMurtry, wrote that book about growing up in a small Texas town. Everyone assumed that the Show was about Archer City where McMurtry lived and went to high school. Therefore practically everybody there was more than shocked when they read in that book that the high school basketball coach’s wife had an affair with one of the students. That was not a Texas thing to do and it ruffled more than a few feathers. And then there was that scene where the lovely Cybil Shepherd and her friends went skinny dipping in a pool in Wichita Falls.
My Lord! What next?
That was the way we thought 40 years ago, and my dear, times have changed. Today it seems that an awful lot of teenagers are proud to parade across a computer screen and unblushingly reveal activities that would have sent their mothers underground for life. Not only do these children get vocal but their language would melt industrial strength paint right off the farm machinery.
Everybody at that party in Archer City seemed more than happy to lay down a couple of hundred to see the 37-year-old movie, The Last Picture Show. This time it was almost in the original movie theater. Actually the picture show which was the subject of the book and resulting flick, burned sometime in the mid-sixties. This showing of the film that has become a classic was next door to the old Royal Theater. The new building, built behind an old storefront, is now a performing arts theater.
I can’t help but wonder what arts will be performing in Archer City. Maybe book reviews. The town has close to half a million hard copies. McMurtry himself owns three warehouses packed to the rafters and as if that wasn’t enough, somebody put in his own bookstore.
I have a strong attachment for that little town with the beautiful old courthouse and the streets, mostly deserted, except for tourists with armloads of books, moving from book warehouse to book warehouse. My memory zips back to a cool fall evening in 1945. Football is in the air, Texas High School Football, that is. Chillicothe’s Eagles are about to take on Archer’s Wildcats and our pep squad is marching to its own drum down Main Street. There isn’t much traffic, there never is, and when a car comes up behind us, we just saunter to one side of the pavement and march on.
When our line passed the Royal Theater I remember shouting to my best friend, “The Strand is bigger than that.” I was referring to The Strand Theater in Chillicothe where everybody that I knew saw every show that came to town. The “hubba hubba” crowd (that was before cool, and bad and in the ‘40s meant really hot stuff) sat on the back row and we never let the younger kids infringe on those seats. The back row, though not stated publicly, was reserved for high school seniors to sit and hold hands, sigh and maybe steel a kiss when the usher wasn’t looking.
Like the story line in The Last Picture Show, my hometown was also centered around the movie theater. That’s where you met your friends when you were in grade school; where your beau took you on your first date; where you watched that other world unfold on a flat piece of canvas and its power could transport you to some beautiful, romantic place far away where only the handsome and brave lived.
Movies were an education for my generation, not just entertainment. Gone With the Wind set my heart pounding and ignited a fire inside and a love for my Southern heritage that has never been extinguished. I’ve seen that movie probably 50 times and every time I cry with Scarlet at the end. Stagecoach brought us John Wayne. Judy Garland took us by the hand and led us through the Technicolor land of dreams and we closed our eyes and clicked our heels and knew that we had been transported to a wonderland. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers sang their way into our hearts because the good guy always won. In our world that was the way it was.
On trips “back home” I always stop in Archer City to buy a book or take yet one more picture of what remains of the old Royal Theater. In Chilli the Strand is long gone, cleared off by a giant yellow machine with a tremendous front-end loader that just cranked up and pushed the source of all our dreams into dust. I still have a piece of it though. Once, after the building had stood vacant for a long time, staring out at the street like an old woman who forgot where she was, I went inside and sat down in all the dirt that had collected on the seats in the back row, I sat there all by myself for quiet awhile and thought about those wonderful years and all the friends I knew and with whom I shared moments in time. Many of those friends are buried in the little cemetery outside of town, others I lost track of and have no idea of what roads they took in life. After awhile I got up and ripped a piece of art deco molding from the wall and walked with it back to my car.
That red and white trim is nailed to the wall in my utility room and it gives me pleasure to stare at it and remember how it was in the 1940s at the last picture show in town. I could write my own book about that."
The new marquee has been installed, a recreation of the original, and awaits power.
Poblocki Sign Company spokesman Blair Benes said “Members of our team spent time in the city archives to find as many old black and white photos of the original theater as possible. That, in conjunction with Kahler Slater, the architect, and MacRostie Historic Advisors we were able to pool our resources and determine as accurately as possible things like color, bulb style and spacing, the pattern of the stain glass element” but with LED technology and digital displays. Once power is connected, a “flipping of the switch” event is planned to as a formal celebration of the new 13-foot-tall 32-foot-wide marquee and 52-foot-tall 11-foot-wide 1,200-bulb blade sign.
Benes credited dozens of Poblocki workers involved in the three-month fabrication and roughly three weeks of on-site prep work. “The golden crown was hand-spray applied painted to achieve the gradient you see at the top. Due to all of the detailed scroll and channel work these displays spent more time in prep and taping work than actually in the paint booths.”
The Bella Union Theatre is seen several times in background scenes in “Impact” (1949) which caught my eye and I researched its identity. See our photo gallery.
Pretty Prairie saves small town theater for the future
(by Kathy Hanks, Jun. 12, 2018)
The Blue Shoes Theatre in Pretty Prairie is now fully restored and renovated, Wednesday, June 6, 2018, after two storms caused significant damage to the building in July, 2013. Five years after the roof of Pretty Prairie’s theater blew off in a storm, it’s back in business and operated by local high school students.
For more than 30 years it was known as Pretty Prairie Civic Theatre but has been renamed the Blue Shoes Theatre because the words “Blue Shoes,” were painted on the bricks above the Collingwood General Merchandising store and spotted by Cliff Wray in a historic photograph. It was Wray, from Hutchinson, who restored the building before handing it over to the high school’s entrepreneur, career, and technical management classes.
“When I saw that picture I wanted to name it Blue Shoes,” Wray said. Blue Shoes were a brand of footwear sold back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Doc Martens of their day, Wray said.
Two back-to-back storms blew through Pretty Prairie during the summer of 2013 causing extensive structural damage to the 1890s buildings housing the Civic Theatre. It left the carpet in the lobby saturated and covered with chunks of plaster.
After the storm, Wray with Wray Roofing, was in town repairing the roof at Pretty Prairie Middle School. He heard about the damage to the theater which occupies the former Collingwood General Merchandising and Coal building and the State Bank, both once owned by the Collingwood family, early settlers of Pretty Prairie.
Wray was concerned when he heard talk that it might have to be torn down because the city couldn’t afford the repairs. So he went to the city council to see if he could buy the buildings and prevent an empty gap appearing on Main Street.
“I’m not from Pretty Prairie, but they always talked about the theater,” Wray said. “And tearing it down would be like pulling up roots underneath a tree.”
He was prepared to pay up to $500 for the buildings. However, the city sold the theater for $1.
It took several years, but with the help of the city, family, volunteers and his crew with Wray Roofing, the job was completed.
After giving it some thought, Wray, who has served on the Buhler School Board for 23 years, handed the theater over to the Pretty Prairie School District to use as an extension of their classrooms.
“Kids don’t have a lot of opportunities, and I thought what a great idea for them to run the theater,” Wray said.
It’s now their theater; they are invested, said Randy Hendrickson, superintendent.
Managing a theater fits into the high school’s entrepreneur, career, and technical management classes. They applied for and received a movie license. Then they were trained to be projectionists by Darrell Albright, who operated the Civic Theatre on a volunteer base for more than 30 years.
Students have already operated the theater on different occasions, including after-school movies on Fridays.
“I know the high school kids can do a good job,” Hendrickson said. “They will learn how to deal with people, showing up on time to work. They will learn about advertising and marketing. They’ll get a lot out of it.”
Already they have selected and ordered movies, others operate the projector while some get the popcorn ready, and others sell tickets in the original ticket booth. After the show, there is clean up detail including windows and bathrooms.
Hendrickson said the gift of the theater opens up a variety of learning opportunities with everything from entrepreneurial theater management and business to technology and theater classes.
Meeting in the lobby of the small theater on a recent morning with Hendrickson and Albright, Wray said that Darrell the former proprietor of the theater represented the past, while the school was the future.
In the 1920s the store was known as Grace Graber’s Dry Goods, then in 1936, the two stores and the bank were converted into the Civic Theatre. By 1955, television had killed the small town’s theater business, said Albright.
For the next few decades, the building was used for special town gatherings. Then in April 1981, Albright and his family re-opened with the movie “High Noon.”
Before the storm hit this town of 600 people, the Civic Theatre was the place to go for classic Saturday night movies. An “Our Gang” episode played before the feature film. That’s because Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa in the series, briefly lived in Pretty Prairie while he was married to Dian Collingwood.
On a good year, about 3,000 people would come from around the area to see an old movie at the theater. It has also been used as a spot for class reunions and wedding receptions, especially popular with couples who met and fell in love at the theater.
This summer the Blue Shoes Theatre will host “Stage 9: On Broadway” at 2 p.m., June 24. All the proceeds will go to the career and technical education program for the entrepreneurial theater management
“If not for Cliff this would be a bare lot,” Hendrickson said. “We’re indebted to him for his work, time and for our kids to have this opportunity.”
The building dated to about 1910. The theatre proprietor remains unknown at this date. No ads were placed in 1913, and the 1914 Wright’s Kenosha Directory listed the space as occupied by tailor Ernest Gianantonio. Germano opened the Central Pharmacy on the corner space and it’s believed that for decades thereafter the former theatre space hosted a tavern. It’s now a parking lot. (Thanks to Al Westerman for his research on the West Side Theatre.)
he Plaza Theatre announced plans to offer drive-in movies in the Reineman’s True Value parking lot across from the theatre. The Plaza had offered classic pictures at the lot every August for years on its two-story inflatable screen. This year, owner Shad Branen said they plan to screen new pictures outdoors as well.The lot will be limited to 50 vehicles. Audio will be broadcast through an FM radio frequency.
Studios delayed the release of new pictures and suspended production for those slated to come out later this year. For this Saturday, the Plaza plans to screen the Disney and Pixar animated film “Onward,” which was what was showing at the Plaza when it closed in March. Patrons will pay $25 per vehicle which will include a $5 certificate for concessions either delivered to their vehicle or picked up themselves, though masks and social distancing is requested. The Plaza’s restrooms will also be available.
The show starts at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Reservations will be taken only through plaza4.com and the Plaza Theatre’s Facebook page.
The Milky Way Drive-In Theatre opening at 6 p.m. on Friday evening, May 22, 2020 began a season of entertainment through Labor Day. “Onward” heralded its grand opening, followed by “Fast & Furious” and “Hobbs & Shaw” at 8:45 p.m. Tickets are $35 per car, limited to the number of seatbelts.
The theatre’s selection of food and drink includes hamburgers, Impossible burgers, hot dogs, French fries, popcorn (of course) and candy. Soft drinks available are Coke/Diet Coke, Sprite, and Mellow Yellow; adult beverages are Miller Lite, Coors Lite, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Lakefront Riverwest Stein, Lakefront Brewery IPA and White Claw Raspberry & Mango. Bottled water is also available. Concession orders are made and paid for via app and delivered to your car via car-hop.
Adjacent stadium lavatories are open for use.
Mike Zimmerman is the CEO of ROC Ventures, developer of the Ballpark Commons mixed-use development and owner of the Milwaukee Milkmen baseball team.
The Mayfair Theatre auditorium was the location venue for the “Putting On The Ritz” scene in “Young Frankenstein”.
(Chicago Reader, June 20, 1991 by Peter Strazzabosco) Now featured at the Sheridan Theatre: squatters, politics, and two plans for rehabilitation —– Once one of the finest theaters in the country, the Sheridan Theatre now serves as a premier playhouse for vandals, the homeless, and the curious. The front doors now stand open for months at a time, even though the theater has been closed for years. Reckless renovation, fires, and public dumping have all but destroyed the building’s original magnificence. There were plans to resuscitate it a few years ago, but strangely enough they were scuttled by the city. Now two organizations have submitted competing renovation proposals to the city, and if officials think one of them is feasible, the street people may finally have to move out.
The 2,469-seat theater at 4038 N. Sheridan was built by Ascher Brothers in 1927 to accommodate stage shows and first-run movies. It was a breathtaking if expensive structure. Doric columns topped by gigantic Grecian urns soared above the street, and theatrical bas-relief figures highlighted the pediment. The facade, which recalled a Grecian temple, was a gem, marred only by the ground-floor retail shops. Inside, the architect, J.E.O. Pridmore, showed little restraint in his neoclassic design. He put in statues, chandeliers, and coffered ceilings, Corinthian columns and archways. The auditorium was topped with a canopied dome encircled by an intricate frieze of Roman charioteers. Lounges and smoking rooms catered to the elite clientele, and a bellowing four-manual Wurlitzer pipe organ shook the patrons in their seats.
But the Sheridan had to compete with Balaban and Katz’s Uptown Theatre just a mile north. This behemoth’s 4,320 seats made it the largest theater in the world when it was built, and the quality of its stage shows was hard to beat. The neighborhood surrounding it also offered more parking.
Unable to profit in such a shadow, Ascher Brothers eventually gave up the Sheridan to the William Fox chain. But Fox didn’t do any better and finally sold the theater to Balaban and Katz–who were plagued by the same problem. The public did little more than trickle in.
Balaban and Katz held on until 1951, when they accepted an offer from the Anshe Emet Synagogue, which refurbished the building for religious services. The refurbishers removed the ornate interior friezes and artwork and dismantled the outside facade, leaving a generic veneer. The Solomon Goldman Auditorium, as it was called, lasted a remarkable 15 years, and then the synagogue moved to new quarters. The building stood empty for a brief period before becoming the now infamous Palacio Teatro, where Spanish films were shown. “No fumar” signs were added to the Jewish symbols.
By 1987 the building was vacant again. Pyromaniacs torched the place repeatedly. One aspiring entrepreneur took over the lobby and tried to sell used hotel furniture, the remnants of which are now strewn about the building. The lobby’s floors and stairways are covered with the charred remains of mattresses and clothing, making it almost impossible to walk in some areas. Curtains from above the stage have been pulled down and burned, and about a third of the seats have disappeared. But at the top of the auditorium, where the dome used to be, there is still a gigantic likeness of a menorah.
Most of the small rooms seem like studio apartments, complete with food, beds, chairs, couches, tables, and clothing. The people who live on the fourth floor have a penthouse view, but their feces foul the air.
The Sheridan saga is not without blood and violence. Late last year the torso of an adult male was discovered in the alley behind the building. When police arrived, they found additional body parts scattered about the area. Panicky neighbors demanded action, and a community meeting was held with 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller in a vacant apartment just north of the theater.
The 20 or so people who showed up to voice their fears were dismayed when Shiller told them that the city itself had thwarted plans to renovate the building after the Palacio folded. In 1987 the Sheridan was set to become the new home of the Uptown library. It seemed like a perfect idea at the time; it would provide the neighborhood with a sorely needed library, preserve what was left of the Sheridan, and rid the community of one of its biggest eyesores. The deal seemed like a sure thing. The county had seized the property after the owner failed to pay the property taxes, and the city planned to acquire it at a scavenger sale through a prearranged noncash bid.
But then Cook County treasurer Ed Rosewell mysteriously decided to sell the building for the back taxes to Lou Wolf, who was on the cover of Chicago magazine two years ago above the headline “Chicago’s Worst Landlord.” Wolf did nothing with the property–he didn’t even pay the taxes–and the building fell back into the county’s hands. Through a special arrangement, the owner of a local hardware store attempts to keep it secure, though the ingenuity of the residents makes that difficult.
Now two organizations have submitted renovation proposals to the city’s Department of Economic Development, which is reviewing them. The for-profit ERTA, which already owns a handful of historically significant structures in the area, wants to put in 128 efficiency apartments for low- and medium-income elderly people, a commissary, administrative offices, retail shops along the street, and parking for 40 cars behind the building. A small movie theater might also be included. According to Bob Racky of ERTA, the Illinois Masonic Medical Center is being wooed as a possible partner. Estimates to complete the project are at $8 million.
The nonprofit Uptown Unified Arts Coalition (TUUAC) also has plans for the Sheridan. It would like to turn the building into an “education and cultural enhancement facility … available to local and regional community theater groups and other performance artists.” In the front rooms of the building, a performing-arts center would offer training and job counseling to community artists. The entire main floor of the auditorium and part of the balcony would be retained, creating a 1,500-seat theater. And a fifth floor would be built to accommodate the musicians, dancers, actors, photographers, and film and video artists who would use the facility. According to Franc Beeson of TUUAC, the building’s original architecture would be restored or replaced wherever possible. Funding for both renovation and operating costs would come from foundations, government agencies, and private philanthropists, as well as from the revenues generated by a gift shop, a restaurant, and the theater. TUUAC’s estimate is also at $8 million.
The city will have to acquire the theater from the county before either group can move ahead, but the building would undoubtedly be transferred to any developer at no cost. The city, which would have to pay around $350,000 to have the building torn down, seems eager to have someone start work as soon as possible.
The scavenger sale that would include the theater is coming up soon, yet there is no guarantee that the city will find either of the plans that have been submitted viable. And even if a plan is approved, the developer will have to scramble for financing so that he can start construction quickly. Both groups have had the structure inspected. The foundation appears to be sound, even though the basement flooded and froze last winter. Racky and Beeson agree that another winter might crack the building’s foundation beyond repair. And then it would have to be razed.
(July 21, 1943) – Announce New Policy for Chief – Chief’s Name Changed to Ken Theater and Also Inaugurates New Policy —– Francis' Schlax, manager of the Kenosha theater, announced today that a new policy had been adopted by the Chief theater for the future months — and in addition he also announced that the theater known as the Chief would undergo a change of name also. In the future it is to be known as the Ken theater. The change of policy according to Schlax is that the theater, starting this Friday and continuing each Friday, Saturday and Sunday thereafter, will show the main features which had been shown on the Kenosha or Gateway screens the first of the previous week. — Headline Attractions — As an example, Saroyan’s “The Human Comedy” starring Mickey Rooney together with “Yanks Ahoy” will open at the Ken this Friday and play through Sunday. These two films have been attracting large audiences at the Kenosha theater. In addition, next week’s showing will be “Lady of Burlesque” starring Barbara Stanwyck, which is the headliner attraction at the Kenosha starting this Friday. The new plan, according to Schlax, has been adopted to better accommodate the defense workers.
Eden Theatre architect Jack Train, FAIA, a founding principal of Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in Chicago, died on March 17, 2014 at 91. He was known for his technical and design excellence, along with his many contributions the architecture profession. He spent the first 20 years of his career with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he designed the award-winning US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Inland Steel Building in Chicago. In 1966, he was a principal of Metz, Train, Olson & Youngren; ten years later the firm became Metz, Train & Youngren. In 1982, he founded Jack Train Associates and in 1993 brought longtime colleague Mark Dewalt on board. A year later, the pair teamed with Joseph Valerio to become Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. Train was the firm’s president until his retirement in 1998, after which he was named principal emeritus. Jack Train was actively involved with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on the local, state, and national levels, served as its Chicago Chapter president from 1962 to 1964, and was the first president of AIA Illinois (then known as the Illinois AIA Council) and later its chairman. He also chaired several task forces and committees at the national level. In 1974, Train received that year’s Edward C. Kemper Award for outstanding service to the profession. He also wrote “The Unsung Essentials of Architecture” on the business of architecture. Train was survived by his wife Virginia; children Jack, Barbara, and Pamela; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Norge Theater Opens Saturday – New West Side Theater Makes Formal Bow in Kenosha This Week —— The Norge theater, formerly the Strand on Twenty-Second avenue, will have its first program on Saturday afternoon. The theater, completely re-decorated and re-equipped at a cost of $10,000, makes its introduction as one of the prettiest neighborhood theaters in this section with every effort made to provide the most comfortable and most convenient entertainment available. Opening Saturday with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in “Behind the Front”, the theater will begin a policy of entertainment that will make it one of the most popular show houses of the city. Everything in the way of equipment is the most modern in the industry and nothing has been spared to make the Norge as attractive as possible. Opening the programs will be Miss Anna DeFazio, a brilliant young Kenosha musician at the golden-voiced Bartola organ. Miss DeFazio will be the regular organist at the theater. An orchestra offering popular music will also take part in the day’s program. A special program has been planned for Sunday beginning at 1 o’clock. The motion picture feature is Richard Dix’s famous “Lucky Devil”. In the evening there will be vaudeville. For the first time Kenosha will have an opportunity to hear and see the Salerno brbthers, famous entertainers in voice and accordion from WGN Chicago. The theater management will offer souvenirs to the ladies on the opening day. Fred N. Logue, the manager of the Norge, will be present to greet the many patrons of the theater. The policies of the theater as announced today by Manager Logue include performances each evening and matinees on Saturday and Sunday with vaudeville on Sundays. Popular admission prices will prevail. (March 31, 1927 – Kenosha Evening News)
NEW THEATRE OPENS – New Columbia Theatre on Elizabeth St Opens to Public Thursday – The new Columbia Theatre, located on Elizabeth street just west of Howland avenue, was opened to the public for the first time yesterday. No pains have been spared to make the new theatre the neatest and most attractive motion picture theatre in the city. Thoroughly ventilated, well heated and lighted, showing the best of motion pictures, it promises to become a popular place for lovers of good pictures. The theatre has a seating capacity of 500 and every seat in the house is a desirable one, giving a perfect view of the screen. (Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Nov 1913, Fri. Page 9)
FIRE IN A THEATRE – Fire Breaks Out In New Grand Theatre During First Performance Saturday Night —– The new Grand Theatre in one of the rooms in the Meyers block on Market Square which opened for business on Thursday evening had a baptism of fire on Saturday evening when flames broke out in the little compartment in the front of the theatre used for housing the picture machine and before they had been extinguished by the department, damage to the amount of nearly a thousand dollars resulted. Fortunately there was no panic connected with the fire. The first show of the evening was just well under way when the flames broke out and there were about 200 people in the theatre. Some man saw a small line of smoke coming out of the moving picture compartment and gave the alarm of fire and the people began to stampede toward the doors, but the men in charge of the theatre showed great presence of mind and quickly opened the exits at the rear of the building and the audience managed to get out of the building without any one being injured. In the meantime the flames were burning furiously in the little compartment where the moving picture machine was in operation. John McConnell Jr., one of the managers of the theatre, was in charge of the operation of the machine. He was throwing an advertising picture on the screen and at the same time was re-winding one of the long films which had been shown earlier in the evening. A portion of the film dropped down and struck a hot wire connected with the machine and it burned like timber. The machine was supposed to be a fire proof machine, but it was burned up in the flames which followed the burning of the film. McConnell proved himself a hero on the occasion as he hurriedly shouted to the ushers to get the crowd out of the building and then attempted to smother the fire with his bare hands. In his efforts he was terribly burned on the right hand. The flesh on this hand was burned to the bone and it will be weeks before he is able to use the hand again. The flames in the little compartment were so hot that the big plate glass windows in the front of the building were cracked and considerable damage was done to the decorations of the little theatre. The picture machine is considered a complete loss as are the two large films. The loss on the machine and films is placed at $500 and there was no insurance to cover this loss. The damage to the building will probably be four hundred dollars more but this loss is covered by insurance. As a result of the fire, Chief Isermann sent out men to look over the other theatres having moving picture machines in operation. The Columbia Theatre did not open on Sunday and the machine at the Bijou was operated with a member of the fire department with a chemical on guard. Today all of the theatres are lining the rooms in which the moving picture machines are operated with tin and asbestos and there will be no great danger from this sort of fire in the future. The managers of the Grand Theatre are planning to re-open the house just as soon as the damage done by the fire can be repaired with a new machine. {Kenosha News, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 28 Dec 1908, Mon. Page 1}
New State Theatre owner plans to revive the downtown Kingsport venue (December 2019, WJHL)– Mark Hunt plans to bring new life to a historic landmark of downtown Kingsport. “It’s been an infatuation I guess, and a dream of mine since I was in my twenties to have a little theater,” Hunt said. Hunt is a Kingsport native and owner of auto repair business The Body Shop. But now he also owns a piece of Model City history. Hunt purchased the State Theatre on Broad Street in November from Kingsport real estate agency Urban Synergy. He plans to restore the venue into an entertainment spot for the whole community. “We’re going to try to get it back just the way it was,” said Hunt. “Just tweak it a little bit, outside of just [showing] movies. Try to get some live music or stand-up comedy. Mix it up a little bit.” The State Theatre opened in 1936 and drew in audiences with movies and plays throughout the decades. Its doors closed in the 1970s and the building fell into disrepair. There have been several owners and temporary businesses in the building since. Hunt says there’s plenty of work to be done to restore the State’s former glory. “The seats are gone, the stage is there. Ninety to ninety five percent of the electrical is finished. So the big part is over.” Hunt’s efforts have the City of Kingsport’s support. “Downtown buildings and especially theatres from back in the day, those are harder venues [to revive] because of your capacity and your seating,” said Jason Hudson, Kingsport’s economic development director. “It takes passion. And having a local business owner who has that passion to bring it downtown is the best chance of success for the theater.“ Hunt said the State Theatre will likely reopen in 2021, but a late 2020 opening is also possible. “We’re going to try to shake Kingsport up a little bit here in the next couple of years,” said Hunt.
The CASWELL Theatre building was built in the late 1800s and originally operated as a store. The theatre opened in 1938 and was owned by the North Carolina Amusement Company. The first movie to play was ‘Stablemates’, starring Mickey Rooney. The price of admission was $.10 for children and $.20 for adults. The theatre closed its doors in 1957.
The Uptown Theatre opened on this date ninety-five years ago.
(January 13, 1920)– Union Dye Works Regain Lease on Blue Mill Theatre Building and Start $45000 Addition – LARGE ADDITION FOR UNION DYE – Cleaning and Dyeing Co to Erect Big Building Adjoining Their Present Quarters to Make Room for Their Growing Business ……… Announcement was made this morning by Louis and Morris Plous, the proprietors of the Union Dye Works, that they had secured from the Collins Amusement Company the lease for the building formerly known as the Blue Mill Theatre and that the building would be remodeled immediately as a large addition to the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Two stories will be added to the present structure and this with the purchase of new equipment for the building will cost in the neighborhood of $45,000. Work was started this morning in dismantling the Blue Mill Theatre to make way for the new addition. The entire interior of the theatre was torn out today and as soon as the work advances far enough the front will be torn out to be replaced by one similar to the front of the present quarters of the Union Dye Company. Work will be rushed on the addition by Contractor Otto Windorf in an attempt to complete the building by the first of March to have it in readiness for the spring business of the company. Louis Plous, one of the owners of the Union Dye Company in explaining the plans for the- new addition, declared that the business of the company had long outgrown its present quarters and that the company had long sought to secure the present site for their new building. The mail order business of the company has increased by leaps and bounds and the new addition will be turned over largely for the handling of this business. There will also be quartered in the new building a complete dyeing department which will leave more room in the present building of the company for its cleaning establishment. Contracts have also been let by the company for a large amount of new machinery which will make the plant one of the most complete cleaning and dyeing institutions of the kind in Wisconsin. The addition will cause the addition of a large number of employees to the pay-roll of the company, bringing the total above seventy-five. The transaction closed this morning marks the passing of the Blue Mill Theatre, one of Kenosha’s best known film houses. The building was built by the Plous Brothers several years ago and has been leased and managed for several years by the Collins Amusement Company in connection with the management of the Burke Theatre. During this time it has showed many of the film successes of the country and has been one of the most popular playhouses of the city. (Kenosha Evening News)
The Village Board, at its August 11th Village Board meeting at 8:00 p.m. will consider the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendation to deny a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of the Libertyville theater building. The meeting will be held virtually due to the Restore Illinois Phase 4 restrictions. Members of the public who wish to comment may do so prior to the meeting by sending an e-mail to or dropping off a written comment to the Village Hall at 118 W. Cook Avenue. The meeting agenda may be found here: www.libertyville.com/agendacenter . The virtual meeting link is located at the top of the agenda. Members of the public may also comment during the meeting by using the chat function or sending an e-mail to .
Daily Herald, Feb. 27, 2015: Community cheers refurbished Antioch Theatre’s encore
Converted from a live performance venue in 1924, the Antioch Theatre never was known for the ornate architecture seen in some other suburban movie palaces of the era. But for 90 years, it has been a mainstay of downtown Antioch, a place where generations of residents in the small town were drawn for entertainment and camaraderie.
Over time, the theater lost its luster. By last summer, attendance was down, the building was in extensive disrepair and an auction in lieu of foreclosure was a possibility.
Downtown business owner Tim Downey bought the building with the hope of a rekindling the attraction.
The result is a complete $750,000 renovation and upgrade to digital equipment and the conversion of an adjoining retail space into a second, more intimate theater.
The encore of the Antioch Theatre began Friday afternoon and the community responded.
For kids, the attraction in the smaller space was “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water.”
The audience also filled 160 floor seats and 56 balcony seats in the main theater to see “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”
“This is great,” said Mike Malone of Antioch. “We’re really excited to see the theater reopen up. It’s great to be back”
“Your downtown is still the social center, it’s the heartbeat of most communities,” said Mayor Larry Hanson, who grew up in Antioch.
And once again, the Antioch Theatre is contributing to that sentiment.
The last picture show (Joyce Whitis, Mar. 25, 2007)
“Five or six years ago they had a big shin dig up in Archer City when several hundred movie buffs motored into town. Scattered among the guests were movie stars, Jeff Bridges and Cloris Leachman, who played in The last Picture Show, a movie that first opened in 1972. The occasion for this celebration and a trip down memory lane, was the first showing of that movie in the town in which it was depicted nearly 40 years ago. The movie wasn’t popular in town in ‘72. This time would be different. Folks had matured so they said.
You remember that Archer City’s Pulitzer Prize winning author, Larry McMurtry, wrote that book about growing up in a small Texas town. Everyone assumed that the Show was about Archer City where McMurtry lived and went to high school. Therefore practically everybody there was more than shocked when they read in that book that the high school basketball coach’s wife had an affair with one of the students. That was not a Texas thing to do and it ruffled more than a few feathers. And then there was that scene where the lovely Cybil Shepherd and her friends went skinny dipping in a pool in Wichita Falls.
My Lord! What next?
That was the way we thought 40 years ago, and my dear, times have changed. Today it seems that an awful lot of teenagers are proud to parade across a computer screen and unblushingly reveal activities that would have sent their mothers underground for life. Not only do these children get vocal but their language would melt industrial strength paint right off the farm machinery.
Everybody at that party in Archer City seemed more than happy to lay down a couple of hundred to see the 37-year-old movie, The Last Picture Show. This time it was almost in the original movie theater. Actually the picture show which was the subject of the book and resulting flick, burned sometime in the mid-sixties. This showing of the film that has become a classic was next door to the old Royal Theater. The new building, built behind an old storefront, is now a performing arts theater.
I can’t help but wonder what arts will be performing in Archer City. Maybe book reviews. The town has close to half a million hard copies. McMurtry himself owns three warehouses packed to the rafters and as if that wasn’t enough, somebody put in his own bookstore.
I have a strong attachment for that little town with the beautiful old courthouse and the streets, mostly deserted, except for tourists with armloads of books, moving from book warehouse to book warehouse. My memory zips back to a cool fall evening in 1945. Football is in the air, Texas High School Football, that is. Chillicothe’s Eagles are about to take on Archer’s Wildcats and our pep squad is marching to its own drum down Main Street. There isn’t much traffic, there never is, and when a car comes up behind us, we just saunter to one side of the pavement and march on.
When our line passed the Royal Theater I remember shouting to my best friend, “The Strand is bigger than that.” I was referring to The Strand Theater in Chillicothe where everybody that I knew saw every show that came to town. The “hubba hubba” crowd (that was before cool, and bad and in the ‘40s meant really hot stuff) sat on the back row and we never let the younger kids infringe on those seats. The back row, though not stated publicly, was reserved for high school seniors to sit and hold hands, sigh and maybe steel a kiss when the usher wasn’t looking.
Like the story line in The Last Picture Show, my hometown was also centered around the movie theater. That’s where you met your friends when you were in grade school; where your beau took you on your first date; where you watched that other world unfold on a flat piece of canvas and its power could transport you to some beautiful, romantic place far away where only the handsome and brave lived.
Movies were an education for my generation, not just entertainment. Gone With the Wind set my heart pounding and ignited a fire inside and a love for my Southern heritage that has never been extinguished. I’ve seen that movie probably 50 times and every time I cry with Scarlet at the end. Stagecoach brought us John Wayne. Judy Garland took us by the hand and led us through the Technicolor land of dreams and we closed our eyes and clicked our heels and knew that we had been transported to a wonderland. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers sang their way into our hearts because the good guy always won. In our world that was the way it was.
On trips “back home” I always stop in Archer City to buy a book or take yet one more picture of what remains of the old Royal Theater. In Chilli the Strand is long gone, cleared off by a giant yellow machine with a tremendous front-end loader that just cranked up and pushed the source of all our dreams into dust. I still have a piece of it though. Once, after the building had stood vacant for a long time, staring out at the street like an old woman who forgot where she was, I went inside and sat down in all the dirt that had collected on the seats in the back row, I sat there all by myself for quiet awhile and thought about those wonderful years and all the friends I knew and with whom I shared moments in time. Many of those friends are buried in the little cemetery outside of town, others I lost track of and have no idea of what roads they took in life. After awhile I got up and ripped a piece of art deco molding from the wall and walked with it back to my car.
That red and white trim is nailed to the wall in my utility room and it gives me pleasure to stare at it and remember how it was in the 1940s at the last picture show in town. I could write my own book about that."
© Gannett Co., Inc. 2020. All rights reserved. Stephenville Empire-Tribune ~ 702 E. South Loop, Stephenville, TX 76401
The new marquee has been installed, a recreation of the original, and awaits power. Poblocki Sign Company spokesman Blair Benes said “Members of our team spent time in the city archives to find as many old black and white photos of the original theater as possible. That, in conjunction with Kahler Slater, the architect, and MacRostie Historic Advisors we were able to pool our resources and determine as accurately as possible things like color, bulb style and spacing, the pattern of the stain glass element” but with LED technology and digital displays. Once power is connected, a “flipping of the switch” event is planned to as a formal celebration of the new 13-foot-tall 32-foot-wide marquee and 52-foot-tall 11-foot-wide 1,200-bulb blade sign.
Benes credited dozens of Poblocki workers involved in the three-month fabrication and roughly three weeks of on-site prep work. “The golden crown was hand-spray applied painted to achieve the gradient you see at the top. Due to all of the detailed scroll and channel work these displays spent more time in prep and taping work than actually in the paint booths.”
The Bella Union Theatre is seen several times in background scenes in “Impact” (1949) which caught my eye and I researched its identity. See our photo gallery.
The Nob Hill Theatre is seen briefly in the 1948 feature “Impact”.
The Gate Theatre is seen in the distance briefly towards the beginning of “Impact” (1948).
Pretty Prairie saves small town theater for the future (by Kathy Hanks, Jun. 12, 2018)
The Blue Shoes Theatre in Pretty Prairie is now fully restored and renovated, Wednesday, June 6, 2018, after two storms caused significant damage to the building in July, 2013. Five years after the roof of Pretty Prairie’s theater blew off in a storm, it’s back in business and operated by local high school students.
For more than 30 years it was known as Pretty Prairie Civic Theatre but has been renamed the Blue Shoes Theatre because the words “Blue Shoes,” were painted on the bricks above the Collingwood General Merchandising store and spotted by Cliff Wray in a historic photograph. It was Wray, from Hutchinson, who restored the building before handing it over to the high school’s entrepreneur, career, and technical management classes.
“When I saw that picture I wanted to name it Blue Shoes,” Wray said. Blue Shoes were a brand of footwear sold back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Doc Martens of their day, Wray said.
Two back-to-back storms blew through Pretty Prairie during the summer of 2013 causing extensive structural damage to the 1890s buildings housing the Civic Theatre. It left the carpet in the lobby saturated and covered with chunks of plaster.
After the storm, Wray with Wray Roofing, was in town repairing the roof at Pretty Prairie Middle School. He heard about the damage to the theater which occupies the former Collingwood General Merchandising and Coal building and the State Bank, both once owned by the Collingwood family, early settlers of Pretty Prairie.
Wray was concerned when he heard talk that it might have to be torn down because the city couldn’t afford the repairs. So he went to the city council to see if he could buy the buildings and prevent an empty gap appearing on Main Street.
“I’m not from Pretty Prairie, but they always talked about the theater,” Wray said. “And tearing it down would be like pulling up roots underneath a tree.”
He was prepared to pay up to $500 for the buildings. However, the city sold the theater for $1.
It took several years, but with the help of the city, family, volunteers and his crew with Wray Roofing, the job was completed.
After giving it some thought, Wray, who has served on the Buhler School Board for 23 years, handed the theater over to the Pretty Prairie School District to use as an extension of their classrooms.
“Kids don’t have a lot of opportunities, and I thought what a great idea for them to run the theater,” Wray said.
It’s now their theater; they are invested, said Randy Hendrickson, superintendent.
Managing a theater fits into the high school’s entrepreneur, career, and technical management classes. They applied for and received a movie license. Then they were trained to be projectionists by Darrell Albright, who operated the Civic Theatre on a volunteer base for more than 30 years.
Students have already operated the theater on different occasions, including after-school movies on Fridays.
“I know the high school kids can do a good job,” Hendrickson said. “They will learn how to deal with people, showing up on time to work. They will learn about advertising and marketing. They’ll get a lot out of it.”
Already they have selected and ordered movies, others operate the projector while some get the popcorn ready, and others sell tickets in the original ticket booth. After the show, there is clean up detail including windows and bathrooms.
Hendrickson said the gift of the theater opens up a variety of learning opportunities with everything from entrepreneurial theater management and business to technology and theater classes.
Meeting in the lobby of the small theater on a recent morning with Hendrickson and Albright, Wray said that Darrell the former proprietor of the theater represented the past, while the school was the future.
In the 1920s the store was known as Grace Graber’s Dry Goods, then in 1936, the two stores and the bank were converted into the Civic Theatre. By 1955, television had killed the small town’s theater business, said Albright.
For the next few decades, the building was used for special town gatherings. Then in April 1981, Albright and his family re-opened with the movie “High Noon.”
Before the storm hit this town of 600 people, the Civic Theatre was the place to go for classic Saturday night movies. An “Our Gang” episode played before the feature film. That’s because Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa in the series, briefly lived in Pretty Prairie while he was married to Dian Collingwood.
On a good year, about 3,000 people would come from around the area to see an old movie at the theater. It has also been used as a spot for class reunions and wedding receptions, especially popular with couples who met and fell in love at the theater.
This summer the Blue Shoes Theatre will host “Stage 9: On Broadway” at 2 p.m., June 24. All the proceeds will go to the career and technical education program for the entrepreneurial theater management
“If not for Cliff this would be a bare lot,” Hendrickson said. “We’re indebted to him for his work, time and for our kids to have this opportunity.”
The building dated to about 1910. The theatre proprietor remains unknown at this date. No ads were placed in 1913, and the 1914 Wright’s Kenosha Directory listed the space as occupied by tailor Ernest Gianantonio. Germano opened the Central Pharmacy on the corner space and it’s believed that for decades thereafter the former theatre space hosted a tavern. It’s now a parking lot. (Thanks to Al Westerman for his research on the West Side Theatre.)
he Plaza Theatre announced plans to offer drive-in movies in the Reineman’s True Value parking lot across from the theatre. The Plaza had offered classic pictures at the lot every August for years on its two-story inflatable screen. This year, owner Shad Branen said they plan to screen new pictures outdoors as well.The lot will be limited to 50 vehicles. Audio will be broadcast through an FM radio frequency. Studios delayed the release of new pictures and suspended production for those slated to come out later this year. For this Saturday, the Plaza plans to screen the Disney and Pixar animated film “Onward,” which was what was showing at the Plaza when it closed in March. Patrons will pay $25 per vehicle which will include a $5 certificate for concessions either delivered to their vehicle or picked up themselves, though masks and social distancing is requested. The Plaza’s restrooms will also be available.
The show starts at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Reservations will be taken only through plaza4.com and the Plaza Theatre’s Facebook page.
The Milky Way Drive-In Theatre opening at 6 p.m. on Friday evening, May 22, 2020 began a season of entertainment through Labor Day. “Onward” heralded its grand opening, followed by “Fast & Furious” and “Hobbs & Shaw” at 8:45 p.m. Tickets are $35 per car, limited to the number of seatbelts.
The theatre’s selection of food and drink includes hamburgers, Impossible burgers, hot dogs, French fries, popcorn (of course) and candy. Soft drinks available are Coke/Diet Coke, Sprite, and Mellow Yellow; adult beverages are Miller Lite, Coors Lite, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Lakefront Riverwest Stein, Lakefront Brewery IPA and White Claw Raspberry & Mango. Bottled water is also available. Concession orders are made and paid for via app and delivered to your car via car-hop.
Adjacent stadium lavatories are open for use.
Mike Zimmerman is the CEO of ROC Ventures, developer of the Ballpark Commons mixed-use development and owner of the Milwaukee Milkmen baseball team.
Under construction in May, 2020.
Installed in May, 2020.