Lyric Theatre
325 Dewey Avenue,
Bartlesville,
OK
74003
325 Dewey Avenue,
Bartlesville,
OK
74003
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Griffith Amusement Company, Video Independent Theaters Inc.
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Grand Theatre, Telemovie Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Grand Theatre was opened June 5, 1913. On July 9, 1917 it was renamed Lyric Theatre. It was still open in 1957. In 1957 it was renamed Telemovie Theatre and began use as a pay-TV studio. Later reconstructed with offices and business’s.
It was demolished in 1966 and the site now serves as a parking lot.
Contributed by
Lauren Grubb
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Great vintage images of the Lyric Theatre can be viewed on this site;
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/cinemasok
This theater opened as the Grand. Look at this photo of the Lyric Theatre, then compare this photo from the August 2, 1913, issue of the trade journal The Moving Picture Age, depicting the theater when it was called the Grand. The caption reveals that the Grand opened on June 5, 1913.
A larger version of the photo I linked to in my previous comment appears in the book Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The caption says the name Grand was changed to Lyric in 1917.
Page 88 of the book “Oklahoma City: Film Row” says the Lyric was the location of the Bartlesville Telemovie Experiment, a precursor to cable television that lasted from September 3rd, 1957 to June 6th 1958.
It also says the Lyric’s address was 325 Dewey Avenue.
On Google Street View, the building currently numbered 318 occupied by Cooper Herrington Furniture looks to me enough like the photo on page 88 of the book to possibly be the former Lyric.
1947 photo as the Lyric added, credit Oklahoma Historical Society.
The Lyric was definitely at 325 SE Dewey Avenue, and it has been demolished. Check the distinctive cornice and parapet of the building housing Chad Louis Designs (321 SE Dewey) and Southern Abstract (323 SE Dewey.) It is identical to the cornice and parapet seen adjacent to the theater in the 1947 photo added by DavidZornig. Next door, where the theater was, is now a parking lot.
In 1957, Video Independent Theaters and Vumore transformed the Lyric Theatre to the Telemovie Theatre, billed as “the first telemovie service in the world.”
Reopened as Lyric theatre on July 9th, 1917. Grand opening ad and AI enhanced photos posted.
Some history of the Lyric and its conversion into a Pay-TV studio.
Additional history credit Bartlesville Area History Museum.
“The Lyric Theater was located on Dewey Ave. next to the City Hall. During the 1930’s it became the Grand Theater. In 1995 there were efforts by a few citizens of Bartlesville to save the theater from demolition, but as it had been completely reconstructed inside for use as offices and businesses, there were no traces of the theater left - it was torn down in 1996.”