Avon Theatre
319 S. Michigan Street,
South Bend,
IN
46601
319 S. Michigan Street,
South Bend,
IN
46601
3 people
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As noted above, the Strand Theatre was rechristened the Avon in 1949. It later closed for a three-month period in 1958 (from January 13 – April 16) and reopened on April 17 as the Avon Art Theatre, following an art-house trend that was occurring in larger cities around the country. A South Bend Tribune article noted that the former Avon had been “remodeled and refurbished” and that a “Parisian sidewalk café coffee bar is being installed and free coffee will be served at all performances.”
Over the next decade, the theater drifted away from art-movie programming and finally dropped the word “Art” from its advertising in mid-1972.
In 1975, the venue was renamed yet again – this time as the Mall Theatre, by virtue of its location on a recently created pedestrian mall (the River Bend Plaza) in downtown South Bend. The Mall Theatre was unveiled on October 24, 1975, having undergone “extensive interior renovations” that included “carpeting, painting and new seating,” as well as removal of the overhanging marquee that had been in place since 1949. The theater’s first feature under its new name was the 1939 classic “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
The Mall Theatre showed a variety of movies and was by no means exclusively X-rated. It stayed open for a little more than three years, finally closing its doors the evening of January 25, 1979 (after a double-feature of “Up in Smoke” AND “Superfly T.N.T.”) That day’s newspaper ad encouraged readers to “watch for announcement of re-opening,” and the theater was listed for about three more weeks as “closed temporarily,“ but then the ads stopped and the theater never reopened.
At some point, the building’s interior was mostly gutted and the property became a storage space. It continued to deteriorate as the years passed, with mounting renovation costs discouraging the several potential buyers who expressed interest in reopening it as a movie theater or even a live performance venue. (One interested party was the reputable South Bend Civic Theatre, which had been looking for a permanent downtown location.)
Finally, after sitting dormant for 28 years, the decaying structure found a buyer in 2007, when the St. Joseph County Public Library purchased it as part of a proposed expansion plan. Another five years passed before the library announced plans to demolish the building -– triggering the Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St. Joseph County to petition the South Bend Common Council for landmark status for the old theater. The Commission’s request postponed the demolition by several months, but landmark status was ultimately denied, on the grounds that the property was structurally unsound and that renovation costs would be prohibitive.
However, in a gesture of goodwill, the library agreed to cover the $69,000 cost of removing -– and delivering to the Commission — the decorative terra cotta tiles on the theater’s façade.
With that last bit of business complete, demolition of the former theater began on December 16, 2012, and was completed in 2013.
This opened as the Strand on May 12th, 1946 and reopened as Avon on October 12th, 1949. Both grand opening ads posted.
Avon theatre opening Tue, Oct 11, 1949 – 23 · The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Saint Joseph, Indiana, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
The Avon Theater was demolished in November of 2012. Luckily, the Terra-cotta portion of the from facade were saved for reuse on or in another building.
Update on the Avon: Looks like it is going to be destroyed by the new owners. The St. Joseph County Library bought it and is going to level it for a parking lot. The community has tried to stop them, but I don’t think it will be saved. There is a FB group: Save the Avon Theatre downtown South Bend if you would like to follow.
rpatnaude, Who were you in contact with about the property? It seems the city still owns it. I think the Library is to broke to make a parking lot right now, but who knows. It is a great location, and I am interested in reopening it.
I can say with great certainty that the Avon was still in operation in the early 1970’s. I was a student at IU South Bend and also worked at the neighboring State Theatre from 1970 – 1972. We all had a reciprocal agreement with the other theaters that employees could see any films at any of the South Bend theatres. In the early to mid-1960’s the Avon when through a period where they showed “soft-core” European porno films, not porno by today’s standards by any means, but adult films nonetheless. In the late-1960’s they returned to showing commercial films, but with a focus on independent or smaller art films. I remember seeing I am Curious Yellow there as well as all of Woody Allen’s early films like Take the Money and Run and Bananas.
I’m not certain when it officially closed, but it was still in operation in 1972.
Does anyone have any updates about the fate of this theatre. I remember it as a kid growing up in South Bend in the 60’s as being that place that my parents would hurry by for fear I would ask what the movies they were showing were. I seem to have a vague memory of one of them being “I am Curious (Yellow).” Would love to hear any updates!
The Avon was an upscale “art” theatre (spelled with a terminal “-re”) while I was an undergraduate at Notre Dame in the 1950s. It mostly showed “foreign films,” not regular movies. It aimed to attract patrons who would not condescend to visit the many other theaters in town — and it largely succeeded, which is why only professors and snobs knew it was open for business. Its regular clientele consisted of folks who liked to imagine they were in New York or Paris. If an ND undergrad’s date was a foreign-language or fine arts major from St. Mary’s College, he might suffer going there too, occasionally. :–)
here are 2 recent photos of the Avon:
View link
The current plan for the AVON Theatre building is for the South Bend Public Library, in the same block. Will purchase the building and raze it along with surrounding buildings for an expansion and parking garage facility. The plan has been delayed currently due to funding issues within local government tax roles. You can read about some of these plans in the public report…
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A recent photo of the Avon, complete with Wendy Jo Martin’s mural of South Bend, can be seen at the South Bend Area Blog. (Permalink http://www.realst8.com/blog/?p=77 )
This theater has an interesting history. The original name, The Strand, was selected in a contest. It was the first theater in South Bend built purely for films. As such, it hasn’t been too marketable to theatre groups and such in the present day, like many old theaters.
It was first relaunched in 1949 as The Avon. Then, in the 50’s (1959?) as the Avon Art ( showing a lot of French New Wave and “Art films”). It then degenreated in to a Porno Theatre in the 1970’s, when it died a slow death with the rest of the downtown after a bizarre policy by Mayor Allen of
1) jacking up business taxes and driving stores to the malls and neighboring towns
2)putting in a bunch of one-way streets that prevented anyone from easily going to the remaining businesses
3)Paving over main street to make a “walking downtown"
4) Putting up dozens of parking garages where the businesses once stood
Since the mid-to-late 90s, the downtown nightlife in South Bend has revitalized (primarily because of ripping up Main Street and turnign it into a commercial center again) but the Avon has some serious problems inside.
I’ve seen worse, mind you- and the roof is in good condition. There is some water damage from when it wasn’t, however. Not too bad. City Estimates were in the neighborhood of $10,000 for new HVAC system back about 15 years ago. All the seats except for the balcony were ripped out in the mid 90’s to go to the grand old STATE theater down the street when it was brifly revived as a theater (it has since become a nightclub.
The worst feature of the Avon is its electrical system, or systems, I should say. It’s like a museum of electrical systems from 1926-1970. Nothing was ever removed, just added to. It would take quite a bit to get it up to modern code/regulations.
In theory ( I looked into it very seriously) one could turn it into a functioning theatre provided you could transfer a liquor liscence into it, and serve alcohol. On sundays no alcohol in Indiana, so you’d have to do kiddie shows and get families.
The city of South Bend was very helpful in putting together business models and offered to give to purchaser a three-year property tax abatement. There were also many other incentives from the Indiana Historical Society, National Register of Historical Places, and it was in a business “Redevelopment Zone” which carried some tax benefits.
If someone can set up a distirbution deal for /cult/classic/arthouse/revivial (non mainstream) movies there, get an alcohol liscence, some new projector/sound equipment, and the money for an electrical overhaul- you could have a nice, historical movie bar – and the city would be happy to see someone develop the property and help you out.
Update: I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the South Bend Civic Theater stating that they have purchased the Scottish Rite building in South Bend for their new theater so I’m guessing that they have no plans at this point for the old Avon theater. Wonder what’s going to happen to the Avon.