Island Theatre

114 W. 4th Street,
Grand Island, NE 68801

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50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on January 19, 2021 at 1:32 pm

On Christmas Day 1929, The Island Theatre Added A Sound System With The First Film “Black Nail”.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on December 11, 2020 at 11:57 am

The Island Theatre launched with “College Days” on May 19, 1927.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 2, 2014 at 4:34 pm

The July 16, 1935, issue of The Film Daily had this item:

“H. K. Allen of Dallas and J. J. Bowler of Springfield, Mo., opened the Island theater in Grand Island over the week-end with double features. It is the fifth theater in Nebraska’s third city.”
Although the item doesn’t specify it, this must have been a re-opening. The building looks to date from the 1920s, and the wide center bay and the pattern of the arched second floor windows suggest that it was built specifically to house a theater.

From the late 1930s until his death in 1949, the Island Theatre was operated by William Youngclaus, and from 1949 until around 1960 it was operated by his widow. Youngclaus was involved in exhibition in Iowa and Nebraska at least as early as 1919.