Yay! Mystery solved! I’ve taken photos of that side of the road before, but I don’t remember anything that may have once been a theater. I’ll drive by in the next day or two and have a look.
The original, pre-OKC address for the Ritz was 214 E. Britton Rd. After looking at the photo Carl posted of the Britton compared to the vintage photo of the Ritz, I don’t think they’re the same building. The Britton has a rounded ticket booth with an entry to the side, while it looks like the Ritz was more symmetrical. What do you guys think?
I have several phone books from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s and didn’t find the Britton Theater in any of them — must have been pretty short lived.
The sign was recently restored and looks great — was lit for the first time in decades not too long ago. Here’s a photo of the sign during the day as it looks now:
I will go back and take some photos at night very soon.
The theater itself has been gutted, along with several other buildings on the block, and they are for lease. The area is undergoing a nice revitalization, so I imagine that all of the buildings will be occupied soon and people will once again be shopping along NW 23rd.
It looks like it’s now a Latino club. I remember back in the early 80’s it was a club/concert hall called The Ritz. The seats were all gone, obviously, but a lot of the interior murals and grand staircases were still there back then. Wonder what the interior looks like now.
I think that half of the teenagers in Dallas spent the 70’s and early 80’s going to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” here as the midnight movie on the weekends. I also remember seeing “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” here and a revival of “Tommy.” It was THE place to be on the weekends if you were a teenager in those days.
I don’t live in Dallas anymore and had no idea that this great theater had closed. So sad.
The restaurant was the Spanish Galleon, and yes, it was built like a ship on the outside and had all kinds of nets and rigging inside as the decor. There was another one at Lemmon and N. Hall streets in the 70’s, I think. Also, the Circle Inn came down a few years ago.
Here’s a history of the theater — lots of photos, too:
http://okcmod.com/?p=9059
I think this is a W. Scott Dunne design.
Here’s a view from May 2012. When we were there, workers were finishing up some interior renovation. The place looks good and is now a dance studio:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25726169@N03/7165924930/in/photostream
Here are a couple of photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25726169@N03/5836316810/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/25726169@N03/5836317190/in/photostream
The Centre Theater has been fully restored. Here’s a photo of what it looks like now (June 2011):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25726169@N03/5818667248/in/photostream
I think that this beautiful theater might be a Jack CORGAN design???
I don’t think this theater ever did very well because, by the mid-70’s, it was showing soft porn flicks.
I believe that this is a photo of the Wynnewood Shopping Center with a scaffold sign of the Wynnewood Theatre in the background. Can anyone confirm?
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Here’s a then and now shot of the building. The “then” was taken soon after it opened in 1928, and the now was taken in 2009:
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Here’s a photo from around 1988:
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Here it is in 2010:
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And a detail shot of one of the letters in the neon sign:
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Yay! Mystery solved! I’ve taken photos of that side of the road before, but I don’t remember anything that may have once been a theater. I’ll drive by in the next day or two and have a look.
Photos of the Tower Theater sign lit up for the first time in two decades:
View link
View link
The original, pre-OKC address for the Ritz was 214 E. Britton Rd. After looking at the photo Carl posted of the Britton compared to the vintage photo of the Ritz, I don’t think they’re the same building. The Britton has a rounded ticket booth with an entry to the side, while it looks like the Ritz was more symmetrical. What do you guys think?
I have several phone books from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s and didn’t find the Britton Theater in any of them — must have been pretty short lived.
The sign was recently restored and looks great — was lit for the first time in decades not too long ago. Here’s a photo of the sign during the day as it looks now:
View link
I will go back and take some photos at night very soon.
The theater itself has been gutted, along with several other buildings on the block, and they are for lease. The area is undergoing a nice revitalization, so I imagine that all of the buildings will be occupied soon and people will once again be shopping along NW 23rd.
The theater, restaurant, and surrounding buildings are now junk stores. Here are some photos I took of the theater on 11/6/09:
Exterior:
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Lobby:
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Looking toward projection booth and front of theater:
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Click on the link provided by Seymour, then type in Elk Theatre in the Search box, and a page will pop up with the photos they’re talking about.
Here are two photos from 2009:
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My image of the old Circle Theater:
View link
It looks like it’s now a Latino club. I remember back in the early 80’s it was a club/concert hall called The Ritz. The seats were all gone, obviously, but a lot of the interior murals and grand staircases were still there back then. Wonder what the interior looks like now.
Yes, I took some photos there last fall, and this is what I found:
View link
I think that half of the teenagers in Dallas spent the 70’s and early 80’s going to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” here as the midnight movie on the weekends. I also remember seeing “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” here and a revival of “Tommy.” It was THE place to be on the weekends if you were a teenager in those days.
I don’t live in Dallas anymore and had no idea that this great theater had closed. So sad.
The Park Forest is now an antique mall. Here’s a photo of what it looks like today:
View link
The restaurant was the Spanish Galleon, and yes, it was built like a ship on the outside and had all kinds of nets and rigging inside as the decor. There was another one at Lemmon and N. Hall streets in the 70’s, I think. Also, the Circle Inn came down a few years ago.
Will do! Thanks for the information.
Darn it! I was hoping that you could solve the mystery for me — guess not!