Wabeno Theatre

The village of Wabeno was serviced by movie theatres from about 1909 to 1984 - an impressive feat for such a small town. The first movie theatre was the Electric Theatre which showed films from 1909 to August 13, 1911. It had to borrow power from a generator as the town had no electrical service at that time.

1. Neider & Sons comprised a musically-inclined family in which Archie F. Neider played in the orchestra of the town’s Opera House which went by names including the Walbeno Opera House, Neider’s Opera House, Neider’s Hall and the Ideal Theatre in Neider’s Opera House. It continued using the Fairbanks, Morse & Co. generator until the town finally got into the electrical era.

Neider’s Opera House seems to have been located in the town’s existing opera house on its second floor until 1914 when Neider built a brand-new opera house. Its neighbor was Neider’s Confectionery, the de facto snack bar for the opera house. Announced in 1913 and opened in 1914, the Neider Opera House and Hall would be a combination live event house and movie house.

Shortly after opening, the new facility was consumed in a multi-building blaze starting in the hotel that reshaped the town’s Main Street in July of 1914. Eight businesses were destroyed including the Opera House/Theatre, the Neider’s confectionery plus pool hall, and - it appears - the original opera house. The Neiders rebuilt in the same spot launching in 1915 likely on a 20-year leasing agreement. The venue hosted the popular, “Birth of a Nation” in 1917. By the 1930’s, the “opera house” moniker was gone and the theatre went by the Ideal Theatre and sometimes the Wabeno Theatre.

Under new operators in 1935, the Ideal Theatre wasn’t living up to its name and a new theatre appears to have been built in 1937 called the Wabeno Theatre. Indications are that the Walbeno Theatre vanquished the aged former Ideal Theate. Jack Compston, his wife and son, Gary Lee, took on the venue operating it into the 1950’s.

Allan “Art” Allard who additionally operated the Crandon Theatre and the Laona Theatre in the 1950’s, took on the Wabeno Theatre. He modernized the Wabeno Theatre to include widescreen projection to show CinemaScope titles. The venerable amusement place reportedly survived into the video age closing in 1984. During its inactivity, the theatre building was burned down by an arsonist in 1987.

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