Theatre 1536

1536 E. Grand Avenue,
Des Moines, IA 50316

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Tri-State Theaters

Previous Names: Eastown Theater

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Theatre 1536

The Eastown Theater was a basic neighborhood theater showing mostly B-movies. It first opened May 29, 1941 and was operated by TriStates Theatres.

Before it closed, it had been re-named Theatre 1536, and it showed porn for a while. It was closed on December 31, 1983 with Walt Disney’s “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and was demolished around 2000.

Contributed by Swede Blue

Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 12, 2009 at 7:18 pm

From Boxoffice magazine, May 1941:

DES MOINES-The Eastown, new Tri-States and East Des Moines Theater Corp. theater here, is scheduled to open Wednesday. The new house will be the tenth Tri-States theater in the city.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 15, 2009 at 10:19 pm

I can’t see any building resembling the theater in Google street view. It must be gone. There’s a newer building with six store fronts which looks like it occupies the theater site and a couple of adjacent parcels as well, though it has the address 1534 E. Grand. The building next door is definitely not the theater.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 15, 2009 at 10:19 pm

Here is a December 1965 ad from the Des Moines Register:
http://tinyurl.com/llyx9u

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 15, 2009 at 10:20 pm

It looks like it was called Theater 1536 in the 1983 photo. Maybe that was its porno name.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 15, 2009 at 10:35 pm

Here is a December 1974 ad for the Theatre 1536:
http://tinyurl.com/man8tm

macbot3000
macbot3000 on February 27, 2010 at 8:48 pm

The 1536 building was demolished about 2000 or so.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 26, 2012 at 3:32 pm

This opened as Theatre 1536 on October 25th, 1974. Grand opening ad posted here.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 28, 2015 at 12:00 pm

This opened on May 29th, 1941. Grand opening ads in photo section.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on January 29, 2019 at 6:49 pm

Closed after showings on December 31, 1983, the theatre was offered for sale for $59,000. A last ditch effort by a businessman to restore the theatre occurred in January of 2000 but the city’s building inspectors appear to have advised against it.

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