Star Theatre

rsalters (Ron Salters) on June 15, 2015 at 2:21 pm

The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Star; it’s Card # 462. Address is “9 Central St.” There is an exterior photo taken May 1941. Condition is Fair. It says that the theatre was over 15 years old and was showing MGM product. There were 696 orchestra seats and 266 balcony, total: 962 seats.

Joe Vogel on August 26, 2013 at 9:53 pm

This weblog post (which has a photo) says that the Star Theatre was built in 1912 at the corner of Main and Center Streets. Center Street no longer reaches Main, but there is a pedestrian passage that is probably its remnant.

If you click the photo and enlarge it, you will also see the marquee of the Rialto Theatre, which was located in the Odd Fellows Hall next door to the Star. The local historical society says that the Rialto was a second-floor theater. It was still operating around 1950 under the name Brook Theatre.

The Star Theatre closed in the 1960s and the building partially collapsed in the early 1970s, after which the remainder was demolished.

According to items in the July 1 and September 2, 1916, issues of The Moving Picture World, the Star Theatre at Westbrook was remodeled and expanded that year. New owners, the Maine Amusement Company, of Rockland, increased the seating capacity from 600 to 900, and built a new stage 20x42 feet. The plans for the project were drawn by the Boston architectural firm Jackson & Solomonson.