Campo Theater

This address served as two homes for two different Campo Theatres. The first building was opened on July 4, 1911 as the New Opera House. It was a multipurpose building constructed by local hardware store owner Martin R. Boeckler and would update the former Boeckler’s Hall location. Charles Behnke was hired as the first manager of the New Opera House that launched with music by the N.F.L. Ladies Orchestra of Milwaukee and dancing on July 4, 1911.

Films were first shown at the New Opera House in 1912 by a traveling exhibitor. More regular film offerings began in 1915 but Boeckler’s Hall was where the bulk of the activities occurred which included dances, meetings, and roller skating. In 1922, I.S. Aaron became the first full-time movie theater operator using the Cambellsport Opera House. Unfortunately, in March of 1923, that operation ended with the sheriff auctioning off the projector to collect back taxes.

In 1938, sound and modern projection was installed with regular sound movie operation beginning at the Campbellport Opera House. It went dark but Willard C. and Ida Fischer took on the venue housing both the Campo Restaurant and the New Campo Theatre in 1943. The limitations of the building were apparent and the Fischers posted an architectural sketch for a brand new theater in the nearby A. Berge Furniture Store.

In 1945, the former Boeckler Hall containing the Opera House/New Campo Theatre was razed in favor of a modern, Streamline Moderne style movie house. The Fischers' new 405-seat Campo Theater opened on February 2, 1946 purportedly with the bubbler drink dispenser as the only item remaining from the previous Campo Theatre building. Fischer’s biggest innovation was a lottery/bingo-like movie star game to encourage multiple trips to the theater. The Fischers copyrighted the marketing concept. Delft Theatres took on the venue running under Fischer’s management until it was sold in 1955 without making a conversion to widescreen projection.

The TV age was hard on small-town theaters and sub-2,000 populated Campbellsport was no exception. New owner Kenneth Shock took on the theater under independent operation in 1955 giving the auditorium a refresh to widescreen projection and reducing seat count to 350. Shock ran the Campo Theater to closure in 1957. The local merchants decided that the foot traffic lost following the cinema’s shuttering was a net negative. The merchants decided to operate the theater as a cooperative venture until closing it permanently in 1963.

The Campo Theater building sat vacant until 1974 when the city took on the property. They gutted the theater to create the Campbellsport Community Center there that lasted into the 2010’s. The building was still standing in the 2020’s and its exterior was still recognizable as a former theater.

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