Portland Theatre

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Uploaded on: May 7, 2019

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From Doug Born: The New Portland Theatre and George C Shaw Co at the top of Preble Street, circa 1930s. The Graymore Hotel can be seen further down, later the Plaza Hotel.

The previous Portland Theatre (formerly Deering Hall, then the Nickel in 1907) had been on the corner with Congress in the Deering Block, torn down in 1909 for the Fidelity Building. The new theatre opened on February 10, 1910 with “The Fall of Troy” and vaudeville. Designed by G Henri Desmond, who also designed the Fidelity, the auditorium was 75 ft. wide and 80 ft. deep with an orchestra pit, and a cast stone facade. The stage was 25 feet deep by 60 feet wide. The orchestra floor seated about 500 on the main floor and 450 more in the balcony. By 1929 it was operated by E.M. Loews Theatres. Closed in 1963 and then used by the Portland Players, razed in 1989.