Theatre 1536
1536 E. Grand Avenue,
Des Moines,
IA
50316
1536 E. Grand Avenue,
Des Moines,
IA
50316
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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.
This opened on May 29th, 1941. Grand opening ads in photo section.
This opened as Theatre 1536 on October 25th, 1974. Grand opening ad posted here.
The 1536 building was demolished about 2000 or so.
Here is a December 1974 ad for the Theatre 1536:
http://tinyurl.com/man8tm
It looks like it was called Theater 1536 in the 1983 photo. Maybe that was its porno name.
Here is a December 1965 ad from the Des Moines Register:
http://tinyurl.com/llyx9u
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.
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.