Palace Theatre
125 E. 2nd Street,
Pana,
IL
62557
125 E. 2nd Street,
Pana,
IL
62557
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Additional Info
Previous Names: New Palace Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This theatre appears on the July 1916 Sanborn, on a lot where the November 1909 map shows only some wooden stores. The building was a fairly large two-story brick structure, and may have been built by the Elks, as they had their lodge on the second floor.
A stage was also provided, and the 1925 map still notes ‘occasional vaudeville’ as well as movies. It was operated by the Tanner Theatre Circuit. The Palace Theatre was closed in 1947.
Pana’s downtown is a ghost town, and everything on this section of the block was demolished many years ago.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
The earliest reference to a Palace Theatre at Pana I’ve found in the trade journals is a mention of “Charles J. Law, New Palace Theater, Pana, Illinois….” in the July 2, 1916 issue of Motography. A Palace Theatre is listed at Pana in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, though it is listed at 223 E. 2nd Street. Pana might have changed its numbering system after this date, but this could also have been an earlier Palace, coincidentally about one block away. The reason I suspect a second Palace is because Charles J. Law is also mentioned in the October 24, 1914 issue of Motion Picture News:
Odds are good that this was the beginning of the Palace, but an opening that late in 1914 means that it might have been too late to have been included in the <em<>AMPD. The fact that Mr. Law’s theater is being called the New Palace in 1916 also suggests that the Palace listed in 1914 might have been an earlier house.An item in the October 31, 1914 issue of Motion Picture News indicates that the Palace had a smaller rival house opened at about the same time, or shortly after:
I found the Joy Theatre at Pana, owned by a C. J. and G. A. Sharrock, mentioned in the May 6, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World, but I’ve been unable to discover anything else about it. It, too, might have opened to late in 1914 to be listed in the AMPD. It also occurs to me that the Joy might have been the original Palace reopened with anew name.The Joy might be another theater I submitted, a block to the west, which seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I’ll see if Ken can find it.
I assumed the ‘New Palace’ must have replaced an earlier one, but…
As far as I can tell, the addresses have never changed. 223 never existed, since it would have been the side yard of the gorgeous old Victorian wreck at 2nd and Elm (now Kitchell). I assume 223 was a typo for 123. 121-123 on the 1909 map was an old two-story wooden storefront. Perhaps the Palace ran there for a year or so before being replaced by the new building.
One problem is we don’t know what month the AMPD was published. It might have been fairly late in 1914, as it was copyrighted in 1915, or at least that’s what the copy at the Library of Congress which was scanned for the Internet Archive says on its title page.
To add a bit more complication, the “New Theatres” column of the July 1, 1923 issue of Film Daily had this item: “Pana, Ill.— ‘Bella Donna’ was the attraction at the recent opening of the New Palace theater.”