Plaza Theatre
109 S. Commerce Street,
Gainesville,
TX
76240
109 S. Commerce Street,
Gainesville,
TX
76240
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Carl Boller
Functions: Café
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Lyric Theatre
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Emma Cassidy and her sister Ms. G.H. Hammond opened the Lyric Theatre in the summer of 1914. It was renamed Plaza Theatre on March 18, 1936 following a remodel. By then, Gainesville’s Plaza Theatre was a chic monolith structure decorated in subdued Art Deco styling that caught the eye of passers by.
The Plaza Theatres' auditorium detail was a bit more flamboyant. Speed stripes defined sidewalls in colours of salmon, saffron, and powder blue. Zig-zag, stacked cone lighting fixtures accentuated the Art Deco effect. A small balcony offered cheap seats, topped by an off center projection booth.
Contributed by
Jeff Chapman
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Look at vintage photos of this cinema interior and exterior by typing in name “Plaza”,
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A view of the Plaza Theatre and it’s auditorium.
My first job at the Plaza in 1953 while a Junior in High School was the relief projectionist. Very old equipment that used rectifiers for the power source for the Peerless lamp-houses. The projector changer-over device was hand made using electrical conduit and electrical junction boxes. The projection booth was not located in the center but offset to the north side of the theater. Thanks for keeping it’s memory alive. Bill Maughan
As noted elsewhere, Emma Cassidy and her sister Ms. G.H. Hammond opened the Lyric Theater in the summer of 1914. A.V. Wade of Wade-Tex Theatres took on the venue giving it a streamline moderne makeover and new name when it relaunched on March 18, 1936 with Wallace Ford in “Another Face.”