Actually, the Minot Outdoor and the Starlite were two nearby theaters with the same owner, Triangle Theaters. The Minot Outdoor opened in 1949 and the Starlite Outdoor opened in 1963 with both operating concurrently for about three years. The Minot Outdoor closed in 1966 with the Minot Daily reporting August 3 and 5, 1967, that the Minot Outdoor property would be redeveloped. For detailed information see the June 6, 1963, news story in the photo section.
Minot Outdoor grand opening ad for July 1, 1949, is in the photo section.
Starlite Outdoor grand opening ad for June 8, 1963, is in the photo section. (It was located at today’s 300 37th Ave SW, currently Holiday Inn Express.) The above address on the CT overview seems about right for the Minot Outdoor, closing in 1985
I was about 17, graduated from Wendell hi in 1958. As said in other blogs my dad leased the theatre. When Dully returned from California I talked him in to painting the bottom half of my 51 Buick with white paint making it 2 tone. I lived in his trailer behind the theatre. The back room was just dirt floor. He framed it up and brought in a cement truck And I helped him flatten out the concrete.He used the back room near the alley for his sign advertising business. He lived and re-maired again to his second wife and lived to a good old age.
Dooley Perkins owned several theaters. His best story was that at his theater in Buhl, Idaho his ushers started the pop corn machine and went out to play base ball until it was time for the customers to come in. They left the pop corn machine unattended, It caught the building on fire and it burned down. In my previous comment I forgot to say that the teens signed the movie poster. He only had one lung because of lung cancer due to smoking. He always drank Pepsi. In his younger days good income days he always drove a Cadillac. His wife divorced him and he remarried again. He could also play a violin and painted the bottom half of my Buick. Does any one know how old he lived to be.
My dad, Walton F. Pierce, leased the theater from Dooley Perkins around 1957-1958 for about 1 year. He would go around town collecting money from the merchants and bar owners for the free movie to draw people in to town on Saturday. I was the projectionist there and went on to run the projectors in Gooding for Bud Shubert, the owner of the hotel across the street from his theater. Next I went to Burley to work for the Harris family at the Burley Theater.
And then on to LA to work as spot man at the Paramount theater near Pershing Square. My duty was to stand under a spot light all day and direct people to the direction of there seat. Ushers would take over from there. All reels were measured with a counter and changeovers were made by a counter on each projector measuring how much film was left on the reel.
In the 1970’s I went back with my family to visit Dooley. He was desperate to sell the theater then. I told him that I was not much of a business man. The best teenage movie was “Rebel Without a Cause.” I had all the teens like me autograph it and I think that my brother Ron still has it.
Actually, the Minot Outdoor and the Starlite were two nearby theaters with the same owner, Triangle Theaters. The Minot Outdoor opened in 1949 and the Starlite Outdoor opened in 1963 with both operating concurrently for about three years. The Minot Outdoor closed in 1966 with the Minot Daily reporting August 3 and 5, 1967, that the Minot Outdoor property would be redeveloped. For detailed information see the June 6, 1963, news story in the photo section.
Minot Outdoor grand opening ad for July 1, 1949, is in the photo section.
Starlite Outdoor grand opening ad for June 8, 1963, is in the photo section. (It was located at today’s 300 37th Ave SW, currently Holiday Inn Express.) The above address on the CT overview seems about right for the Minot Outdoor, closing in 1985
I was about 17, graduated from Wendell hi in 1958. As said in other blogs my dad leased the theatre. When Dully returned from California I talked him in to painting the bottom half of my 51 Buick with white paint making it 2 tone. I lived in his trailer behind the theatre. The back room was just dirt floor. He framed it up and brought in a cement truck And I helped him flatten out the concrete.He used the back room near the alley for his sign advertising business. He lived and re-maired again to his second wife and lived to a good old age.
Dear Joe
Did you know Dully Personally.
Dooley Perkins owned several theaters. His best story was that at his theater in Buhl, Idaho his ushers started the pop corn machine and went out to play base ball until it was time for the customers to come in. They left the pop corn machine unattended, It caught the building on fire and it burned down. In my previous comment I forgot to say that the teens signed the movie poster. He only had one lung because of lung cancer due to smoking. He always drank Pepsi. In his younger days good income days he always drove a Cadillac. His wife divorced him and he remarried again. He could also play a violin and painted the bottom half of my Buick. Does any one know how old he lived to be.
My dad, Walton F. Pierce, leased the theater from Dooley Perkins around 1957-1958 for about 1 year. He would go around town collecting money from the merchants and bar owners for the free movie to draw people in to town on Saturday. I was the projectionist there and went on to run the projectors in Gooding for Bud Shubert, the owner of the hotel across the street from his theater. Next I went to Burley to work for the Harris family at the Burley Theater.
And then on to LA to work as spot man at the Paramount theater near Pershing Square. My duty was to stand under a spot light all day and direct people to the direction of there seat. Ushers would take over from there. All reels were measured with a counter and changeovers were made by a counter on each projector measuring how much film was left on the reel.
In the 1970’s I went back with my family to visit Dooley. He was desperate to sell the theater then. I told him that I was not much of a business man. The best teenage movie was “Rebel Without a Cause.” I had all the teens like me autograph it and I think that my brother Ron still has it.