Majestic Theatre
916 15th Avenue,
East Moline,
IL
61244
916 15th Avenue,
East Moline,
IL
61244
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Looks like we have a few photos of the first Majestic which need to be moved to the other listing.
A November 20, 1954 Boxoffice item about the closing of the Majestic said that the Carpentier brothers had been lessees of the 40-year-old building since 1924. The Carpentiers were the owners of the Strand Theatre, which they had opened in 1921.
Well, maybe one more note? The address for this theater was 916-918. Not sure which was used by the second floor. The 920 address did not exist, as late as 1957.
One last note, which may help any confusion for other researchers: 15th Ave was called 1st Ave until sometime between 1912 and 1950.
I’ve created a listing for the older Majestic, and the photo should be moved there. It’s unfortunate that there only seem to be 1912, 1950, and 1957 maps for East Moline, it leaves a lot of gaps.
The 1950 map shows that the second floor was a dance hall. Not sure if that left room for a balcony. The stage at rear was only one story. By the way, the streetview car went down the back alley, so you can get a good look at this. The 1957 map shows the ground floor split into two storefronts, but there is a marquee (not shown on the 1950 map, possibly just an omission) still present. Second floor was still a hall of some sort.
The “New” Majestic Theatre opened December 26, 1914. It replaced a much smaller, neighboring, converted retail spot also called the Majestic when the older spot was too small to effectively present both films and live vaudeville. The theater’s closed in August of 1954 just prior to its 40th anniversary. The theatre was retrofitted for other purposes.
The February 21, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Majestic:
This building is no longer used as a theater. It was converted to offices in the 70’s. The building was remodeled recently with a new front facade and a new interior.