Avalon Fine Arts Theater

A little late to the party but can confirm that Joe Vogel is correct (10 years ago). The Royal Theatre burned down on January 25, 1924. Brandt and Dutton rebuilt a brick structure as the Rosebuds / Rosebud Theatre and Candy/Soda Shop in 1924 that became the Reno and Avalon. If the trade press is correct (and the pictures seem to indicate), the Avalon is a completely new build beginning on the lot on the corner which was a 1,000-seat venue while the previous building was not incorporated into the new Avalon and was razed.

As for the name of the former Rosebud theatre, it derives from the 1920 novel by Sinclair Lewis, “Main Street" and its adaptation to a 1923 feature film. In the novel, the name of the theatre in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota and on its first edition cover is the Rosebud Movie Palace. The film version prominently features the setting as the Rosebud Theatre.

The early name was ROSEBUD, believe it or not, long before Orson Welles came along. There was also a late 1920’s name, RENO, but this is unverified. Yes, there was a theatre on this site 1909-24 then the renovation in 1924 and then the art deco Crosier makeover in 1937 to a much larger theatre. The puppet company took it over in 1988. Porn lasted to 1985. The “Fine Arts” name was really just because the name Avalon fell off the marquee. It was always referred to as the “Avalon Fine Arts” in its porn days and advertised as such. The move to “Fine Arts” in 1955, starting with a run of Welles' “Othello” and migrating to an art/foreign policy which soon gave away to sex pictures and porn. Some of Russ Meyer’s early films were here, as well the usual nudist colony pictures, etc. “And God Created Woman” played at least 3 months in the summer of 1958 after the downtown run at the World. There would occasionally be a sex/horror type of film, for example Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace played as their Christmas attraction in 1965. “La Notte” played here too, and sometimes these “arty” films were double billed with a late-run Hollywood film, with the Hollywood film usually on the lower half of the bill. The theatre had an artesian well and a keystone problem that projectionists had to grapple with.

The “AIA Guide to the Twin Cities” by Larry Millett, published in 2007 by the Minnesota Historical Society, has more information on this theater. It was originally a smaller theater built in 1924 and designed by Ekman, Holm & Company. It was enlarged in 1937, and redesigned in the Art Moderne style by Perry Crosier. A 1997 renovation and restoration for the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre was done by Vincent James Associates Architects.

I’ve been unable to discover if the 1924 theater that was incorporated into Perry Crosier’s Avalon had the same name or not. The Avalon was owned by Bill Frank and Oscar Woempner, operators of about a dozen theaters in the area at the time of the 1937 rebuilding.

The Avalon Theatre seated around 1000 people.