Scott is correct, this twin and the 4 screen were built by TDC, in the early 1980s, TDC also built a twin in Auburn and the Sparks 7 in Sparks NV plus others in the foothills of northern CalI installed the projection and sound in most of them, TDC went bankrupt in the late 1990s, Mike was operating the Nevada theatre in Nevada when he picked up leases on the two TDC houses.City
correction to my comment…the drive in pictured is the Mountain Vu, on Mullen Rd., the STATE was located along US 93 South of Missoula near where the Walmart is today.
this was the Mountain Vu drive-in, not the Go West! the Go West was located a few miles north of this location on US 10 near the US 93 Y on Deschamps road.
the drive-in pictured here is not the Go West! The actual Go West was located at 8394 Deschamps Lane off US 10 just west of the Y of US 93 and 10 in northwest Missoula. Yes, it was 700 cars and the lot is still there, the screen was on the west end facing east, the snack bar / booth was still there in 2015. Word had it there was another Drive-in farther west I believe that is the one in the aerial photos. I serviced the projection and sound and removed it in 2000, also serviced the Wilma, Roxy, Crystal, and the Carmike screens for decades. The MTN Vu was located on the south of town along US 93 just as the highway narrows down near a storage place and Walmart is.
What a nice older house! I was there a few days ago and removed the 35mm projectors et-al, the building is currently a second hand store! All seating is gone and the owners live in an apartment upstairs. The building as well as the projectors are in great condition and well maintained! All the neon has been removed from the marquee but the name is still there. Very nice new owners too, It is sad they do not want to continue operating as a cinema.
I was projectionist at the Brockway theatre in Kings Beach in the early 1970s. William Tamblyn and Vern Shattuck owned it and the Tahoe theatre. They also had the Donner theatre in Truckee that was destroyed by fire a few years earlier. in 1970 the Wenzel projectors were replaced at the Brockway and were taken to the Yuba and installed as replacements for the semi-portable projectors in use there. I was the sound engineer for the Yuba until the late 1980s, it was fun to still take care of the first machines I trained on as a teen! I have the original portables in my museum of projection.
The Odeon is actually at the north west corner of the intersection of B Ave E and Boise Street (one block south and one block east of the ace) it’s location on the map above is incorrect.
This is the new Lakeside theatre located at the Y at jct US50 and Hwy89. It was a nice single screen, here it is after Wallace bought it and it had been split into 4 screens. My father built the original building in 1963, I have a plaque dedicating the memory of H.H. .Judge. Rudy Buchannan, a prominent developer in early South Lake Tahoe.
I was young and living near Stateline, I saw many a Saturday matinee at the Lakeside! When Judge Rudy Buchannan built the new Lakeside near the Y, My Father was the masonry contractor that built the building. Later I worked there and serviced the booth. After it was split into the four screen, I managed it until Wallace bought it from Bob Retzer. It had a pair of Century projectors with Peerless Magnarc lamps and a nice 2 bedroom apartment upstairs that I lived in while managing the Retzer circuit. I was there for a few years and was working at theatres in North Shore of Tahoe.
Mr. Vogel is correct, however the new Stateline was never equipped with 70mm…it did have a new Dolby CP-100 stereo sound system with Century SA projectors, I worked there for Bob Retzer and serviced that booth as a tech up until Wallace bought out Retzer.
As a youngster in the late 50s, we lived a half mile from the drive-in, my Mother used to shop at Cecils market and you could see the drive-in from there, we saw a few films there, and at that time the original Stateline theatre was located between highway 50 and the beach just a few blocks away! later in life, I managed the new Stateline cinema and the newer drive-in in Bijou as well as the Lakeside theatre at the Y and the new Tahoe Y cinema across the street for Bob Retzer..
I sold and installed the projection and sound equipment, it was a spacious theatre with booth type tables and seating for food service like a Vegas showroom! It was a little ahead of its time for the area, now full food and drinks are the norm! I also bought back and removed the equipment after it closed, it was a pretty short run!
the building was gutted, lobby, restrooms, 2nd floor is gone (booth). there are offices along the front to the left of the original entrance for a local trucking company that bought the building, it is now a drive through diesel repair shop with two bays completely inside the building and running east to west. on the northeast corner of the parking lot is a new building housing a two bay truck washing facility. originally when built the plans were to place a strip mall along the highway and the theatre would sit behind it with parking, but the economy in Jerome took a dive shortly after it opened so those plans were scrapped by interstate amusement.
as far as I know, the main st is open but they advertise it as part of the grand for booking reasons, if you see the grand is noted as 6 screens, 4 at the grand and 2 at the old snyder. this might explain the address issues!
still one of my very favorite vertical signs, ‘our screen talks’ says it all! i did service work on the projection and sound in all the area theatres from when the Snyders owned them through the purchase by the Agnes family. I miss them, I retired when D cimema came in, when built, the Grand was state of the art, the Snyder theatre was also. and the Lake Park drive in had the nicest lot next to the Parma Motor Vu in Idaho!I hope to visit again soon and wish them the best.
Actually, the building was designed as part of the olympic village and built in 1959 and used as the Nevada olympic team warming hut. It was leased after the olympics by William L. Tamblyn and was converted to the Squaw Valley Theatre. Part of the building was retained by Squaw Valley resorts and housed a cafeteria kitchen and some offices. The Tamblyns operated it until the mid 1980s when they sold their circuit of 5 north shore area theatres. I was a projectionist, theatre manager and projection and sound technician in the circuit.
Update…I am still working on the museum of projection and have found old records of Dooley’s exploits in the theatre biz. The ACE was built during 1909 as the Fullerton and Watson cash store and was one of the first permenant buildngs in the new town of Wendell. Dooley owned and operated the REX (AKA Valley) theatre in nearby Hagerman, He lived in Gooding and sold his interest in the Rex just prior to WW2 when he purchased the F&W store in Wendell to remodel into the new ACE. Dooley never lived in the
ACE building as there was a small addition approx. 20x24ft on the rear of the building behind the screen. It housed Dooley’s sign shop, then was a bakery and lastly a dog grooming salon when I bought the building in 1990. I remodeled the space and the rear of ACE into a living space where I reside to present. Dooley spent the war years during the remodel, the once flat wooden floor of the store was removed and dug out with horse drawn fresno scrapers to make the 48" slope to the auditorium floor.I remodeled the theatre into a two screen in 1990 and opened in 1991.It was equipped with new Motiograph AA projectors and Mirrophonic sound system. It was slated to open in 1944 but due to the war effort, seats were not available due to metal shortages so the seats arrived in 1945! A new barrel type roof was added over the original wooden truss roof in 1952 and the screen was enlarged for cinemascope. Dooley went head to head with the nearby Odeon (aka Ward House) theatre for a few years when the Ward House finally stopped exhibiting films. I still have the original Viking popcorn popper that cost $1250.00 new in 1945!The #1 auditorium now houses the museum, the #2 auditorium is still intact equipped with two Simplex XL 35mm projectors set up for reel-to-reel and pltter with Dolby stereo and DTS digital sound, plus Xenon 16mm and Barco Digital Cinema projector.
another note…the theatre building still exists today as a private residence, at some point prior to 1990, a two story addition was added to the northwest corner of the auditorium. While I was remodeling the ACE, I was able to tour the building. The stage and proscenium arch are still in place as well as the tiny balcony including a very small projection room. The main floor is flat and level, there are windows along the east and west walls. After the LDS church built their new ward house north of town, the theatre became home to a couple different churches, then a karate studio and then a residence in the 1990s. The front appears to have been remodeled the same time the addition was made.
The Schubert (Gooding Cinema) Was never converted to two screens, Interstate Amusement of Twin Falls bought it from Bud Schubert and listed the marquee as a two screen but actually a ploy to be able to screen two different movies nightly. It still has a balcony (less seating) And has just achieved an IRS 501C3 non-profit class and will be undergoing restoration soon by a local group.
When the new ACE theatre opened in 1945, the theatre in the photo above was operating and known as the Ward House Theatre and the building was originally the local ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It had approx. 300 seats with a balcony of approximately 60 seats. The Ward House continued exhibiting motion pictures for approximately a year when it closed to the public.
I am the current owner of the ACE. To update the statements above, Morris ‘Dooley’ Perkins opened the ACE in late 1945. The building is not a ‘quonset hut’ but was originally the Wendell Mercantile Co. opened in 1910. The all masonry building was modified in 1952 for Cinemascope and the roof line was raised as well as the proscenium was expanded for the larger picture. It was at this time the ‘barrel’ style roof purchased from a nearby school gymnasium was placed on top of the building. The theatre is being remodeled into a museum of motion picture technology and is still operational with 35mm film. There will be an interactive 1940s vintage carbon arc projection room as well as projectors and related movie equipment on display dating to the late 1890s. I currently have approx. 50+ vintage projectors for the museum and I am continuing my search for memorabilia regarding theatres in southern Idaho as well as equipment to place in the display. For more information, please email me.
Scott is correct, this twin and the 4 screen were built by TDC, in the early 1980s, TDC also built a twin in Auburn and the Sparks 7 in Sparks NV plus others in the foothills of northern CalI installed the projection and sound in most of them, TDC went bankrupt in the late 1990s, Mike was operating the Nevada theatre in Nevada when he picked up leases on the two TDC houses.City
correction to my comment…the drive in pictured is the Mountain Vu, on Mullen Rd., the STATE was located along US 93 South of Missoula near where the Walmart is today.
this was the Mountain Vu drive-in, not the Go West! the Go West was located a few miles north of this location on US 10 near the US 93 Y on Deschamps road.
the drive-in pictured here is not the Go West! The actual Go West was located at 8394 Deschamps Lane off US 10 just west of the Y of US 93 and 10 in northwest Missoula. Yes, it was 700 cars and the lot is still there, the screen was on the west end facing east, the snack bar / booth was still there in 2015. Word had it there was another Drive-in farther west I believe that is the one in the aerial photos. I serviced the projection and sound and removed it in 2000, also serviced the Wilma, Roxy, Crystal, and the Carmike screens for decades. The MTN Vu was located on the south of town along US 93 just as the highway narrows down near a storage place and Walmart is.
Mitiograph AA projectors, SH-7500 sound heads and Ashcraft S-85 Super-high carbon arc lamps!
What a nice older house! I was there a few days ago and removed the 35mm projectors et-al, the building is currently a second hand store! All seating is gone and the owners live in an apartment upstairs. The building as well as the projectors are in great condition and well maintained! All the neon has been removed from the marquee but the name is still there. Very nice new owners too, It is sad they do not want to continue operating as a cinema.
I was projectionist at the Brockway theatre in Kings Beach in the early 1970s. William Tamblyn and Vern Shattuck owned it and the Tahoe theatre. They also had the Donner theatre in Truckee that was destroyed by fire a few years earlier. in 1970 the Wenzel projectors were replaced at the Brockway and were taken to the Yuba and installed as replacements for the semi-portable projectors in use there. I was the sound engineer for the Yuba until the late 1980s, it was fun to still take care of the first machines I trained on as a teen! I have the original portables in my museum of projection.
The Odeon is actually at the north west corner of the intersection of B Ave E and Boise Street (one block south and one block east of the ace) it’s location on the map above is incorrect.
This is the new Lakeside theatre located at the Y at jct US50 and Hwy89. It was a nice single screen, here it is after Wallace bought it and it had been split into 4 screens. My father built the original building in 1963, I have a plaque dedicating the memory of H.H. .Judge. Rudy Buchannan, a prominent developer in early South Lake Tahoe.
I was young and living near Stateline, I saw many a Saturday matinee at the Lakeside! When Judge Rudy Buchannan built the new Lakeside near the Y, My Father was the masonry contractor that built the building. Later I worked there and serviced the booth. After it was split into the four screen, I managed it until Wallace bought it from Bob Retzer. It had a pair of Century projectors with Peerless Magnarc lamps and a nice 2 bedroom apartment upstairs that I lived in while managing the Retzer circuit. I was there for a few years and was working at theatres in North Shore of Tahoe.
I need to correct the previous comment, Im getting old… the original Lakeside was between hwy 50 and the beach.
Mr. Vogel is correct, however the new Stateline was never equipped with 70mm…it did have a new Dolby CP-100 stereo sound system with Century SA projectors, I worked there for Bob Retzer and serviced that booth as a tech up until Wallace bought out Retzer.
As a youngster in the late 50s, we lived a half mile from the drive-in, my Mother used to shop at Cecils market and you could see the drive-in from there, we saw a few films there, and at that time the original Stateline theatre was located between highway 50 and the beach just a few blocks away! later in life, I managed the new Stateline cinema and the newer drive-in in Bijou as well as the Lakeside theatre at the Y and the new Tahoe Y cinema across the street for Bob Retzer..
I sold and installed the projection and sound equipment, it was a spacious theatre with booth type tables and seating for food service like a Vegas showroom! It was a little ahead of its time for the area, now full food and drinks are the norm! I also bought back and removed the equipment after it closed, it was a pretty short run!
the building was gutted, lobby, restrooms, 2nd floor is gone (booth). there are offices along the front to the left of the original entrance for a local trucking company that bought the building, it is now a drive through diesel repair shop with two bays completely inside the building and running east to west. on the northeast corner of the parking lot is a new building housing a two bay truck washing facility. originally when built the plans were to place a strip mall along the highway and the theatre would sit behind it with parking, but the economy in Jerome took a dive shortly after it opened so those plans were scrapped by interstate amusement.
as far as I know, the main st is open but they advertise it as part of the grand for booking reasons, if you see the grand is noted as 6 screens, 4 at the grand and 2 at the old snyder. this might explain the address issues!
still one of my very favorite vertical signs, ‘our screen talks’ says it all! i did service work on the projection and sound in all the area theatres from when the Snyders owned them through the purchase by the Agnes family. I miss them, I retired when D cimema came in, when built, the Grand was state of the art, the Snyder theatre was also. and the Lake Park drive in had the nicest lot next to the Parma Motor Vu in Idaho!I hope to visit again soon and wish them the best.
Actually, the building was designed as part of the olympic village and built in 1959 and used as the Nevada olympic team warming hut. It was leased after the olympics by William L. Tamblyn and was converted to the Squaw Valley Theatre. Part of the building was retained by Squaw Valley resorts and housed a cafeteria kitchen and some offices. The Tamblyns operated it until the mid 1980s when they sold their circuit of 5 north shore area theatres. I was a projectionist, theatre manager and projection and sound technician in the circuit.
Update…I am still working on the museum of projection and have found old records of Dooley’s exploits in the theatre biz. The ACE was built during 1909 as the Fullerton and Watson cash store and was one of the first permenant buildngs in the new town of Wendell. Dooley owned and operated the REX (AKA Valley) theatre in nearby Hagerman, He lived in Gooding and sold his interest in the Rex just prior to WW2 when he purchased the F&W store in Wendell to remodel into the new ACE. Dooley never lived in the ACE building as there was a small addition approx. 20x24ft on the rear of the building behind the screen. It housed Dooley’s sign shop, then was a bakery and lastly a dog grooming salon when I bought the building in 1990. I remodeled the space and the rear of ACE into a living space where I reside to present. Dooley spent the war years during the remodel, the once flat wooden floor of the store was removed and dug out with horse drawn fresno scrapers to make the 48" slope to the auditorium floor.I remodeled the theatre into a two screen in 1990 and opened in 1991.It was equipped with new Motiograph AA projectors and Mirrophonic sound system. It was slated to open in 1944 but due to the war effort, seats were not available due to metal shortages so the seats arrived in 1945! A new barrel type roof was added over the original wooden truss roof in 1952 and the screen was enlarged for cinemascope. Dooley went head to head with the nearby Odeon (aka Ward House) theatre for a few years when the Ward House finally stopped exhibiting films. I still have the original Viking popcorn popper that cost $1250.00 new in 1945!The #1 auditorium now houses the museum, the #2 auditorium is still intact equipped with two Simplex XL 35mm projectors set up for reel-to-reel and pltter with Dolby stereo and DTS digital sound, plus Xenon 16mm and Barco Digital Cinema projector.
another note…the theatre building still exists today as a private residence, at some point prior to 1990, a two story addition was added to the northwest corner of the auditorium. While I was remodeling the ACE, I was able to tour the building. The stage and proscenium arch are still in place as well as the tiny balcony including a very small projection room. The main floor is flat and level, there are windows along the east and west walls. After the LDS church built their new ward house north of town, the theatre became home to a couple different churches, then a karate studio and then a residence in the 1990s. The front appears to have been remodeled the same time the addition was made.
this was how it look around 1984, in approx 1988 Melvin Jones added vinyl siding up to the sign and that was on there when I bought it in 1990.
This booth is equipped to run reel to reel with automatic or manual changeover as well as continuous long play on a SPECO platter system
The Schubert (Gooding Cinema) Was never converted to two screens, Interstate Amusement of Twin Falls bought it from Bud Schubert and listed the marquee as a two screen but actually a ploy to be able to screen two different movies nightly. It still has a balcony (less seating) And has just achieved an IRS 501C3 non-profit class and will be undergoing restoration soon by a local group.
When the new ACE theatre opened in 1945, the theatre in the photo above was operating and known as the Ward House Theatre and the building was originally the local ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It had approx. 300 seats with a balcony of approximately 60 seats. The Ward House continued exhibiting motion pictures for approximately a year when it closed to the public.
I am the current owner of the ACE. To update the statements above, Morris ‘Dooley’ Perkins opened the ACE in late 1945. The building is not a ‘quonset hut’ but was originally the Wendell Mercantile Co. opened in 1910. The all masonry building was modified in 1952 for Cinemascope and the roof line was raised as well as the proscenium was expanded for the larger picture. It was at this time the ‘barrel’ style roof purchased from a nearby school gymnasium was placed on top of the building. The theatre is being remodeled into a museum of motion picture technology and is still operational with 35mm film. There will be an interactive 1940s vintage carbon arc projection room as well as projectors and related movie equipment on display dating to the late 1890s. I currently have approx. 50+ vintage projectors for the museum and I am continuing my search for memorabilia regarding theatres in southern Idaho as well as equipment to place in the display. For more information, please email me.