Northside Theatre
120 W. Mishawaka Avenue,
Mishawaka,
IN
46545
120 W. Mishawaka Avenue,
Mishawaka,
IN
46545
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A history of Mishawaka'a Tivoli Theatre has the line “Sound equipment first came to Mishawaka at the newer but smaller Northside Theater….” As the Tivoli was opened in 1925 and wired for sound in 1929, the “newer” Northside had to have been opened between those years. It also appears that Mishawaka Theatre was its opening name, as that is how it makes its first appearance in the FDY, in the 1930 edition. It might have been mis-listed in the 1929 FDY as the River Park Theatre, the name of a house that was actually in neighboring South Bend. In any case, the Mishawaka probably opened in either 1928 or 1929.
This opened on February 26th, 1934 and closed in 1955. Grand opening ad posted.
I know for a while it was a live performance night club/bar. It had a decent little stage for small theatre. This was late 70’s early 80’s.
The Northside Theatre was demolished in 2006. According to this article in the South Bend Tribune, the building was being demolished by Mishawaka’s redevelopment agency, and the land will probably be marketed for residential use.
Here is an undated photo showing the Northside Theatre after it had been converted to another use. There is nothing resembling this building in Street View, so my guess is that it’s been demolished. Below the photo it says that this was the Mishawaka Theatre, “…also known as the Northside Theatre.”
The asymmetrical facade, the broad but shallow tile-roofed tower section, and the three arches framed by Solomonic columns gave the building a look that was more Moorish than anything else. I’ve been unable to discover the opening year, but sometime in the 1920s seems most likely, although an 800-seat house called the Mishawaka Theatre was listed in the 1910 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide. I couldn’t find a theater called the Mishawaka in the 1921 South Bend-Mishawaka City Directory.
I don’t see this building on the map view, unless I’m looking in the wrong spot. I just see a vacant lot.
The American Terra Cotta Index lists a theater and store building by Rapp & Rapp from June 26, 1930. Is this it?