Fox Theater
831 Avenue G,
Fort Madison,
IA
52627
831 Avenue G,
Fort Madison,
IA
52627
1 person
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Showing 19 comments
I wonder when this theater was twinned…
Per Andy Andrews on Facebook: “Lot of stories about old Strand/Fox theatre - opened July 1, 1919 as Strand Theatre and in winter 1951 a complete remodeling with grand opening April 12, 1951 - Many of us old timer’s remember H. L. "Chub” Golladay & Daisy that managed the theatre 1940 to 1946 and returned again after the remodel to manage the theatre - in interim Ralph Wallace managed it."
Congratulations to Eisentraut Theaters! Best wishes to you in the future.
This theatre re-opened on March 3, 2017. Operated by Eisentraut Theatres of Hillsboro Illinois.
Currently considering going back to one screen. Still working on keeping the building solid and sound. New roof project completed this summer. For those of you that still show an interest in the Fox, THANKS!
Probably the worst thing they did was twinning the thing. But I believe it could be successful as a twin. It all depends on how it’s booked. I don’t think live performances would work. Thw auditoriums are now too small and it does not appear to have fly screens.
From 2012 a photo of the Fox Theater in Madison
The article Tinseltoes linked to has the name of the architect for the conversion of the Strand into the Fox, but the scan doesn’t show a few letters at the beginning of each line in the left column of the page, so the architect’s surname is missing. He was Samuel W. (something short) Jr..
I’m thinking it must have been Samuel W. Bihr, Jr., who was a contract architect for Fox Midwest in the early 1950s, designing everything from minor remodeling jobs to entirely new theaters. His designs of the period were typically transitional Streamline Modern/Midcentury Modern, which fits the Fort Madison Fox.
Joe, thanks for the information. I will add that to all of the history materials that we have for the Strand/Fox.
The monthly Stone & Webster Journal had the following item in the Fort Madison section of its July, 1919 issue:
The August 11, 1928, issue of Motion Picture Times published remarks from the manager and publicity director of the Strand and Orpheum Theatres in Fort Madison, accompanied by a small photo of the entrance to the Strand looking as though it had been decorated to publicize a particular movie.With the support of Fort Madison Main Street and Main Street Iowa, we have received a grant and we will start restoration of the marquee in the spring of 2012. In addition we will be doing additional roof repairs.
Thanks to all for your continued interest in the Fox Theater.
If you are interested in seeing the Fox inside and out, please feel free to look at an electronic tour that I have built by using the attached link.
http://home.earthlink.net/~photod1/Fox/index.html
Larry Wright
My Mom lived in Fort Madison, Iowa during the 1940’s-early 1950’s. An avid moviegoer, she mentioned the Strand frequently. It appeared to be her movie theatre of choice. Thanks for the information about it.
It might be impossible for a theater this size to show films continuously in a town the size of Fort Madison and still be able to stay open. Down the road in Keokuk their old theater has multi purpose use – plays, conventions, etc. There is no reason why the Fox could not be used this way, with maybe two or three films per month, but only if there is deep community involvement. Since the state prison is about a half mile away, a re-opening of the theater with a mini prison film festival might draw in the curiosity seekers and give the venue a grand re-opening.
We have had the Fox Theater open for the past 15 months. We have owned the Fox for the past 7 years. After supporting the Fox for those many years without any outside financial support we finally realized it is time for a change. For the Fox to be the “lynchpin” you reference, the community needs to step in and help. A non-profit 501-C3 organization line the Main Street group would be a option. If you would like to know what is really happening with the Fox, please ask.
Larry Wright
Going into www.fortmadisonmovies.com it looks like the Fox has been closed after 5-6 weeks. I just was in Fort Madison. It has a number of older historic homes and buildings. If the downtown area ever revitalizes, the Fox could have been a lynchpin. It’s too bad the Wrights couldn’t make a go of it. They certainly cut their losses quickly.
The remodeling and renaming of the Strand took place in 1950. Boxoffice of July 15 that year said that the $50,000 project was scheduled to begin that day. A small photo of the remodeled Fox appeared in Boxoffice of Ocotber 6, 1951.
A Strand Theatre in Fort Madison was mentioned in the July 6, 1929, issue of Movie Age as one of several Iowa house recently installing Western Electric sound equipment.
The Fox Theater, Fort Madison, Iowa is open for business. “Iron Man” will be playing with a special midnight showing on May 7(real early morning Friday). The Fox has a 24 hour show line (319)372-0303 and in addition a web page www.fortmadisonmovies.com offering movie and theater information. We will also be showing “The Last Song” this weekend.
Please stop by and see us if you are in town…..
Trudy and Larry Wright
Owners/Operators
(913)748-5700
This is another 1982 photo. The State perhaps was another name for the Orpheum, or was a separate theater. It’s not listed.
http://tinyurl.com/pleppe
The Fox Theatre was purchased in 1983 by Peterson Theatres Of Waverly Iowa from Central States Theatres of Des Moines Iowa. With a lot of scrubing, cleaning painting ect we then installed new seating, projection equipment including a platter and new sound.It was reopened on christmas day 1983.