LaBelle Thetare
311 D Street,
South Charleston,
WV
25303
311 D Street,
South Charleston,
WV
25303
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I was by there the other day and I’m sorry to say that the facade has been remodeled in the most horrible way possible, and the marquee and neon are all gone.
W. B. Urling, one of the original partners in the Alpine Theater Circuit, was still active in operating the LaBelle and another South Charleston house called the Victory Theatre at least as late as 1960, when The February 1 issue of Boxoffice, mentioning both houses, said that he had recently visited West Palm Beach, Florida.
This page about the LaBelle says that the theater was renamed Cinema South in the late 1960s, and operated as a movie theater into the 1980s. It was used as a church through the 1990s, until being bought in 2003 by the City of South Charleston, who restored both the theater and its original name.
The Labelle is no longer a church. The city renovated it. The WV International Film Festival just announced they will be there this year. http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20140717/DM01/140719384
This is no longer a theatre, it is the Rose of Sharon Fellowship Church.
Is this theater still around? I am in the process of buying and rehabbing the Philippi Grand and if it proves profitable I want to work on reopening other theaters in WV, KY, OH, PA, MD, and VA. There are so many wonderful old theaters with more character than any modern cookie cutter places.
Google streetview of the LaBelle:
http://tinyurl.com/y8sajzv
http://tinyurl.com/yck3zef
http://tinyurl.com/yevcxyo
I think I used to go to this theater a lot as a kid. I think I saw my first horror movie here (if you consider Gremlins to be horror). I was 5. I think I also saw Flight of the Navigator here. Maybe someone can help me with this. Was the LaBelle lobby decorated with decals of Disney characters? If so, then I remember this theater.
Here’s a 2007 view of the very nicely redone LaBelle Theater: http://www.boxsetgallery.com/stein/index2.html