Orpheum Theatre
114 Commercial Street,
Strawberry Point,
IA
52076
114 Commercial Street,
Strawberry Point,
IA
52076
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fridley Theatres
Previous Names: Lyric Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The January 1931 Sanborn shows a movie theatre operating in a modest wooden auditorium. Although this structure was only one story, there was a balcony. There was a stage at the rear, and this likely hosted civic events and live acts.
The auditorium first appears on the 1913 map, and may have been a remodel of an implement warehouse shown on the 1902 map. It was listed as the Lyric Theatre by 1914. By 1932 it had been renamed Orpheum Theatre.
The Orpheum Theatre was closed in 1973. Long demolished, the current structure is a drab little office which may date to about 1980.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A 300-seat house called the Orpheum is first listed at Strawberry Point in the 1932 FDY. Prior to that, the only house listed for the town was the 200-seat Lyric. The Orpheum probably replaced the Lyric sometime during 1931, the last year the Lyric was listed. The Orpheum still operated in 1951, when the January 13 issue of Boxoffice reported that Robert Fridley had recently sold the house, which he had bought in late 1949.
A brief item from the Oelwein Daily Register of April 19, 2024 says that the Orpheum Theatre operated in Strawberry Point from 1896 to 1973. As the building at 114 Commercial Street was not a theater in 1902, the theater must have operated at a different location (unless the article was wrong about the opening year), and as the name Orpheum doesn’t appear in connection with Strawberry Point until 1932, it must have operated under different names as well. It must have been the Lyric, last listed in the FDY in 1931, and the only house listed at Strawberry Point in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The closing year of 1973 is certainly correct though, being well within living memory.