Uptown Theatre

Great, Elmere3. Love to see it. Roscoe is a great guy! He maintains the building as an appliance repair shop, so that’s great. Unfortunately it will never be a movie house again. We can barely maintain the ones we have in downtown Huntington. All of the neighborhood theaters have disappeared and most of the buildings have been torn down over the years. The last teardown was the Abbott Theater in west Huntington. Roscoe maintains the Margaret/Uptown theater building and I think the only other building that was a neighborhood theater—the Beverly Hills Theater—is a drycleaners now.

Thanks much for the tour, Roscoe. I have admired that building from the outside for years. I was mistaken about the large decorative “M” above the proscenium, however, the Adamasque decorations are in evidence. I will add some pictures.

I believe that the information above is partially incorrect. The 1941 Polk Directory lists the Uptown Theatre’s address as 1950 8th Ave. The building is still in existence. The Uptown was probably known as the Margaret Theatre at least from the mid 1920s. The proscenium arch is still in the building. A large decorative “M” is still visible above the arch. The opening is basically the same as the academy ratio of 1:1.33. There is a small stage area. There is a balcony. The building is serving as a warehouse for a discount/used appliance shop. The building appears to be in relatively good shape. As I learn more about the building, I’ll post it.