Warren, 1911 was the year the theater was built. It was built with money from the will of George Sparks who had drowned in a ship wreck off the coast of California in 1907. The theater was known as the New Theatre from 1911 until after WWII when it was taken over by the Malco chain. A new entrance was added in 1922 to the South and over that door it says Sparks 1922, but Sparks was never the name of the theater. I’m sure they did squeeze 1100 in it originally, but today you could only safely handle about 800 people. The theater was designed by the Boller brothers, early in their career.
“A photo at the website of the original
entrance shows the date 1911 and "Sparks” engraved in the top of the wall. Was that the original name of the theatre? The 1932 Film Daily Year Book reports the New Theatre’s seating capacity as 1,100. "
Warren, 1911 was the year the theater was built. It was built with money from the will of George Sparks who had drowned in a ship wreck off the coast of California in 1907. The theater was known as the New Theatre from 1911 until after WWII when it was taken over by the Malco chain. A new entrance was added in 1922 to the South and over that door it says Sparks 1922, but Sparks was never the name of the theater. I’m sure they did squeeze 1100 in it originally, but today you could only safely handle about 800 people. The theater was designed by the Boller brothers, early in their career.
“A photo at the website of the original
entrance shows the date 1911 and "Sparks” engraved in the top of the wall. Was that the original name of the theatre? The 1932 Film Daily Year Book reports the New Theatre’s seating capacity as 1,100. "