Roxy Theatre
105 W. Main Street,
Owatonna,
MN
55060
105 W. Main Street,
Owatonna,
MN
55060
No one has favorited this theater yet
Showing 3 comments
The Roxy Theatre closed in 1958.
The Metropolitan Opera House opened as early as 1896 and was renamed the Metropolitan Theatre in the late-1900s or early-1910s. At the time, two more theaters began popping up in Owatonna. There is the Gem Scenic Theatre which opened on September 15, 1909 by S.L. Manhart, and the Harvey’s Airdome which opened on May 13, 1911 by W.L. Harvey.
The two other theaters didn’t last long, with the Gem Scenic closing in July 1911 and the Harvey’s Airdome closed in late-1912, the Metropolitan Theatre once again served as the only movie house in Owatonna into the rest of the silent era. New management by F. R. Thompson took over the Metropolitan and was renamed the Roxy Theatre in October 1933. The Roxy remained as the only movie house in Owatonna until the launch of the popular State Theatre in September 1935.
The interior photos of the Roxy show a building that must have been built quite some time before 1939. Note in particular the thin columns under the balcony. Those were characteristic of the late 19th-early 20th century period.
I suspect that the Roxy was an old theater called the Metropolitan that was in operation at the turn of the century, when it was listed in Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide. The Metropolitan later ran movies and was mentioned in Movie Age of May 25, 1929, when sound was installed.
Boxoffice of November 11, 1939, has a brief item announcing that the two theaters at Owatonna had been sold to the Frank Amusement Co. by F. R. Thompson. Most likely Frank gave the house an update and renamed it the Roxy that year. Boxoffice doesn’t provide any confirmation of this surmise, though. Neither of Owatonna’s theaters is mentioned very often in the magazine.