Revilla Theatre
220 Front Street,
Ketchikan,
AK
99901
220 Front Street,
Ketchikan,
AK
99901
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Additional Info
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Dream Theatre
Nearby Theaters
No theaters found within 30 miles
The Dream Theatre opened in 1919. In the 1920’s it was renamed Revilla Theatre. It was closed in 1977. In 2023 it was in retail use as a clothing store.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
The 1941 and 1943 editions of Film Daily Yearbook list the Coliseum Theatre;700 seats and the Revilla Theatre;480 seats in Ketchikan, Alaska.
In 1963 the Revilla was part of the B.F. Shearer theater chain.
The December 14, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World had an article about Alaska’s movie theaters. It said that L. H. Kubley, who had recently sold his Dream Theatre in Ketchikan, was planning to build a new house in that town. The original Dream Theatre was renamed the Liberty by its new owner, Jack Barbour.
Kubley’s new house was apparently the one that became the Revilla, so the house could have opened in 1919. The name change to Revilla was made in the late 1920s, according to this article about the Kubley family.
The June 21, 1952, issue of Boxoffice had a brief item saying that B. F. Shearer and his associate Lawrence Kubley were taking bids for the construction of a new, 700-seat theater on the site of the Revilla Theatre in Ketchikan. I don’t know if this project was carried out or not. If it was then later editions of the FDY should (but might not) list the house with an increased seating capacity.
Joe: Alaska does not feature in the theatre lists in the 1952, 1955 or 1957 Film Daily Yearbooks.
I’ve noticed that (at least in the PDFs I have) in some of the editions from the 1950s the FDY’s drop the complete lists of movie theaters they had previously included and provide only lists of theaters operated by chains, which leaves out a lot of independent houses. I hadn’t noticed that they dropped an entire (future) state from the listings.
Dream Theatre in 1912-1914, according to a mention in this article.
“Fred Purinton managed some of those early-day Ketchikan teams. Purinton is remembered as “a good mixer.” He was also manager of David Gross’s Dream Theater on Front Street and his job allowed him the daytime hours to devote to the team. Known as the man who originated the slogan “In the meantime go to the Dream,” he was known as a showman who could make people sit up and take notice. And take notice they did in 1914 when Fred ordered a goat shipped up to be the Ketchikan team’s mascot. He insisted it was worth it, just to have the goat eat tin cans and paper litter scattered about town.”
http://www.sitnews.net/JuneAllen/Baseball/042603_100_years.html
And this from the Kubley family history link below.
Lawrence continued his business activities for many years, involved in many projects. He opened his Dream Theater on Front Street, next door to Tongass Trading’s concrete building and just across the street from the candy shop. When talkies came in during the late 1920s, he decided to change the theater’s name and held a contest to rename it. The winning name was The Revilla Theater.
http://www.sitnews.net/JuneAllen/Kubley/070903_six_generations.html
Address is 220 Front Street based on the photo posted by Sarah B. Second building from the corner of Dock Street & Front Street in below Library of Congress photo.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ak0349.photos/?sp=2