A very nice, art deco gem in a small yet thriving Colorado mountain community. The facade indeed does the theater no justice. I have attended a couple movies here and it is a charming place to take in a movie. The auditorium walls are covered with blue fabric, most likely from a 1970s renovation but all of the other original, art deco accents are still present. The ceiling is a stunning plaster design, original to the theater’s opening. It could use some restoration as there is a little bit of water damage due to a past owner neglecting the roof. The seats appear to be original. They are red in color and have a very nice 1940s look to them. A few were removed at the ends in the center of the auditorium to accommodate wheelchairs It was owned at one time by Stan Pratt who owned many theaters across Colorado. The present owners are Kelly and Jacinto Iniguez but they have sold it to the city who will take over ownership in August. The city’s intentions are presently unclear. The booth contains a Simplex XL projector and SPECO platters. There is also a small apartment above the theater which is presently rented out.
Don’t let the front deceive you…this is a very beautiful theater inside. While outside, however, be sure to check out the beautiful, golden bricks that make up the exterior walls.
I visited the Capitol on July 10th, 2010. It is indeed a well preserved and little known gem and the above comments are certainly accurate. The interior has a general 1950s decor and a red color scheme with some beautiful, lite colored, wood paneling in the lobby (actual wood, not the cheap laminate stuff from the 1970s). The tickets are sold directly inside, where you pass through a narrow hall that serves as the box office and concession stand. At the end of that, there is a large mezzanine before you enter the auditorium. The seats in the auditorium are new-ish and very comfortable. They still do serve pizza to your seat if you want. The lower half of the auditorium walls are quite remarkable; they are covered in 1970s-era carpet samples and are extremely beautiful while adding an elegant splash color to the auditorium. These, sadly, will be removed and replaced by a more modern form of acoustic wall covering in the near future.
The booth is a very small, steel booth from the nitrate era. It contains platters and Brenkert projector. The presentation and sound were very good. There is no balcony in this theater, which dates back to at least the 1940s. It was owned and operated until the year 2000 by Ruby Ross, who closed the Capitol to run the Kar-Vu Drive In in town which she also used. The current manager is a very friendly, younger lady who although no relation to ms. Ross, has deep family roots in the theater business.
This theater is not to be missed when in Springfield!
I visited the Kar Vu on July, 10th, 2010. Most everything is still there and in great shape. The siding and “screen” part of the screen tower was removed and the tower its self was tipped over so that the screen area now lays on its face on the ground, however the steel skeleton is still laying at the front of the theater intact. A company was attempting to buy the property to build a motel on the site and began demolition but the deal fell through before they got very far. All speaker poles have been removed as well as most of the fencing but the ramps remain, although overgrown with weeds. The one story, cinder-block snack bar/concession area is still there and in pretty good shape. The booth is complete with all accessories (including old trailers) but the rectifier, xenon lamphouse (4k watt) and platters are gone. The Simplex E-7 projector still sits there on a Ballantyne base with a flat lens in the barrel. The snack bar is rather empty but still has its vintage popcorn machine and grill. In between the booth and snack bar area, there is a small viewing area with about 20 seats and 2 speakers where patrons could sit and watch the movie without a car. The theater was owned and operated until the year 2000 by Ms. Ruby Ross who also owned and operated The Capitol Theater in town until the same year. The theater did switch to FM radio before closing.
With major renovation to the screen and some cleaning up and updating in the booth, this theater could easily be reopened but time is running out as more and more years of neglect occur. The residents of Springfield would love to have it back!
Status Should Be Changed to “Closed” as opposed to “Demolished”
I am sad to report that as of July 11th, 2010, the Ritz along with the historic hotel next door, have been demolished. I am told that this was done in late 2009. A group formed to try to save it but failed. Now, Las Animas’s historic downtown now has a huge, gaping hole in it…that is what they call progress!
Mark: the original management team is completely gone. They are what helped kill the last incarnation of the theater, both structurally and economically. The place has been completely remodeled and is simply gorgeous. I am in Glenwood now helping them get things running successfully but sadly, I cannot stay forever since I have theaters of my own as well as my personal life in Northern Colorado, some 300 miles Northeast. This is a sweet little theater in a very beautiful and fun part of Colorado.
Mark, are you interested in the theater as either management or projection? If so, please email me! Thanx
Just the first sentence alone of this article is disgustingly incorrect. There are three arthouse theaters in Boulder,one of which (the International Film Series) is full time. Below is the information.
The International Film Series. This is the oldest operating arthouse film series in the state of Colorado. It started in 1941 screening films in the University Theater on the CU-Boulder Campus. In 1983, it moved to the Muenzinger Theater (which was constructed that year) where it still screens films to this day. In 2006, it also expanded its screenings to the state-of-the-art twin screening rooms in the ATLAS building. It will expand yet again in a 250 seat theater that will be in the Visual Arts Building when construction is finished early 2010. It screens arthouse, independant, classic ans international films Tuesday-Sunday primarily in the 35mm format with some being presented in 16mm or digital. It still employs two experienced union projectionists. It is sponsered by CU Boulder’s Film Studies department and is open to the public.
Canyon Theater, Boulder Public library. Classic, international and arthouse fare is presented here free of charge about 3 times per week and is programed by Boulder’s own Joel Haertling. The shows are an even mix of 16mm and digital.
The Boulder Theater. This historic multi-use theater on the Pearl Street mall shows about 1-2 arthouse films per month on either 35mm or digital.
As of my visit to Laramie to-day (October 4th,2009), The Fox has been completely demolished and no vestige of this beautiful theater. A lady at a shop next door told me that it took them all summer to complete and the last of its removal occured very recently. Very sad day.
Oh Good God, I sure hope not. Cinemark must be one of the worst circuits ever. Their theaters may be grand, but their presentation is lousy,theaters dirty and often in bad repair, rude staff…the list just goes on endlessly! I personally will never set foot in a Cinemark owned theater again. AMC on the other hand has always been fairly good from what I’ve seen.
The drive-in ran year round for at least part of (if not all) its life. In car heaters could be borrowed from the concession stand, hung from one’s window and plugged into the speaker poll.
Maybe it would be a good idea to get a hold of Mr. Webb. After all, the Sunset was his competition, albeit for a very short time.
Just visited the Holiday Twin again tonight (4-20-09) for a showing of “17 Again) and "Knowing” on screen 2. This theater is a real class act. The restrooms and snack bar have been beautifully renovated since my last visit.
Also, they still include many wonderful, classic snipes and trailers. The show started out with a 2-minute or so vintage trailer (1950’s?) welcoming patrons to the drive-in and suggesting that “patrons make this drive-in a weekly habit.” At intermission, a short 2-minute trailer (newer) ran basically telling of the drive-in theater business' fragile state and encouraging patrons to visit the concession stand to help keep the theater open. Followed by that was a vintage (1950’s or 1960’s) 10-minute intermission clock, the same one that was used in “Grease.” I was chatting with the manager, a very friendly guy, who showed me the booth. I could not make out what kind of lamphouses they had but they were originally carbon arcs and converted to xenon. The platters were Christie and I believe that the projection heads were Simplex XL’s but they may have been 35’s.
God bless the owner for keeping this theater open. It is in the western end of town which is very beautiful. When viewing a film on screen 2, the screen is surrounded by the beautiful foothills. There are housing developments on 3 sides of the theater. I’d imagine the land is worth nothing short of a fortune!
This drive-in was built in 1954 By longtime Colorado theater owners/operators R.L. (Mickey) and Ola Stanger. It was known as the Evans Walk-In/Drive-In due to the fact that there was a building off the concession stand that had about 50 theater seats, speakers and a large picture window facing the screen so that customers could watch the features even if they did not have a car. The screen faced away from West Evans Avenue. A King Soopers now sits on the site. The Stangers owned the property from the very beginning until it was sold to King Soopers. They operated the theater from 1954 until 1969 when they moved to Estes Park to run the drive-in up there that they had recently purchased (and later The Park Theatre as well) at which point they leased The Evans out. The popcorn machine that was purchased new for the drive-in in 1954 was later moved up to The Park Theatre in Estes Park where it still serves to this day. I will try to get some more details such as the year of the closing and demolition.
It is a 2nd run discount house. admission (presently) is $2.00 or free when you purchase a bag of popcorn. I visited in March of ‘09 and saw “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” In the original downstairs auditorium. My memory isn’t serving me well but for some reason, I think that it’s a triplex. I seem to remember the upstairs having 2 theaters with the large, original auditorium down. At any rate, it is very tastefully divided, as someone else stated above. The color scheme in the main auditorium is blue and it features a curved screen. It is a very large and impressive building, both inside and out. The lobby is very nice and well decorated with a large concession stand. Took a peek in the balcony theater (or one of them, if I’m right about it being a triplex) and it was very nice as well, although very small. It did retain much of the original balcony look and feel.
A wonderful theater to visit. I’d kill to have been able to experience it back in its single screen days!
I must say, the interior is a lot nicer than the exterior of this theater. I visited on 04/10/09 and saw “Hannah Montana: The Movie” in the large downstairs auditorium. Tickets are still sold outside. The lobby is long and narrow. The downstairs auditorium is the original auditorium with newer seating and a very nostalgic feel. The balcony has been walled off and divided into 3 screens. I peeked into one of them and it was well decorated but not very original. The booth faces you as you enter these upstairs theaters. I must say the quality of the projection was excellent. My only complaint was that they were showing an action flick upstairs and you could occasionally hear a rumbling from the upper auditorium when downstairs watching the movie.
The owners also own the drive-in outside of town.
The theater was very clean and still retains much of its classic charm.
Visited The Valley on 04/10/09. The Double Feature was “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” followed by “Pink Panther 2”. Admission was $5.00 per person. Everything on the drive in property was very clean and in good repair. The staff was very friendly and nice to deal with. Concession stand was clean, reasonably priced and decorated in a 1950’s theme. Projection was from a platter system and the front 2 rows still have car speakers….otherwise, you got the sound from your AM radio. Sadly, there were none of the classic intermission trailers in between feature. Intermission lasted perhaps 5 minutes. The screen is fairly new as the old one blew over sometime within the past 8 years. The marquee appears to be original. The owners also own the Cover 4 downtown.
Like a said above, this theater is a single screen. Fun drive in to visit!
The Fox is still there as of 04/14/09 but apparently not for very much longer. Google Fox Theater in Laramie and you will find several very recent city documents planning its demolition. There are notices posted on all doors stating that the building is deemed unsafe and that it is illegal to enter or occupy it. What a shame, it is a very large and impressive art deco movie palace!
A very underappreciated Art-Deco gem! Attended a showing of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” there last night and was very pleased with the theater and my experience as a whole. Admission was $3.00 for everyone. The theater only had 2 staff, a guy and girl in their late teens/early 20’s but they were very friendly and seemed quite proud of their little theater. They still have an old style ticket machine and a small lobby. The man working there told me that the theater opened in 1940.The carpet and paint were newer and the auditorium had painted, sloping wood floors and newer, comfortable seats. There is no balcony and the booth sits about 6 ½' off the floor. Much of the theater appears to be original with a stucco-like material on the ceiling and walls and one Art-Decoish cowboy on horseback mural on each wall. The projection is from a platter system.
The bathrooms are in the basement and are quite interesting to get to. Standing 6'3", I had to tilt myself backwards to walk down the steps!
The outside features a beautiful marquee with chasing lights.
The theater is very clean, well kept and beautiful. A must see for any theater historian!
This theater may (key word) be demolished. I did a quick drive by of the sight the other night and I saw a lot of redevelopment but could not spot any vestige of the theater building. That said, this was a quick drive by and at night so I will need to do some more detailed research.
Okay. When looking at that picture, you are looking East. The “street” you are looking down intersects at Moraine Ave. The street does not continue past this point. If you turned left, your next cross street would be Elkhorn. If you turned right, and then took an immediate left on Rockwell,the next street up, you would be driving along side of the theater.
I guess they must have created Weist last summer (08) when they did an extensive renovation of the area creating the Riverwalk. This was never a street but more of an alleyway in the past.
Well this Valley Drive-In is still a mystery. I talked to a neighbor of my parents up in windsor who is in his mid-60s and has lived in Windsor his whole life. He said that there was never a drive-in in Windsor and that he would know since he attended the others in the area frequently. The only reason there may be some doubt in his statement is because he was serving in Vietnam so he may have not noticed a drive-in that was short lived.
The reason I doubt that such a drive-in existed is due to the towns history: The town was basically built around the Great Western Sugar Company’s sugar factory in town and it was Windsor’s life blood for many years (1903-1968). When the sugar factory closed its doors in 1968 many residents and shopkeepers left and the town would continue on a downward spiral until Kodak built their plant in 1970. That said, I don’t know who in their right mind would open a drive-in theater in a town with a failing economy. 1969 was a very bad year for the town of Windsor and its people.
Nothing is impossible however and this issue certainly needs further investigation.
All of this sounds correct. However during the part about Mr. Knox selling his share, there is a typo…it is R.L. Stanger rather than R.A.
Also I am not sure about the part regarding Everett Sloan. He must have been Ola’s uncle as Sloan was Ola’s mother’s maiden name and I’m not sure what he would have had to do with the theater. I will ask my friend about this next time I talk to her.
I am aware of the fact that there was a small movie house built in one of the buildings on Main Street that the Windsor Theater replaced and I believe it was on the upper level of one of the buildings but I have yet to find an address although I have a couple suspicions.
The part about Windsor’s drive-in greatly surprised me. I grew up in Windsor and visited with many of the elderly, life-long town residents and although they mentioned the indoor theater and many other businesses that had once been in the area, they never said anything about the drive-in and I also have never seen any vestige of such a thing anywhere in this small town. I will ask around and see what I come up with.
It was very large and so was the auditorium. According to the Film Daily Yearbook of 1942, it is listed as the Salida Theater (it’s name at the time) as having 600 seats. It still had around that many seats when it closed.
This theater replaced the Metrolux 12 which sat on HWY 34 near the Wal-Mart just as you get into Loveland heading west.
The current theater is in the new Centerra Mall just outside of Loveland. If my memory serves, this theater opened around 2005 along with the rest of the mall. The theater is free standing and in a very beautiful building with a large marquee. The interior is very clean and comfortable and one feature that stands out in my mind are there over padded carpeting that is VERY comfortable to walk on. Projection is currently 35mm and fairly good. This is my favorite first run movie theater to visit in the Loveland/Greeley/Fort Collins area.
A very nice, art deco gem in a small yet thriving Colorado mountain community. The facade indeed does the theater no justice. I have attended a couple movies here and it is a charming place to take in a movie. The auditorium walls are covered with blue fabric, most likely from a 1970s renovation but all of the other original, art deco accents are still present. The ceiling is a stunning plaster design, original to the theater’s opening. It could use some restoration as there is a little bit of water damage due to a past owner neglecting the roof. The seats appear to be original. They are red in color and have a very nice 1940s look to them. A few were removed at the ends in the center of the auditorium to accommodate wheelchairs It was owned at one time by Stan Pratt who owned many theaters across Colorado. The present owners are Kelly and Jacinto Iniguez but they have sold it to the city who will take over ownership in August. The city’s intentions are presently unclear. The booth contains a Simplex XL projector and SPECO platters. There is also a small apartment above the theater which is presently rented out.
Don’t let the front deceive you…this is a very beautiful theater inside. While outside, however, be sure to check out the beautiful, golden bricks that make up the exterior walls.
I visited the Capitol on July 10th, 2010. It is indeed a well preserved and little known gem and the above comments are certainly accurate. The interior has a general 1950s decor and a red color scheme with some beautiful, lite colored, wood paneling in the lobby (actual wood, not the cheap laminate stuff from the 1970s). The tickets are sold directly inside, where you pass through a narrow hall that serves as the box office and concession stand. At the end of that, there is a large mezzanine before you enter the auditorium. The seats in the auditorium are new-ish and very comfortable. They still do serve pizza to your seat if you want. The lower half of the auditorium walls are quite remarkable; they are covered in 1970s-era carpet samples and are extremely beautiful while adding an elegant splash color to the auditorium. These, sadly, will be removed and replaced by a more modern form of acoustic wall covering in the near future.
The booth is a very small, steel booth from the nitrate era. It contains platters and Brenkert projector. The presentation and sound were very good. There is no balcony in this theater, which dates back to at least the 1940s. It was owned and operated until the year 2000 by Ruby Ross, who closed the Capitol to run the Kar-Vu Drive In in town which she also used. The current manager is a very friendly, younger lady who although no relation to ms. Ross, has deep family roots in the theater business.
This theater is not to be missed when in Springfield!
I visited the Kar Vu on July, 10th, 2010. Most everything is still there and in great shape. The siding and “screen” part of the screen tower was removed and the tower its self was tipped over so that the screen area now lays on its face on the ground, however the steel skeleton is still laying at the front of the theater intact. A company was attempting to buy the property to build a motel on the site and began demolition but the deal fell through before they got very far. All speaker poles have been removed as well as most of the fencing but the ramps remain, although overgrown with weeds. The one story, cinder-block snack bar/concession area is still there and in pretty good shape. The booth is complete with all accessories (including old trailers) but the rectifier, xenon lamphouse (4k watt) and platters are gone. The Simplex E-7 projector still sits there on a Ballantyne base with a flat lens in the barrel. The snack bar is rather empty but still has its vintage popcorn machine and grill. In between the booth and snack bar area, there is a small viewing area with about 20 seats and 2 speakers where patrons could sit and watch the movie without a car. The theater was owned and operated until the year 2000 by Ms. Ruby Ross who also owned and operated The Capitol Theater in town until the same year. The theater did switch to FM radio before closing.
With major renovation to the screen and some cleaning up and updating in the booth, this theater could easily be reopened but time is running out as more and more years of neglect occur. The residents of Springfield would love to have it back!
Status Should Be Changed to “Closed” as opposed to “Demolished”
I am sad to report that as of July 11th, 2010, the Ritz along with the historic hotel next door, have been demolished. I am told that this was done in late 2009. A group formed to try to save it but failed. Now, Las Animas’s historic downtown now has a huge, gaping hole in it…that is what they call progress!
Status Must Be Changed To “DEMOLISHED”
Mark: the original management team is completely gone. They are what helped kill the last incarnation of the theater, both structurally and economically. The place has been completely remodeled and is simply gorgeous. I am in Glenwood now helping them get things running successfully but sadly, I cannot stay forever since I have theaters of my own as well as my personal life in Northern Colorado, some 300 miles Northeast. This is a sweet little theater in a very beautiful and fun part of Colorado.
Mark, are you interested in the theater as either management or projection? If so, please email me! Thanx
Just the first sentence alone of this article is disgustingly incorrect. There are three arthouse theaters in Boulder,one of which (the International Film Series) is full time. Below is the information.
The International Film Series. This is the oldest operating arthouse film series in the state of Colorado. It started in 1941 screening films in the University Theater on the CU-Boulder Campus. In 1983, it moved to the Muenzinger Theater (which was constructed that year) where it still screens films to this day. In 2006, it also expanded its screenings to the state-of-the-art twin screening rooms in the ATLAS building. It will expand yet again in a 250 seat theater that will be in the Visual Arts Building when construction is finished early 2010. It screens arthouse, independant, classic ans international films Tuesday-Sunday primarily in the 35mm format with some being presented in 16mm or digital. It still employs two experienced union projectionists. It is sponsered by CU Boulder’s Film Studies department and is open to the public.
Canyon Theater, Boulder Public library. Classic, international and arthouse fare is presented here free of charge about 3 times per week and is programed by Boulder’s own Joel Haertling. The shows are an even mix of 16mm and digital.
The Boulder Theater. This historic multi-use theater on the Pearl Street mall shows about 1-2 arthouse films per month on either 35mm or digital.
As of my visit to Laramie to-day (October 4th,2009), The Fox has been completely demolished and no vestige of this beautiful theater. A lady at a shop next door told me that it took them all summer to complete and the last of its removal occured very recently. Very sad day.
***STATUS SHOULD BE CHANGED TO CLOSED/DEMOLISHED
Oh Good God, I sure hope not. Cinemark must be one of the worst circuits ever. Their theaters may be grand, but their presentation is lousy,theaters dirty and often in bad repair, rude staff…the list just goes on endlessly! I personally will never set foot in a Cinemark owned theater again. AMC on the other hand has always been fairly good from what I’ve seen.
The drive-in ran year round for at least part of (if not all) its life. In car heaters could be borrowed from the concession stand, hung from one’s window and plugged into the speaker poll.
***a few rows of the original in-car speakers still exist.
Maybe it would be a good idea to get a hold of Mr. Webb. After all, the Sunset was his competition, albeit for a very short time.
Just visited the Holiday Twin again tonight (4-20-09) for a showing of “17 Again) and "Knowing” on screen 2. This theater is a real class act. The restrooms and snack bar have been beautifully renovated since my last visit.
Also, they still include many wonderful, classic snipes and trailers. The show started out with a 2-minute or so vintage trailer (1950’s?) welcoming patrons to the drive-in and suggesting that “patrons make this drive-in a weekly habit.” At intermission, a short 2-minute trailer (newer) ran basically telling of the drive-in theater business' fragile state and encouraging patrons to visit the concession stand to help keep the theater open. Followed by that was a vintage (1950’s or 1960’s) 10-minute intermission clock, the same one that was used in “Grease.” I was chatting with the manager, a very friendly guy, who showed me the booth. I could not make out what kind of lamphouses they had but they were originally carbon arcs and converted to xenon. The platters were Christie and I believe that the projection heads were Simplex XL’s but they may have been 35’s.
God bless the owner for keeping this theater open. It is in the western end of town which is very beautiful. When viewing a film on screen 2, the screen is surrounded by the beautiful foothills. There are housing developments on 3 sides of the theater. I’d imagine the land is worth nothing short of a fortune!
This drive-in was built in 1954 By longtime Colorado theater owners/operators R.L. (Mickey) and Ola Stanger. It was known as the Evans Walk-In/Drive-In due to the fact that there was a building off the concession stand that had about 50 theater seats, speakers and a large picture window facing the screen so that customers could watch the features even if they did not have a car. The screen faced away from West Evans Avenue. A King Soopers now sits on the site. The Stangers owned the property from the very beginning until it was sold to King Soopers. They operated the theater from 1954 until 1969 when they moved to Estes Park to run the drive-in up there that they had recently purchased (and later The Park Theatre as well) at which point they leased The Evans out. The popcorn machine that was purchased new for the drive-in in 1954 was later moved up to The Park Theatre in Estes Park where it still serves to this day. I will try to get some more details such as the year of the closing and demolition.
It is a 2nd run discount house. admission (presently) is $2.00 or free when you purchase a bag of popcorn. I visited in March of ‘09 and saw “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” In the original downstairs auditorium. My memory isn’t serving me well but for some reason, I think that it’s a triplex. I seem to remember the upstairs having 2 theaters with the large, original auditorium down. At any rate, it is very tastefully divided, as someone else stated above. The color scheme in the main auditorium is blue and it features a curved screen. It is a very large and impressive building, both inside and out. The lobby is very nice and well decorated with a large concession stand. Took a peek in the balcony theater (or one of them, if I’m right about it being a triplex) and it was very nice as well, although very small. It did retain much of the original balcony look and feel.
A wonderful theater to visit. I’d kill to have been able to experience it back in its single screen days!
I must say, the interior is a lot nicer than the exterior of this theater. I visited on 04/10/09 and saw “Hannah Montana: The Movie” in the large downstairs auditorium. Tickets are still sold outside. The lobby is long and narrow. The downstairs auditorium is the original auditorium with newer seating and a very nostalgic feel. The balcony has been walled off and divided into 3 screens. I peeked into one of them and it was well decorated but not very original. The booth faces you as you enter these upstairs theaters. I must say the quality of the projection was excellent. My only complaint was that they were showing an action flick upstairs and you could occasionally hear a rumbling from the upper auditorium when downstairs watching the movie.
The owners also own the drive-in outside of town.
The theater was very clean and still retains much of its classic charm.
**As of 2008, that is. I’m sure she still owns it, though.
Owner’s name is Amy Helms
Visited The Valley on 04/10/09. The Double Feature was “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” followed by “Pink Panther 2”. Admission was $5.00 per person. Everything on the drive in property was very clean and in good repair. The staff was very friendly and nice to deal with. Concession stand was clean, reasonably priced and decorated in a 1950’s theme. Projection was from a platter system and the front 2 rows still have car speakers….otherwise, you got the sound from your AM radio. Sadly, there were none of the classic intermission trailers in between feature. Intermission lasted perhaps 5 minutes. The screen is fairly new as the old one blew over sometime within the past 8 years. The marquee appears to be original. The owners also own the Cover 4 downtown.
Like a said above, this theater is a single screen. Fun drive in to visit!
The Fox is still there as of 04/14/09 but apparently not for very much longer. Google Fox Theater in Laramie and you will find several very recent city documents planning its demolition. There are notices posted on all doors stating that the building is deemed unsafe and that it is illegal to enter or occupy it. What a shame, it is a very large and impressive art deco movie palace!
A very underappreciated Art-Deco gem! Attended a showing of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” there last night and was very pleased with the theater and my experience as a whole. Admission was $3.00 for everyone. The theater only had 2 staff, a guy and girl in their late teens/early 20’s but they were very friendly and seemed quite proud of their little theater. They still have an old style ticket machine and a small lobby. The man working there told me that the theater opened in 1940.The carpet and paint were newer and the auditorium had painted, sloping wood floors and newer, comfortable seats. There is no balcony and the booth sits about 6 ½' off the floor. Much of the theater appears to be original with a stucco-like material on the ceiling and walls and one Art-Decoish cowboy on horseback mural on each wall. The projection is from a platter system.
The bathrooms are in the basement and are quite interesting to get to. Standing 6'3", I had to tilt myself backwards to walk down the steps!
The outside features a beautiful marquee with chasing lights.
The theater is very clean, well kept and beautiful. A must see for any theater historian!
This theater may (key word) be demolished. I did a quick drive by of the sight the other night and I saw a lot of redevelopment but could not spot any vestige of the theater building. That said, this was a quick drive by and at night so I will need to do some more detailed research.
Okay. When looking at that picture, you are looking East. The “street” you are looking down intersects at Moraine Ave. The street does not continue past this point. If you turned left, your next cross street would be Elkhorn. If you turned right, and then took an immediate left on Rockwell,the next street up, you would be driving along side of the theater.
I guess they must have created Weist last summer (08) when they did an extensive renovation of the area creating the Riverwalk. This was never a street but more of an alleyway in the past.
Well this Valley Drive-In is still a mystery. I talked to a neighbor of my parents up in windsor who is in his mid-60s and has lived in Windsor his whole life. He said that there was never a drive-in in Windsor and that he would know since he attended the others in the area frequently. The only reason there may be some doubt in his statement is because he was serving in Vietnam so he may have not noticed a drive-in that was short lived.
The reason I doubt that such a drive-in existed is due to the towns history: The town was basically built around the Great Western Sugar Company’s sugar factory in town and it was Windsor’s life blood for many years (1903-1968). When the sugar factory closed its doors in 1968 many residents and shopkeepers left and the town would continue on a downward spiral until Kodak built their plant in 1970. That said, I don’t know who in their right mind would open a drive-in theater in a town with a failing economy. 1969 was a very bad year for the town of Windsor and its people.
Nothing is impossible however and this issue certainly needs further investigation.
All of this sounds correct. However during the part about Mr. Knox selling his share, there is a typo…it is R.L. Stanger rather than R.A.
Also I am not sure about the part regarding Everett Sloan. He must have been Ola’s uncle as Sloan was Ola’s mother’s maiden name and I’m not sure what he would have had to do with the theater. I will ask my friend about this next time I talk to her.
I am aware of the fact that there was a small movie house built in one of the buildings on Main Street that the Windsor Theater replaced and I believe it was on the upper level of one of the buildings but I have yet to find an address although I have a couple suspicions.
The part about Windsor’s drive-in greatly surprised me. I grew up in Windsor and visited with many of the elderly, life-long town residents and although they mentioned the indoor theater and many other businesses that had once been in the area, they never said anything about the drive-in and I also have never seen any vestige of such a thing anywhere in this small town. I will ask around and see what I come up with.
It was very large and so was the auditorium. According to the Film Daily Yearbook of 1942, it is listed as the Salida Theater (it’s name at the time) as having 600 seats. It still had around that many seats when it closed.
This theater replaced the Metrolux 12 which sat on HWY 34 near the Wal-Mart just as you get into Loveland heading west.
The current theater is in the new Centerra Mall just outside of Loveland. If my memory serves, this theater opened around 2005 along with the rest of the mall. The theater is free standing and in a very beautiful building with a large marquee. The interior is very clean and comfortable and one feature that stands out in my mind are there over padded carpeting that is VERY comfortable to walk on. Projection is currently 35mm and fairly good. This is my favorite first run movie theater to visit in the Loveland/Greeley/Fort Collins area.