Gloria Theatre

The Gloria Theatre in one of the most unusual town names in South Carolina, Ninety-Six, opened on August 6, 1934 with Margaret Sullivan and John Boles in the Universal film “Only Yesterday”.

The Gloria Theatre is owned by T. H. McNeill who is well qualified for its position having received a degree from the Business Administration Department of the Citadel during the same year. The main auditorium’s capacity is 399 and the seats were 20’’ wide and 32’’ back-to-back. The floor has a 5’’ clearance over the person in front marking it very unique. The ceiling is covered with an acoustic board, guaranteeing the sound equipment from Western Electric. The Gloria Theatre is equipped with an indirect lightning system and is fireproof. The Gloria Theatre also has a balcony for colored people, which marked that this theatre is for everyone depending on color, which it reached from the street by a private stairway. A cooling and heating system is also equipped with a blower that delivers 15,000 cubic feet of fresh air per minute which is connected from an air washing system that lowers the temperature of the natural air of 15 degrees Fahrenheit. The projectionist of the theatre is John Towles as he is capable of the job having been connected with Ninety Six’s nearby Ideal Theatre (closed in 1930) while the Ideal Theatre continued to be in operation. In September 1940, the Gloria Theatre installed new Simplex High Simplified High Intensity lamps which marked one of the first in America to do so.

The Gloria Theatre continued to operate throughout the 1940’s and the half of the 1950’s.

1. 1. Burnett Jr., who had connected with the theatre on former occasions as him and his father in their business in Burnett’s Garage, just one door away from the theatre tried to take over ownership of the Gloria Theatre and had plans to reopen the theatre on December 6, 1954 as he had planned to install CinemaScope among others. The theatre didn’t reopen at all. 2 years later in 1956, the theatre was advertised for possible operation. But the theatre didn’t have a chance to reopen it.

The Gloria Theatre had closed its doors for the final time on November 20, 1954.

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