Niles Theatre

NamVet on October 31, 2019 at 12:04 am

Photos of the Niles Theater, (now the Niles District of Fremont California) taken in 1949.

The Niles Theater was once located in the northwest portion of downtown Niles, on First Street (now Niles Blvd.), facing east, towards the Niles foothills and the entrance into scenic Niles Canyon on California State Highway 84.

The first photo shows the “Florence” tavern, still a perennial favorite of locals and visitors alike. Now a popular weekend destination for thirsty antique store shoppers and motorcycling enthusiasts. The second photo offers a closeup of the theater marque, ticket booth and adjacent ice cream and soda fountain.

Opened in 1924, the Niles Theater was an opulently decorated Art Deco theater for such a small- town venue. With a seating capacity of approximately 500 plus patrons, its centerpiece was a massive Art Deco Tiffany style circular lighted bronze chandelier, centered directly over the main floor seating area, supported by an enormously large single chain link into the ceiling. Elegant vertical Art Deco sconces were strategically placed along both walls of the theater, from the first-row seats back towards the rear of the theater. A large balcony or “lodge” level, at the upper rear portion of the theater afforded intimate seating for patrons willing to pay a little extra.

Centered at the front entrance to the theater was the hexagon shaped cashier’s booth surrounded in decorative burgundy colored Art Deco motif tiles. For evening patrons, the entire entrance was brilliantly lit at night. Entering into the tiny lobby, patrons found a refreshment bar and counter to the left and Men’s and Women’s restroom to the right. The lobby floor was decorated with an opulent burgundy, cyan, yellow, green and black Art Deco Bird of Paradise carpet motif. Once past the lobby, patrons entered the main theater on either the left or right main aisles through the circular glass entrance doors on opposite sides towards the end of the lobby. Once inside, carpeted spiral staircases led up to the lodge seats.

Most movies offered were of the B movie genre. First-run A-genre movies were usually offered sometimes months after their premier debut. Saturday afternoon billings provided marathon children’s classic serials, westerns and cartoons, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Gene Autrey, Johnny Mack Brown, etc.

Movie goers would sometimes board a Peerless Stages Bus at the Niles Bus Depot and travel to the larger Hayward Theater for A-genre movies. The Hayward Theater offered first-run Wide-Screen CinemaScope movies through the 1960’s.

In 1959 the Niles Theater was destroyed by fire. The remains of the structure were surrounded by a chain link fence until 1968 when it was finally demolished.