RKO Mainstreet Theatre
200 Main Street,
Racine,
WI
53403
200 Main Street,
Racine,
WI
53403
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: RKO
Architects: Cornelius Ward Rapp, George W. Leslie Rapp
Firms: Rapp & Rapp
Styles: Neo-Classical
Previous Names: Orpheum Theatre, National Theatre, RKO Allen Theatre
Nearby Theaters
A handsome theatre with a corner entrance and a number of box seats circling the auditorium. It was located on the northwest corner of State Street and Main Street in Racine. The Orpheum Theatre opened on April 29, 1912 as a vaudeville theatre and screening animated movies. It was home to the Racine Theater Guild between its regular film programs. On July 1, 1920 it was taken over by the Chicago based chain First National Theatre Company and was renamed National Theatre. On September 7, 1930 it reopened as the RKO Allen Theatre, and in 1934 renamed RKO Mainstreet Theatre with Sue Carol in “She’s My Weakness” on the screen and vaudeville on the stage.
After it was closed in late-1951, the local newspaper reported “wild vandalism” within (things like loosened radiators, discharged fire extinguishers and broken plaster which probably looked worse than what it really was), and despite a few pleas to rethink the situation, the pro-demolition momentum won out and the still-solid RKO Mainstreet Theatre was flattened in 1959.
The local paper made light of the event by showing the wrecking process along with a still-attached sign below the rounded marquee reading “Smashing Adventure”. The site remained a vacant lot until at least 2009. A car park is on the site today.
Contributed by
Louis Rugani
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Recent comments (view all 32 comments)
April 17, 1936: Car Upsets and Lands in Ditch; Driver Hurt
When Francis Schlax, 4815 Twentieth avenue, Kenosha, lost control of his auto on Highway 38 near Seven Mile road yesterday afternoon it darted across the roadway, struck a guywire, crashed into a pile of rocks and bounded 60 feet into a ditch. Mr. Schlax suffered a fractured arm and lacerations of the head. He is at St. Mary’s hospital. The car rolled over three or four times, it was reported to Undersheriff Roscoe Pease and Deputy Allen Healy, and came to a stop with the front end of the auto buried in the ground.
https://books.google.com/books?id=YN9aAAAAYAAJ&dq=construction%20news%20september%201912&pg=RA7-PA12#v=onepage&q=construction%20news%20september%201912&f=false
From CONSTRUCTION NEWS, September 28, 1912: “Two theaters, one at Racine and the other at Madison, Wis., each bearing the name of Orpheum (1), have recently been completed and opened to the public. … The building at Madison is a theater building exclusively, while that at Racine is much larger and contains a number of offices as well as the theater. While differing widely in general plan the two buildings are of the same type of construction, the theater interiors are designed along similar lines, and a description of the construction and architectural treatment of one applies generally to the other. … These theaters are similar to the Class 5 theater, as defined by the building ordinance of the city of Chicago, and each has a total seating capacity of about 1,500. The walls are of brick, resting on reinforced concrete spread foundations. Floors are of reinforced concrete. They are finished in most part with a cement surface, but a liberal use is also made of marble tile for this purpose. Roofs are of flat arch construction supported on steel trusses. The buildings are fireproof throughout with the exception of the cantilever supports of the mezzanine floor and balconies, which are of the slow burning mill construction. The interior finish generally is in ornamental plaster. … The mezzanine floor, containing eleven divisions or compartments, is a distinctive feature of these theaters, suggested by the latest practice in London and on the continent of Europe. This practice is unusual in America. … This arrangement of the mezzanine floor, where adopted, has been found to be a popular feature, since each division of the mezzanine floor has many of the advantages of a box without the corresponding expense. Four proscenium boxes are provided. The mezzanine floor is reached by stairways from the foyer on the main floor. The balcony is so arranged as to provide practically both a balcony and a gallery, but without a sharp division between the two. The lower section is entered through tunnels, while the upper section is entered at a higher level from the rear. The two sections are separate only as to means of entrance and exit, the aisles of one section, as is common in larger theaters, being offset in location with reference to those of the other section. The architectural treatment of both buildings is in the style of Louis XIV. … The general contractors of the Racine theater were the Geo. J. Hoffman Company of South Bend, Ind.”
This reopened as the RKO Main Street on September 7th, 1930. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Grand opening ad from April 27th, 1927 in the photo section and below:
Found on Newspapers.com
New Theatre Company Forming (June 17, 1920) The new owners are organizing a new theatre company and the Orpheum will be the nucleus theatre around which will be formed a large circuit of high class theatres that will be the social and amusement center of every city where located. Some of the parties to be interested in the new Theatre Company are among the leading and public spirited people of Racine, whose civic pride prompts them, more than the large profits to be made, to associate themselves with the company. Just appreciation and credit is given Mr. John Bate for his manifest interest and public spirit in the institutions of Racine, by the building of this magnificent theatre. There are three institutions in a city from which it draws its good or bad name. The theatre, the church and the educational. Of these, the theatre is not the least important.
Wonderful Prosperity in Theatre Business
In these days of reaction from the great World War and an unheard of prosperity-theatres and the theatre business has become one of the greatest producers of un-taired wealth in the list of big businesses. Properly.con-ducted and under correct policy, the Orpheum (to be the “NATIONAL” in the future) will enter the Horor Roll of big financial and social successes. A thearre so hear tiful and comfortable, the pride of boosters of Racine, must have a policy that wil stand out as an example of culture and refinement, which the people of Racire may justly demand and which will make it possible for visit-ors and friends to carry away a good report of Racine as the amusement and social center of the state and it SHALL BE DONE, under the jurisdiction of the man who has never yet failed to do so.
As a matter of introducing the man upon whom the people of Racine will depend for their theatrical amusement and entertainment, much of anticipation and encouragement may be said. Mr. Duncanson, one of the men “behind the guns,” is a man well qualified by accomplishments and experience, to meet all your expectations and one who can appreciate your confidence and patronage. Mr. Duncanson was formerly Vice President and General Manager of a million dollar theatre comраnу, owning and operating a circuit of theatres. He has never failed to popularize and make a wonderfully paying proposition of any theatre he has ever taken charge of and he will popularize the “NATIONAL.” He is a man of foresight and faith in the future, and has the courage and judgment to back up his belief in humanity, with money and time. While others with equal opportunities hesitate and never “get out of the trenches,” he forges aheed. “CERTAINTIES HAVE THEIR LIMITATIONS WHILE LARGE PROFITS ARE MADE BY TAKING REASONABLE RISKS.” (June 17, 1920)
Fall From Sign Kills Painter (Kenosha Evening News - May 5, 1949)
George B. Jensen 41, 3827 7th Ave., local paint contractor, was killed shortly before 1 o'clock this afternoon when he fell from a sign which he was painting at the Main Street Theater located on the corner of Main and State Sts. in Racine.
Jensen was painting on the vertical sign, 50 feet above the street level, when the swing stage anchorage slipped and plunged the Kenoshan to pavement.
Witnesses said he struck his head on the marquee sign in the fall, and he was pronounced dead immediately by Racine County Coroner Bernard Evenson.
Everett Cayo, 7402 40th Ave:, who was painting on the opposite side of the vertical sign, was uninjured.
This site is now a car park.