Hays Theatre
411 W. Saint Germain Street,
St. Cloud,
MN
56387
411 W. Saint Germain Street,
St. Cloud,
MN
56387
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July 3rd, 1945 grand opening ad as Hays in the photo section.
The book St. Cloud, by Harold Zosel, part of the Arcadia Publishing Company’s postcard book series, has a photo of the auditorium of the Hays Theatre. The caption says that the house was opened by Frank E. Nemec in 1913 as the Starland Theatre, and later operated under the names Nemec Theatre, United Capitol Theatre, People’s Theatre, and Grand Theatre before becoming the Hays Theatre. It says that the building was demolished in 1977.
The August 16, 1913, issue of The Construction News said that construction was to start soon on a vaudeville house, 44x132 feet, to be built at St. Cloud for F.E. Nemec. The September 6 issue of the same publication said that excavation had begun for F.E. Nemec’s Starland Theatre at St. Cloud. The project was to cost $28,500, and the general contractor was Edward Hirt.
Volume 2 of History of Stearns County, Minnesota by William Bell Mitchell gives the opening date of the Starland Theatre as December 8, 1913. Volume 1 of the book has a biographical sketch of St. Cloud architect Rolland C. Buckley, and lists the Starland Theatre among his works.
The house was mentioned as the Nemec Theatre in the September 16, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World.