Howard Theatre

Built in 1903 as a grocery store/general goods store, it had a small bottling operation at the back and was the home of Nashville Bottling Works (later known as the Coca-Cola bottling company) It was one large building which was later divided (by 1919 according to fire maps). Prior to the 1939 remodel, this location operated as the Gem Theatre owned by R.B. Hardy.

In 1939 it was remodeled in an Art Deco style, and it opened as the Howard Theatre with Myrna Loy in “Lucky Night” under the ownership of K. Lee Williams Theatres Inc. circuit. Louis Littlefair was the manager. “From front to back the old Gem Theatre has been completely rebuilt, and the new Howard Theatre will offer patrons of this section of Arkansas a new comfort and luxury that cannot be found anywhere short of the largest cities in the southwest.” [The Nashville News June 20, 1939]

Changes included moving the box office to the center of the lobby, a circular marquee or awning on the exterior, illuminated by neon and incandescent lights, a modernistic tower sign, movie poster signs, new wine colored curtains, neon lighting, RCA wide range sound system, doors with panic bars to provide rapid means of exit in the event of a fire, and a modern cooling system of refrigerated washed air that was kept in an air-tight room atop the theatre to keep germs or dust out of the building.

“[air]…which is washed through a series of pumps and discs and then delivered to the auditorium through two large tumbler type fans. The washed air in the auditorium passes through a six-foot opening in the ceiling. This air is delivered to every part of the theatre and rest rooms making its exit out of large louvres in the front of the theatre, causing fresh, clean air to circulate in all parts of the house all the time. This equipment is controlled by an automatic system which keeps the temperature in the house at the range of 70 degrees in the hottest weather” [The Nashville News June 20, 1939]

Another innovation was curtains in front of the screen that would part as the picture started, by means of a control located in the projection room.

The theatre had a balcony with seating area next to the projection box.

The Howard Theatre was closed in 1953 when the K. Lee Williams Theatres Inc. chain opened their new Howard Auto Theatre one and a half miles north of town and the Howard Theatre sign was transferred to the drive-in. In later years the drive-in was given a new sign.

The building is now used by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

Joe Vogel on September 5, 2020 at 11:04 pm

The April 4, 1939 issue of The Film Daily had an article about the recent expansion of the K. Lee Williams Theatres circuit, which had just added seven houses to the chain. This paragraph concerns the theaters in Nashville:

“Also purchased was the New theater at Nashville, Ark., from H. H. Baker of Emerson, Ark. Baker had been operating the house under a lease agreement with R. V. McGinnis. Williams theaters secured a closed town by also purchasing the Liberty and Gem theaters at Nashville, Ark., from R. B. Hardy. The Gem will be closed for complete remodeling. Temporary manager for Nashville is O. P. Peachey.”

It has occurred to me that the “New theater” mentioned in the article could have been the Howard, which actually was a new theater at the time. The house might have actually operated under the name New Theatre for a while before Williams took it over, or maybe Film Daily was just careless with the capitalization and meant only to indicate that it was a new theater. One can never be sure with these hastily-assembled trade journals.

rebeldj on September 13, 2020 at 1:53 am

@Joe we need to join forces on the Nashville theaters…let me know if I could email you.