Elroy Theatre

The Atherton Theatre turned Ott Theatre turned Elroy Theater had a 65-year history as a movie house in a town whose population never reached 4,000 people. J.J. Wiler out of New Orleans built the brick and steel building in 1907. The Atherton Theatre was originally on the second floor with three businesses on the main floor. The theatre would move downstairs and had some periods of operation as the Kentwood Opera House according to the local paper. The venue mixed silent moving pictures with sporadic live plays and other events.

The theatre is unable to convert to sound and closes in 1930 except for sporadic live events. A.O. Ott buys the theatre and installs RCA Photophone sound at its reopening on September 11, 1931 with Harry Carey in “Trader Horn.”

The Atherton Theatre was purchased by A.O. Ott in 1931. It became the Ott Theatre when A.O. made a Streamline Moderne style makeover housing the Ott Theatre on the building’s main floor in 1937. The refresh tore off the second and third stories to create a modern fire-proof theater. During that period of operation, the theater had 400 seats on the main floor and 155 in the balcony reserved for African-American patrons. The theatre operated both as Ott’s Theater and the Ott Theatre. Ott’s Theatre relaunched on November 19, 1937.

The Ott name continued until new operator Roy Saxon took on the venue. Saxon had built the ElRoy Theatre in Franklinton and changed the Ott Theatre to the Elroy Theatre in 1950. In 1954, Saxon installed widescreen projection to accommodate the playing of CinemaScope films.

Saxon sold the theatre not long after its 60th Anniversary but business erodes in the early 1970’s. Donald R. Brown and Robert E. Patton reopened the venue on July 31, 1971 with Michael Douglas in “Cheyenne Social Club”. The theatre gets a final owner when Guy Castella, Sr. reopened the theatre on August 10, 1973 with Marlon Brando in “The Godfather”. Just five months later, the Elroy Theatre appears to have exited with “Enter the Dragon” starring Bruce Lee on January 8, 1974.

The building is offered for sale after its neighboring Family Discount store goes out of business a year later. The buildings are eventually demolished in favor of a city services building that includes the local library. But the local movie house’s 65 year run was fairly remarkable given the size of the town.

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