Regent Theatre

1022 Main Street,
Winfield, KS 67156

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Additional Info

Architects: Willis A. Ritchie

Styles: Romanesque Revival

Previous Names: Winfield Grand Opera House

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The Winfield Daily Courier, February 17, 1961

The Regent Theatre was located in Winfield’s former Grand Opera House, which opened in 1887. It was demolished in February 1961.

Contributed by Ken McIntyre

Recent comments (view all 11 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on December 13, 2008 at 9:04 pm

From Boxoffice magazine, May 1950:

O.F. Sullivan, Wichita theaterman, has leased the Regent Theater in Winfield, Kas. Remodeling plans are under discussion. The Regent is a 750-seat house.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 27, 2009 at 8:43 pm

Boxoffice magazine reported in May 1960 that O.F. Sullivan was closing the Regent and that the seats and equipment were being removed from the building.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on June 3, 2009 at 2:21 pm

The description at the top says that this theater was located in the city’s Opera House. There is a Winfield Grand Opera House listed under Winfield KS in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Unfortunately, the listings in this Guide do not include street addresses. The opera house was located on the ground floor; the proscenium opening was 33 feet wide X 20 feet high, and the stage was 30 feet deep. Gas illumination was used, and the Mgr. was T.B. Myers. It supposedly had 1,000 seats. The 1897 population of Winfield was 7,000. I don’t know if this is the theater which later became the Regent.

JoelWeide
JoelWeide on June 3, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Compare the photos from the first post (ken mc) and the post by Chuck1231. This is not the Regent this theatre the Fox House. From the pictures in the first post by ken mc, you will notice that the Regent is located at the end of the block, while the Fox is across the street and in the middle of the block.
Also the Winfield Cinema sign is identical to the Fox sign and the marquee panels at some point were changed out and replaced with plastic ‘Winfield Cinema 1 &2."

Don Lewis
Don Lewis on August 29, 2010 at 4:51 pm

From the 1950s a photo postcard view of the Regnet Theatre in Winfield.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 30, 2010 at 8:27 am

This page should be titled Regent Theatre, with the aka Winfield Grand Opera House. There is already another Cinema Treasures page for the Winfield Cinema, under its earlier name of Fox Theatre. It has the correct address. The address on this page is for the Regent Theatre, aka Winfield Grand Opera House (as listed in Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide), but several of the comments after the first five about the Fox/Winfield Cinema.

Here is a page with several photos of the Regent Theatre (click on the thumbnails) including a number of interior shots. The Opera House was opened in 1887, and was designed in the Romanesque Revival style by local architect Willis A. Ritchie.

Here is a large web page about Willis Ritchie, with contemporary news articles about his projects an numerous photos of various buildings he designed.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 2, 2010 at 7:44 am

I’ve found that, after a number of years practicing in Winfield, and not long after designing the Opera House, architect Willis Ritchie moved to the state of Washington, settling in Spokane in 1892. There he became one of the most successful architects in the Northwest, designing buildings throughout the region, from Vancouver, Washington, to Anaconda, Montana, as well as the Washington State Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Cowley_County_Historical_Society
Cowley_County_Historical_Society on July 10, 2013 at 9:43 pm

The Regent Theatre DOES NOT still stand. It’s address was 1022 Main St. It was torn down in February of 1961.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on July 6, 2021 at 8:30 pm

Boxoffice, Aug. 17, 1957: “The Regent in Winfield, Kas., closed recently by O. L. Sullivan, has been taken over by Fred Munson who operates the Winfield Drive-In there, as well as the 166 Drive-In at Arkansas City and the Scott City Drive-In”

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on October 13, 2021 at 12:35 am

Maybe this sale didn’t take? The Exhibitor, April 28, 1954: “The Regent and Nile, Winfield, Kans., have been purchased by Ray Winch from O. F. Sullivan.”

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