The Palace Building site is slated for redevelopment. The three-story L-shaped retail/apartment block facing both Broadway and East 8th Avenue will be retained. The auditorium is to be demolished. This link contains more information:
https://www.gary.gov/palacetheater
The Griffith Theatre debuted January 1, 1947. “Centennial Summer” and “Joe Palooka Champ” were on the opening program. Irving Karlow might have been the architect as his name appears in the launch advertisement on December 31, 1946.
Interesting info from Joe Vogel. The old Masonic Temple was at 83 State Street, about 125 State Street if it existed today. The Colonial Theatre was in the old Masonic Temple. By 1915 the building was a hotel and the space used by the theater, renumbered 85 State Street, was a store.
In 1929, space which had been occupied by the DeLuxe theater, Simpson’s barber shop, a meeting hall and numerous offices was cleared out to make way for the Schulte-United Junior Department Store, which closed in May 1932. In September 1932 Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company leased the space formerly occupied by Schulte-United. According to the Times, the area leased was once occupied by “the old DeLuxe theater and several other business rooms which were thrown into one large room in the [Schulte-United] remodeling process.”
Alex Manta opened the Liberty Theatre in 1910. One of the first movie houses in East Chicago, it was located in a building owned by Lazar W. Saric, prominent East Chicago real estate developer. After the Liberty Theatre closed, the space was occupied by a grocery store, then by the Indiana Harbor post office. On March 22, 1924, the Central Theatre debuted in the same spot. It was short-lived - by November 26, 1924, “For Rent” signs were displayed in the windows. In January 1925 the building was being remodeled to accommodate a department store.
Manta went on to manage other theaters in East Chicago and Whiting, IN. He opened the Indiana Theatre in Indiana Harbor, was district manager for Warner Brothers theaters, then helped run Indiana-Illinois Theaters, Inc., and the Manta & Rose theater circuit.
The 1000-seat Garden Theatre stood at 3614 Main Street in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN. It was built at a cost of $100,000 for James Piwaronas, a local grocer, by Indiana Harbor contractor James Johnston from plans drawn by Hammond, IN, architect George McClure (“Mac”) Turner. Construction started in May 1923 with a year-end target opening. The theater finally debuted July 24, 1924, seven months later than hoped. Piwaronas operated the theater until his death in 1979.
The Garden Theatre featured a $15,000 pipe organ, scientific ventilating and heating, lobby lights that were “a miniature replica of the fixtures used in the Chicago theater [and] decoration and ornamental work…copied from the various Balaban & Katz palaces of Chicago.” Decorator Supply Company of Chicago supplied ornamental work. Goldstein Decorators of Detroit installed the decorations.
Outside, a 25-foot sign illuminated the front as brightly as day. It had 30-inch-high letters. The building contained the theater, two stores and six offices.
The Garden Theatre re-launched December 6, 1929, with Vitaphone and Movietone talking pictures. The first offering was “Broadway Melody” with Bessie Love. From the mid-1950’s the showplace advertised as the New Garden Theatre. By 1981 it was the Cine Garden, presenting Spanish-language films.
The Broadway Theatre was operating at the same address as early as February 1929, the first time it’s listed in the phone directory. The Broadway Theatre formally opened on November 1, 1929, featuring “New and Perfected Talking Pictures,” the first of which was “In Old Arizona” with Warner Baxter. Ads for the Broadway Theatre appeared in 1932-1938 and 1942-1943 featuring American and foreign (Russian, Hungarian) films with subtitles. There was also a focus on Westerns. No ads appear after October 1947.
The Vic Theatre was at 3525 Main Street in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN. It probably opened in February 1934 - its first ad appeared on February 7, 1934, and the Vic Theatre first showed up in the February 1934 phone directory. There is no reference to a Vic or Victory Theatre before 1934. The theater was operated by the Auksel family.
The Vic Theatre likely closed in 1961 as its last mention in the newspaper was in May 1961. In its final years it played Spanish-language films.
The theater at 4824 Alexander Avenue in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN, had several names. It was listed in the phone directory as the Twin City Theatre from March 1926 through February 1934. In September 1934 it was advertising as the Midtown Theatre. From March 1936 until November 1946 it was the Midway Theatre. In December 1946 it became the Mars Theatre. I didn’t find any ads placed after May 1951.
The Rio Theatre closed November 3, 1946, with an announcement teasing about renovation and remodeling. The venue reopened November 15, 1946, as the “Newly Remodeled and Beautiful” new Hammond Theatre. Later ads called it the Hammond Theatre. (This was the city’s second Hammond Theatre. The first was downtown. It became the DeLuxe Theatre.) In November 1949 the name changed again, this time to Pix Theatre. There are no ads for the Pix after February 1950.
Turns out this was not the new Home Theatre, but rather the New Home Theatre. It was around in 1915. Its proprietor back then was Ferdinand Ketzik. There is no mention of the New Home Theatre (or Home Theatre) before 1915.
According to the 1918-1919 City Directory, the Lyric Theatre was at 1132 Broadway, and Matthew McBride was the proprietor. The 1922 City Directory shows the Plaza Theatre at 1134 Broadway. William Seegirt is the manager.
City directories from 1926 and 1927 show that the Lincoln Theatre was operating at 2169 Broadway. So this was the Lincoln Theatre, then the Rex Theatre, then the Paris Theatre.
According to the 1918-1919 City Directory, the theater at 1238 Broadway was the Gem Theatre. Its proprietor was Aristides Vaichis. It was still listed as the Gem Theatre in the 1922 City Directory.
There were other Gem theaters at 622 and 722 Broadway that have their own CT entry.
The Glen Park Theatre was at 3833 Broadway – on the east side of Broadway south of Ridge Road. The 1915 Sanborn showed no buildings in this area. In the 1945 Sanborn 3833 Broadway is a 25-foot by 125-foot restaurant.
Local builder/developer Ingwald Moe, who constructed the first Broadway Theatre and would later erect the new Gary Theater building, incorporated the Gary Amusement Company. Directors were Moe, Gambetto Heydorn, and Charles Schaible.
Local builder/developer Ingwald Moe, who constructed the first Broadway Theatre and would later erect the new Gary Theater building, incorporated the Gary Amusement Company. Directors were Moe, Gambetto Heydorn, and Charles Schaible.
A January 31, 1910, Times article reported that the Princess Theatre, “the notorious ten-cent playhouse of Gary is to go out of business.” The January 30, 1910, show was its last. “Manager Jo Nieman is about to have the place remodeled and start a shoe store there.”
The Gem Theatre’s first opening date was December 12, 1908. It featured both afternoon and evening performances, and promised a Sunday afternoon performance – “a new feature of the Gem.”
Gary Amusement Company was operating the first Gary Theatre in 1909 at a five-cent price point. On October 30, 1909, the company opened the Derby Theatre, a ten-cent theater located twenty-five feet to the north. Both were storefront showplaces.
After doing some further research, here’s a correction: The Oddfellows hall was at 177/179 State Street. That building still stands at 469 State Street today. The Pastime Theatre was 125-feet west of the Oddfellows, putting it across the street from the First Baptist Church’s portico at what Google maps shows as 467 State Street. The area is now a parking lot. To further confuse matters, the two buildings directly west of the Oddfellows are numbered out of sequence. Their address is 475 State Street.
A January 25, 1912, article noted that the Simon brothers had leased the Paine building at Eighth Avenue and Broadway for ten years for consideration of $50,000. This space would become the Grand Theater.
The Palace Building site is slated for redevelopment. The three-story L-shaped retail/apartment block facing both Broadway and East 8th Avenue will be retained. The auditorium is to be demolished. This link contains more information: https://www.gary.gov/palacetheater
The Griffith Theatre debuted January 1, 1947. “Centennial Summer” and “Joe Palooka Champ” were on the opening program. Irving Karlow might have been the architect as his name appears in the launch advertisement on December 31, 1946.
Interesting info from Joe Vogel. The old Masonic Temple was at 83 State Street, about 125 State Street if it existed today. The Colonial Theatre was in the old Masonic Temple. By 1915 the building was a hotel and the space used by the theater, renumbered 85 State Street, was a store.
In 1929, space which had been occupied by the DeLuxe theater, Simpson’s barber shop, a meeting hall and numerous offices was cleared out to make way for the Schulte-United Junior Department Store, which closed in May 1932. In September 1932 Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company leased the space formerly occupied by Schulte-United. According to the Times, the area leased was once occupied by “the old DeLuxe theater and several other business rooms which were thrown into one large room in the [Schulte-United] remodeling process.”
Alex Manta opened the Liberty Theatre in 1910. One of the first movie houses in East Chicago, it was located in a building owned by Lazar W. Saric, prominent East Chicago real estate developer. After the Liberty Theatre closed, the space was occupied by a grocery store, then by the Indiana Harbor post office. On March 22, 1924, the Central Theatre debuted in the same spot. It was short-lived - by November 26, 1924, “For Rent” signs were displayed in the windows. In January 1925 the building was being remodeled to accommodate a department store.
Manta went on to manage other theaters in East Chicago and Whiting, IN. He opened the Indiana Theatre in Indiana Harbor, was district manager for Warner Brothers theaters, then helped run Indiana-Illinois Theaters, Inc., and the Manta & Rose theater circuit.
The 1000-seat Garden Theatre stood at 3614 Main Street in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN. It was built at a cost of $100,000 for James Piwaronas, a local grocer, by Indiana Harbor contractor James Johnston from plans drawn by Hammond, IN, architect George McClure (“Mac”) Turner. Construction started in May 1923 with a year-end target opening. The theater finally debuted July 24, 1924, seven months later than hoped. Piwaronas operated the theater until his death in 1979.
The Garden Theatre featured a $15,000 pipe organ, scientific ventilating and heating, lobby lights that were “a miniature replica of the fixtures used in the Chicago theater [and] decoration and ornamental work…copied from the various Balaban & Katz palaces of Chicago.” Decorator Supply Company of Chicago supplied ornamental work. Goldstein Decorators of Detroit installed the decorations.
Outside, a 25-foot sign illuminated the front as brightly as day. It had 30-inch-high letters. The building contained the theater, two stores and six offices.
The Garden Theatre re-launched December 6, 1929, with Vitaphone and Movietone talking pictures. The first offering was “Broadway Melody” with Bessie Love. From the mid-1950’s the showplace advertised as the New Garden Theatre. By 1981 it was the Cine Garden, presenting Spanish-language films.
The Broadway Theatre was operating at the same address as early as February 1929, the first time it’s listed in the phone directory. The Broadway Theatre formally opened on November 1, 1929, featuring “New and Perfected Talking Pictures,” the first of which was “In Old Arizona” with Warner Baxter. Ads for the Broadway Theatre appeared in 1932-1938 and 1942-1943 featuring American and foreign (Russian, Hungarian) films with subtitles. There was also a focus on Westerns. No ads appear after October 1947.
The Vic Theatre was at 3525 Main Street in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN. It probably opened in February 1934 - its first ad appeared on February 7, 1934, and the Vic Theatre first showed up in the February 1934 phone directory. There is no reference to a Vic or Victory Theatre before 1934. The theater was operated by the Auksel family.
The Vic Theatre likely closed in 1961 as its last mention in the newspaper was in May 1961. In its final years it played Spanish-language films.
The theater at 4824 Alexander Avenue in the Indiana Harbor side of East Chicago, IN, had several names. It was listed in the phone directory as the Twin City Theatre from March 1926 through February 1934. In September 1934 it was advertising as the Midtown Theatre. From March 1936 until November 1946 it was the Midway Theatre. In December 1946 it became the Mars Theatre. I didn’t find any ads placed after May 1951.
The Rio Theatre closed November 3, 1946, with an announcement teasing about renovation and remodeling. The venue reopened November 15, 1946, as the “Newly Remodeled and Beautiful” new Hammond Theatre. Later ads called it the Hammond Theatre. (This was the city’s second Hammond Theatre. The first was downtown. It became the DeLuxe Theatre.) In November 1949 the name changed again, this time to Pix Theatre. There are no ads for the Pix after February 1950.
Turns out this was not the new Home Theatre, but rather the New Home Theatre. It was around in 1915. Its proprietor back then was Ferdinand Ketzik. There is no mention of the New Home Theatre (or Home Theatre) before 1915.
The Gary, IN-based Bikos circuit added this theater in May 1926.
According to the 1918-1919 City Directory, the Lyric Theatre was at 1132 Broadway, and Matthew McBride was the proprietor. The 1922 City Directory shows the Plaza Theatre at 1134 Broadway. William Seegirt is the manager.
According to the 1918-1919 city directory, the Royal Theatre was at 1631 Broadway. It was one of several theaters operated by Andrew Obreshk.
City directories from 1926 and 1927 show that the Lincoln Theatre was operating at 2169 Broadway. So this was the Lincoln Theatre, then the Rex Theatre, then the Paris Theatre.
According to the 1918-1919 City Directory, the theater at 1238 Broadway was the Gem Theatre. Its proprietor was Aristides Vaichis. It was still listed as the Gem Theatre in the 1922 City Directory.
There were other Gem theaters at 622 and 722 Broadway that have their own CT entry.
The Venus Theatre was at 1070 Broadway. It was one of several theaters operated by Andrew Obreshk.
The Glen Park Theatre was at 3833 Broadway – on the east side of Broadway south of Ridge Road. The 1915 Sanborn showed no buildings in this area. In the 1945 Sanborn 3833 Broadway is a 25-foot by 125-foot restaurant.
Local builder/developer Ingwald Moe, who constructed the first Broadway Theatre and would later erect the new Gary Theater building, incorporated the Gary Amusement Company. Directors were Moe, Gambetto Heydorn, and Charles Schaible.
Local builder/developer Ingwald Moe, who constructed the first Broadway Theatre and would later erect the new Gary Theater building, incorporated the Gary Amusement Company. Directors were Moe, Gambetto Heydorn, and Charles Schaible.
A January 31, 1910, Times article reported that the Princess Theatre, “the notorious ten-cent playhouse of Gary is to go out of business.” The January 30, 1910, show was its last. “Manager Jo Nieman is about to have the place remodeled and start a shoe store there.”
The Gem Theatre’s first opening date was December 12, 1908. It featured both afternoon and evening performances, and promised a Sunday afternoon performance – “a new feature of the Gem.”
Gary Amusement Company was operating the first Gary Theatre in 1909 at a five-cent price point. On October 30, 1909, the company opened the Derby Theatre, a ten-cent theater located twenty-five feet to the north. Both were storefront showplaces.
After doing some further research, here’s a correction: The Oddfellows hall was at 177/179 State Street. That building still stands at 469 State Street today. The Pastime Theatre was 125-feet west of the Oddfellows, putting it across the street from the First Baptist Church’s portico at what Google maps shows as 467 State Street. The area is now a parking lot. To further confuse matters, the two buildings directly west of the Oddfellows are numbered out of sequence. Their address is 475 State Street.
A January 25, 1912, article noted that the Simon brothers had leased the Paine building at Eighth Avenue and Broadway for ten years for consideration of $50,000. This space would become the Grand Theater.