Nira Theatre

The De Steeo Theatre was the only theater listed at Orange City in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but by 1916 it had either gotten some competition or had been renamed. The July 22, 1916 Moving Picture World said, with the dateline Orange City Ia., “J. Richards has purchased the interest of A. Miller in the Lyric Theatre>.” The name Lyric was still being used in 1921, but by 1923 Orange City had a theater called the Cottage. From the description of the De Steeo Theatres’s building, Cottage seems like an appropriate name for it. It’s possible that that De Steeo, Lyric, and Cottage were all akas for the same house. There might have been another aka later on.

The Cottage was listed as (CL) in the 1932 FDY, with 250 seats. That seems a bit large for the De Steeo’s building, but expansion of small, frame buildings is not difficult or very costly. The Cottage is listed through 1934, but in 1935 it vanishes and a house called the Nira Theatre appears, also with 250 seats. It seems likely that this was another name change. The Nira is listed through 1942, though its capacity had dropped to 200 seats.

Other sources indicate that the new Tulip Theatre was opened by early 1942, and an item from the July 19, 1941 Showmen’s Trade Review indicates that the owner of the Nira was planning to build a new theater: “Orange City, Iowa— H. Van Boxtle, owner and operator of the Nira Theatre here is planning a new house to open in the early fall. It will have a capacity of 350.” It seems likely that this was the house that opened as the Tulip.