Jesup Theatre
Jesup,
IA
50648
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The 258-seat Jesup Theatre opened its doors on October 7, 1949 with Dennis Morgan from “Two Guys From Texas” with no extras.
The theater itself was built on the former tie lot on then-Highway 20, and measures 26x90ft on concrete block construction with a brick front. The 258 seats were gray-cloth upholstered seats, and the aisle space were covered with red carpeting with a green leaf design. Six plaster lights were also featured in soft illumination during showings and five louvered ceiling fixtures featured general illumination when needed.
The lobby walls combine in Nu-wood panels and stained wood wainscoting and the lobby floor is covered in marbleized coral rubber tile, bordered in black. The marquee neon sign has the name of the theater “JESUP” in letters 12in high in top-middle, and the V-shape marquee extends over the sidewalk 8ft.
The projection booth features two Simplex projectors which throws the picture image onto a 10x14ft screen, with sound system installations by Soundmaster. The original projectionist of the theater is Robert Cappel, the son of the owner of the theater, J.M. Cappel.
The Jesup Theatre itself was short-lived, and because of the lack of CinemaScope, the Jesup Theatre closed for the final time on February 27, 1955. They have possible chances of reopening, but it appears that it never happened.
Contributed by
50sSNIPES
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