Soledad Theatre

Thanks, Joe. I suppose it’s no big deal. I promised my Mom before she passed away that I would write my Dad’s life history, and this was a major part of it, so I googled Soledad Theatre to see what I could find.

Thank you, Joe. I sent an email to: with three photos, and it was returned by the MAIL DEAMON.

I just saw this blog of several years ago. My dad managed the Soledad Theatre from 1947 until 1978. He installed the cinema screen and when it first opened there were good cartoons and current newsreels between movies. [My daughter visited there only two years ago. It did not burn down. She said it was a pitiful site with second-hand clothing being sold inside.] I knew Ernie Gnesa and Ed Franscioni, but did not know they purchased the theatre, apparently from Ralph Martin. Many people in town thought my dad owned the theatre. Ha-Ha! When we as kids would help him clean the theatre he would often allow us to roller-skate up, down and around. It was worth sweeping and mopping to be able to do that. By the way, the Rio Theatre was Spanish-speaking movies only, and it was on Front Street, Soledad. If I remember correctly, Ralph Martin may have been the owner of that theatre also, for awhile anyway. If there is a way to post pictures, I have some.

Andres: Yes, different theaters have been conflated on this page. The page is supposed to be about the Soledad Theatre that closed in 1946, following a fire. Boxoffice Magazine reported that the theater burned to the ground, but that might or might not have been the case. The photos linked in Chuck’s comments actually depict the newer Soledad Theatre on Kidder Street. So far nobody has posted any photos of the earlier Soledad Theatre.

To add to the mysteries, I’ve found a single reference to a theater in Soledad called the Mission, being operated by Ernest Gnesa and Edward Franscioni in 1933. This might have been another name for the Soledad Theatre which opened around 1922, or it might have been a different theater as yet unlisted at Cinema Treasures.

The 1947 Soledad Theatre doesn’t have a Cinema Treasures page yet. I think I have enough information about it to submit it now, so a page might show up later today or tomorrow. Look for it under the “New Theatres” heading on the site’s home page.

No sooner is one mystery solved than another arises. It has taken me a few months to realize that there’s another mystery, though. Boxoffice of October 5, 1946, said: “The Soledad Theatre in Soledad burned to the ground recently. Owners are Gnesa and Franscioni.” But, in the absence of addresses, there’s no confirmation that the burned Soledad Theatre was the same one that was run by the Johnsons in the 1920s.

If the information in the October 6, 2005, comment by Tom DeLay above is correct, and the building the Johnsons' Soledad Theatre occupied is still standing, then the theater that burned to the ground in 1946 must have been a second Soledad Theatre, and the building on Kidder Street that was built to replace it would be the third house of the name.

I should mention that the later Soledad, which has been described by myself and others on this page as a Quonset style structure is NOT an actual surplus Quonset, as some postwar theatres were. It is a purpose built barrel-vaulted structure, like others one finds in California and other areas, like the Capitola in Capitola, the Park in Menlo Park, Delta in Brentwood, Cerrito in El Cerrito, and a number designed by S. Charles Lee in the Southern part of the state. Incidentally, I just posted some clarification about the Rio Theatre in Soledad on its page, as there was some confusion by others as to where this was, or if it was misidentified. The Rio and Soledad (#2) were separate theatres, and both buildings still stand. All I know about the original Soledad Theatre is what I’ve read on this page, posted by Tom DeLay. I guess to be truly organized, this Soledad #2 should have its own page. One of the perils of documenting theatres…name changes, and the carrying of names to newer buildings.

The Quonset style structure which still stands was also named the Soledad. I remember being able to read the neon on the vertical sign from 101 in the early 1980s. I wish I’d photographed it then. The vertical sign structure, poster cases, and box office remain.

Indeed, Mike. I have never seen any numbers to back this up, but I would suspect there were far more photoplayer style instruments than there were theatre organs. The theatre organ suffered badly enough, but, there are still a remarkable few of them still around and many of them going BACK into theatres were they belong. However, the photoplayer instrument was highly disposable when their use was no longer needed and out they went. I came across the piano portion of a Wurlitzer style YO photoplayer in a church in Porterville, California. The instrument had been in the Crystal Theatre in P-ville and was well-remembered by locals for the great music the instrument’s roll player produced on the tiny piano/organ. The pipe and percussion swell boxes were long gone, but the huge upright piano was pumping out church music in one of the Sunday school classrooms. What a waste.

I have not driven into Soledad in quite a while. I usually stick to the freeway. The quonset hut building/theatre could well be a swap meet/market now. Last time I drove into town, it was nothing more than some offices. I have never heard what the actual name of the quonset hut theatre building was.

The old Soledad Theatre was located on the much older block of buildings that faces the tracks and 101. A daughter of the original owner still lives in Salinas. She showed me a book that had a photo of the Soledad theatre in it. While the theatre is long gone, the building still stands, as i understand it.

BTW, further north in Monterey County, there were once two theatres in Castroville. One is now the Palace Market, the other used to stand on the north side of town where a union hall now squats. Anyh idea what the names of these theatres were?

Which theatre? The old Soledad Theatre or the later Quonset hut structure?