Hopkins Theatre
421 Excelsior Avenue,
Hopkins,
MN
55343
421 Excelsior Avenue,
Hopkins,
MN
55343
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The Hopkins Theatre opened on September 5, 1941 with a live show and the feature movie “Kiss the Boys Goodbye” starring Don Ameche. It was built for Louis and Abe Engler in a then-boldly modern Streamline style by architect Perry E. Crosier. Opening just before America’s entry into World War II on December 8, 1941, it wasn’t until then that attendances at the Hopkins Theatre began to pick up.
The theater could seat 1,250, in orchestra and balcony levels. It was both elegant as well as high-tech for its time. The most impressive feature of the Hopkins Theatre was its 80 foot-plus tall rocket-like tower, which was illuminated by neon lights, spelling out the theater’s name. It could be seen for blocks around.
Other features included a waterfall-patterned red curtain, a sound-proof crying room for mothers with babies, and a set of smoking lounges. The theater cost about $125,000 to build, and was touted as the best new suburban house to open in the Saint Paul-Minneapolis area.
The theater has the distinction of being the first Twin Cities area movie house to be twinned, in early 1971, when the 300-seat balcony was closed off and turned into the Hopkins 2, while the main auditorium became the Hopkins 1. A year later, an adjacent store was gutted and turned into a third auditorium. In 1981, a fourth screen was added when another store was taken over by the Hopkins Theatre.
The Hopkins Theatre also was one of the earliest suburban theaters to feature CinemaScope. For the 1977 film “Rollercoaster”, the management had Sensurround installed.
After more than four decades of entertaining suburban movie-goers, the Hopkins Theatre shut its doors in 1985 and was torn down soon afterwards.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Here is a photo from 1975:
http://tinyurl.com/ee35v
The location in the Google map is wrong. I was born in the forties and this wonderful theater was my local Sat. Matinee theater, only about 3 ½ blocks from my house. Excelsior Blvd used to go through Hopkins where it was named Excelsior Ave. Sometime after the Sixties a new freeway, 169, was run through and Excelsior Blvd was diverted and later Excelsior Ave was renamed to Main Street. The map shows the location on the current Excelsior Blvd. I entered 429 Main Street and got the correct location of the old theater. https://www.google.com/maps/place/429+Mainstreet,+Hopkins,+MN+55343/United Palace of Cultural Arts.9244053,-93.4050505,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x87f6203bdf6a8d61:0x7fef486cb1e8adb6
Oops I had something extra in the Google Map link. Here is the correct link to the old location. https://www.google.com/maps/place/429+Mainstreet,+Hopkins,+MN+55343/
September 5th, 1941, September 23rd, 1971, January 27th, 1973, March 13th, 1981 grand opening ads in the photo section.
2015 piece with the history of the Hopkins Theatre with images.
https://theanalogage.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-destruction-of-hopkins-theater.html?fbclid=IwAR24yKnRhshD0_hsbLSy5AHX2Dn6qyUL3zsl3gDorB-mxTvtoe_8extxAXE
One of the most enjoyable film experiences I had was watching “Paris, Texas” in the smallest theater on a weekday afternoon. I was the only patron in what amounted to my own private screening room.