Studio Art Theatre
2113 W. Franklin Street,
Evansville,
IN
47712
2113 W. Franklin Street,
Evansville,
IN
47712
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Reopened as Studio art on January 23rd, 1970. Another ad posted.
December 24th, 1941 reopening
Franklin Theatre reopening 24 Dec 1941, Wed Evansville Press (Evansville, Indiana) Newspapers.com
Reopened as Franklin on June 16th, 1912 per:
Franklin theatre opening 12 Jun 1912, Wed Evansville Press (Evansville, Indiana) Newspapers.com
Was in the Franklin many times, pre-porno, and what a delightful art-deco masterpiece it was. I wish there were pictures somewhere of the interior from the 40s or 50s. This theater should have been saved, but it had such a negative stigma attached to it in its adult days, the city fathers wanted in down and gone. And it is.
The 1941 remodeling of the Franklin Theatre might have been more a rebuilding. The April 25, 1941, issue of The Film Daily has this item:
The correct name of the architectural firm was Fowler & Legeman. Frank E. Fowler and Ralph E. Legeman were among Evansvilles leading Midcentury architects.This theater opened about 1908 as the West End Electric Palace, and was rebuilt as the Franklin Theatre in 1912. An advertisement for the house’s first anniversary as the Franklin can be seen on this web page.
This page at Historic Evansville says the theater was remodeled in 1941, became an adult theatre in 1983, and was demolished in 1994. That page has a link to several additional photos of the theater.
Name was changed to “Studio Art” at some point – it was a pornographic movie theater during the 70’s and 80’s.