Isis Theatre
521 State Street,
Augusta,
KS
67010
521 State Street,
Augusta,
KS
67010
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Here’s some more information for you Seth! The Isis’s original manager is Charles H. Barron, who also operated the nearby Mecca. Barron first operated the Isis only before managing to take over the Mecca on December 3, 1919 from the Mecca’s original manager Frank Lucius.
Thanks for helping with the ID and all the other info!
Numerous items from Boxoffice in the 1940s and ‘50s confirm that the Isis was still operated by the Bisagno family during that period. It was probably operated as their “B” house when it was open, except during the period following the 1949 fire that gutted the Augusta Theater, when it would have served as the town’s only theater.
An October 29, 1949 Boxoffice item about the reopening of the Augusta said that the Isis would be closed for structural changes and redecoration. I’m not sure how much longer the Isis operated, but it was mentioned in passing in a January 26, 1957 Boxoffice article about Bob Bisagno’s hobby of restoring player pianos. It is mentioned in passing again in an item about Mrs. D. A. Bisagno in Boxoffice of February 24, 1958, so it might have been open that late.
As I said, it’s listed open in 1936, closed in 1937. Very odd that it reopened right next to a much nicer theater. It’s still listed in 1956, and the address was indeed 521. We just need to fix the dates. I wonder if the Idle Hour became the Mecca? I’ll make a listing for it under the Idle Hour name.
Further evidence that the Isis dated from 1916 is this item from the February 12 issue of Moving Picture World that year: “AUGUSTA, KANS.-G. M. Smith has the contract to erect a moving picture theater for F. G. Yates. The structure will cost about $10,000.”
The Augusta Theatre was built in 1935 by Dave Bisagno, who had operated the Isis for some time. The Isis was listed as closed in FDYs for 1938 and 1939 (I don’t have access to 1936 or 1937,) but was opened again in the 1940s and was still listed in 1951. It was probably still operated by the Bisagno family during those years, as they operated the Augusta until selling it to the Augusta Arts Commission in 1985.
Okay, the link only goes to the front cover. The three paragraphs start on page 28.
If the building was built between 1915 and 1917 it’s the history that is wrong, not the address. Douglas Gomery’s 1992 book Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States Actually devotes three short paragraphs to the early theaters in Augusta, and says that the Isis opened in 1916, supplementing an earlier movie house four doors down the block called the Idle Hour. That had to have been the theater at 511.
Gomery further notes that the Idle Hour began at a different location in 1907 under the name The Nickelodeon. I’m thinking that was most likely the storefront theater at 518 State Street. Gomery doesn’t say when the Nickelodeon changed its name (before or after the move) or when it moved, but I’m wondering if that very specific date Bryan gave for the opening of the Isis might actually have been the date for the opening of the new Idle Hour?
If anyone wants to see the three paragraphs about Augusta in Gomery’s book, it’s at Google Books. Here is a link (I hope.)
There was a theater at 511, and it is older, appearing on the 1915 map. It can’t possibly have seated 400 people. We need to untangle this. I suspect the older theater was actually the Mecca.
The history or the address is wrong. This building was constructed sometime between 1915 and 1917. Augusta is not listed in the 1914-15 AMPD. The 1917 map does indeed show a theater here. 400 seems a bit large, and the 1926 Yearbook also shows a Mecca with 200 seats. Unfortunately, the 1923 map is not available online. The building is now a hair salon. The Isis lasted until 1936-37. It’s listed as closed in the 1937 Yearbook.