Rocket Theatre
615 Locust Street,
Des Moines,
IA
50309
615 Locust Street,
Des Moines,
IA
50309
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Publix, Tri-State Theaters
Architects: Norman T. Vorse
Previous Names: New Garden Theater, Garden Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The New Garden Theater sat on the north side of Locust Street, directly facing the Strand Theatre. It was opened May 2, 1914 with Clara Kimball Young in “Goodness Gracious”. It had no balcony and was rather plain. It was equipped with a William Schuelke organ which was opened by organist Arthur Hays. It ran mostly second-run releases and B movies, but not too many oaters. From 1927-1932 it was operated by Publix.
On April 15, 1949 it was renamed Rocket Theatre with Roy Rogers in “The Far Frontier” & Roland Winters as Charlie Chain in “The Chinese Ring”. It was closed in June 1953.
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Swede
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
This web page about Des Moines architect Norman T. Vorse says that he designed the Garden Theatre, among others. As the Garden was in operation before 1919, when Vorse merged his practice with that of the Kraetsch Brothers, this was one of his solo projects.
The Garden Theatre, at 615 Locust, was one of the more attractive showplaces downtown, and had a long run, surviving floods and the Depression, from 1917 through 1951. As with the RKO Orpheum’s later transformation into the Galaxy, it was thought that a modern name change might keep patrons away from their new televisions, but the new monicker Rocket must not have worked well—it lasted about a year until the theater closed forever in 1952.
April 15th, 1949 reopening ad as Rocket in photo section.
Norman T. Vorse architected the Garden for Abraham H. Blank The Garden opened May 2, 1914 with “Goodness Gracious” in the old Odd Fellows building. The $100,000 theatre’s multi-colored terra cotta design was distinctive and the 900-pipe, $15,000 William Schuelke organ entertained the opening crowd. Arthur Hays was the organist and also conducted the Garden Orchestra.
Tri-States changed the Garden to the Rocket April 14, 1949. It dropped the struggling theater in 1951. It soldiered on independently until closing with a tax lien in June of 1953.
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1951: “The Rocket Theatre at 615 Locust St. has been purchased by S. A. Vogl from the Tri-States Theatre Corp. It was called the Garden until it was remodeled in 1949. The theatre was built in 1913 by A. H. Blank, president of Tri-States, and was one of the first theatres in Iowa built expressly for motion pictures. The house was operated by the Publix Theatre Corp. from 1927 to 1932 and then returned to Blank’s management under the then-new firm, Tri-States Theatre Corp. Vogl has been associated with Blank since 1933, except for three years service with the army in the South Pacific. He had been in the Tri-States auditing and booking office.”