Court Theatre
1200 Chapline Street,
Wheeling,
WV
26003
1200 Chapline Street,
Wheeling,
WV
26003
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Dipson Circuit
Architects: Edward Bates Franzheim
Functions: Parking Garage
Nearby Theaters
Opened in September 1902 as a legitimate theatre, the Court Theatre, was located in the Board of Trade Building. The theatre was designed by architect Edward Bates Franzheim, a Wheeling native. By the late-1930’s, the Court Theatre was converted into a movie house. It was closed in 1982. It is in use as a parking garage.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Here are interior and exterior photos:
http://tinyurl.com/2povsn
http://tinyurl.com/2plagr
What a beautiful photo of the lobby! I wonder what its current condition is.
Here is my picture from April 2011.
Error in the architect field: There should be no “s” in the architect’s first name. It’s Edward Bates Franzheim.
The April 9, 1938, issue of The Film Daily said that the Court Theatre in Wheeling was to be modernized throughout. The work was to be completed by June 10.
The remodeling is briefly mentioned in a reminiscence about Wheeling’s theaters by Earl Summers, Sr., who had been concertmaster at some of the early houses, including the Court (published in the Autumn/Winter, 1982, issue of Upper Ohio Valley Historical Review, which is available as a PDF here.) Summers says that the Court’s original large stage was greatly reduced to accommodate more seating, so the house was no longer able to present the live road show productions it had once hosted.
Sadly, the 1938 remodeling probably also did away with the original design of the elegant foyer seen in this 1904 photo. I’ve never seen photos of the auditorium, but if it was a good as the foyer it must have been splendid.
This web page from the Ohio County Public Library says that the Court Theatre opened in September, 1902 and closed in 1982.
What may have been the high point in the Court’s history came rather late, when it hosted the world premier of the 1971 movie “The Fool’s Parade,” which was set in West Virginia in the 1920s and partly filmed in nearby Moundsville. Stars, including Jimmy Stewart, Kurt Russell and Strother Martin attended the event, as told in this article from 2016.
I have finally found an interior photo of the Court’s auditorium, but it is a very sad one, as it is a recent shot showing the gutted space in use as a paring garage. It is on this Facebook page.