Regal Theatre

225 E. Main Street,
Park Hills, MO 63601

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 5, 2022 at 12:51 pm

The Rootsweb history page I cited in my earlier comment has a few problems, notably glaring omissions and a couple of egregious errors which call other information it contains into question. It turns out that the Regal Theatre was built in 1923, probably opened in early 1924, and it replaced a house (under the same ownership but with a different name) which had burned in early 1923. The site also got the owner’s name wrong. It was Bollinger, not Burlinger. The May 12, 1923 issue of Moving Picture World said:

“W. T. Bollinger, of Elvins, Mo., whose theatre was destroyed by fire several weeks ago, has perfected plans to open an airdome in Elvins early in May. He also plans to rebuild the Electric Theatre.”
I’ve been unable to discover if the Regal Theatre was built on the site of the burned Electric Theater. Mr. Bollinger’s recent opening of the new Regal was noted in the February 9, 1924 issue of MPW.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 1, 2016 at 2:51 am

This Rootsweb page has a brief history of the Regal Theatre. It was built around 1920 at 225 E. Main Street by Walter Burlinger. It was later bought by W.A. Collins. In 1930 and airdome was added (Probably cheaper than installing and operating air conditioning during the hot summers) which operated for about three years.

In 1936 Collins sold the house to the Lead Belt Amusement Company. After changing hands a couple of more times, the Regal Theatre was destroyed by a fire on January 8, 1955.

Something the history doesn’t mention is that in 1935 the July 13 issue of Motion Picture Herald announced that Mr. Collins was planning to build a new Regal Theatre, and bids were soon to be taken on the project. As the history doesn’t mention this, it’s likely that the project wasn’t carried out. Possibly the bids were too high.