Chief Theatre
215 N. Main Street,
Pocatello,
ID
83201
215 N. Main Street,
Pocatello,
ID
83201
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox Inter-Mountain Theaters Inc.
Architects: Walter H. Simon
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Fox Chief Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The neon-lit Indian-chief head that watched over Pocatello’s Main Street was a local landmark. After opening on January 6, 1938 with Wallace Beery in “The Bad Man of Brimstone”, the Fox Chief Theatre served the community for over 40 years, and during the golden age, under Fox Intermountain Theatres.
The interior has scenes of the old West painted along the side-walls of the auditorium, with borders made of tribal symbols. Stencilled buffalo medallions looped overhead on the ceiling above the balcony.
The Chief Theatre had closed in September 1982 and was deteriorating, it was donated to the city by its owner. The Chief Foundation was formed to restore the building and its volunteers spent nearly ten years using donated money to put the Chief Theatre back together.
More than a superficial restoration, a new roof and a heating and cooling system were installed. The restoration was continuing when the theatre reopened on July 9, 1989 and had reached a point where bookings were being accepted and the community was satisfied that they would finally have a renewed attraction to draw people downtown.
Then the unthinkable happened. On March 20, 1993, the Chief Theatre was gutted by a fire that started in the roof. The only item salvaged from the fire was an Indian-chief tile mosaic.
In 2001, a local business which moved into a building next door to the former Chief Theatre and turned the levelled site into a parking lot, restored the mosaic to use near its entrance.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
My father, Paul Reeves, a tilesetter from Salt Lake City, put down this Indian Chief Mosaic in the outer lobby of the Chief Theatre in 1949, nerly 10 years after the theatre was built. My father, mother, sister, and I lived in Pocatello that year. He was very proud of his work on the mosaic. He always said that ceramic tile, when well done, lasts forever. His work on this mosaic, despite everything that has happened to it, proves he was right. He would proud to know that it still exists and can be seen and appreciated on the Internet.
Bruce Reeves
Berkeley,California
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 edition lists the Chief Theatre with a seating capacity of 1,244.
Fox Intermountain Theatres was an affiliated with National General Theatres Amusement Corp. before Mann Theatre bought the circuit from National General.
I CAN’T BELIEVE I FOUND THIS SITE. I HAVE SUCH FOND MEMORIES OF THE OLE CHIEF THEATER IN POCATELLO, IDAHO. I LIVED THERE WITH MY MOM FROM 1946 TO 1954 AND DON’T THINK THERE WERE TOO MANY SATURDAYS DURING THAT TIME PERIOD THAT I WASN’T SITTING EITHER IN THE CHIEF THEATER OR THE ORPHIUM TOTALLY CAPTURED BY THE ENTERTAINMENT THEY HAD TO OFFER.
I’M TALKING ABOUT 25 CARTOONS, TWO MAJOR REATURES, SERIALS, SHORTS, NEWS REELS AND SOME “LIVE†PERFORMERS. I SAW BLACKSTONE THE MAGICIAN, HOPALONG CASSIDY, BURL IVES AND AUDIE MURPHY JUST TO NAME A FEW. I WON AN ENGRAVED DUNCAN YOYO AT THE CHIEF FOR “ROCKIN’ THE BABY†DURING ONE OF THE LIVE DEMONSTRATIONS.
AS I REMEMBER TELEVISION WASN’T AVAILABLE, OR AT LEAST WE DIDN’T HAVE ONE AND THAT MADE THE ALL-DAY EVENT VERY, VERY SPECIAL TO ME. IN FACT, SOME DAYS DURING THE WINTER MONTHS THE SUN HADN’T COME UP WHEN I WENT THRU THE FRONT DOOR AND WOULD HAVE SET BY THE TIME I CAME OUT.
I GOT ONE SILVER DOLLAR AS MY ALLOWANCE EACH WEEK AND LOOKED FORWARD TO SPENDING THE WHOLE THING AT THE MOVIES ON STURDAY.
IT DOES MY HEART GOOD TO STEP BACK IN TIME FOR JUST A LITTLE WHILE.
THANKS … TOM O’BRIEN
My dad and grandfather worked on the Chief Theatre as brick masons in the early 1940’s. Maybe some addition or repair. My parents met as mom walked home from Pocatello High School and spotted this cute worker. I have many fond memories as a child and also taking my own children in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The fire was a heartbreak. Glad the mosaic was preserved. Good times!
Ginny
Here is an October 1955 ad from the Idaho State Journal:
http://tinyurl.com/yhlr4gr
This web page has a timeline for the Chief Theatre, and one photograph.
The category should be “demolished” not closed. The theatre was destroyed in the 1993 fire and there’s a parking lot there now. The neon Chief sign was saved and has been restored. It will soon be displayed on the former site of the theatre. See this article
Handsome marquee and blade signage. Dramatic building. Pictures of interior would be great.
The Chief sign lives on.
https://idahostatejournal.com/news/local/relight-the-night-has-big-plans-for-neon-signs-in/article_e1f03b65-d962-5878-b37e-164fca790d13.html