Rodgers Theater
1217 Solano Street,
Corning,
CA
96021
1217 Solano Street,
Corning,
CA
96021
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The most recent news I can find about the Rodgers Theatre is on this page of the Rolling Hills Casino’s web site, and is dated January 11, 2016. The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians and the Casino Foundation have pledged $100,000 for the theater’s renovation, to be disbursed over three years.
September 16, 1950 photo added courtesy of Joel Windmiller‎.
The Rodgers Theatre is presently in the process of renovation for the purpose of being turned into a community center. Assistance is apparently being provided by the City of Corning, the Corning Community Center and lots of volunteers.
The Rodgers Theatre has been closed since 2006. The most recent article I can find about it is this one from the Corning Observer of January 31 this year. It says that the renovations are proceeding, and at that time new bathrooms were being built.
The Rodgers Theatre was donated to the City of Corning by Daniel and Wealthy Rodgers in 1991, along with an endowment of $50,000 toward its maintenance. The current renovations are being paid for by funds from various sources, including grants, municipal funds, and donations. The goal is to convert the building into a community center with a movie theater included.
The article says that the Rodgers Theatre was built in 1935. Unless information has been lost over the years and it was actually built earlier, that means the house would not be the 1928 project mentioned on the California Index card that I cited in my comment of September 26, 2008.
I’m reading several sites on the Rodgers. In 1990, I both lived in Corning and had a small department store right across the street from the Rodgers. At that time it was closed, but the city and someone had plans to reopen the theatre (I thought as a live stage theatre; and not a duplex). I moved away before it was reopened and not seen it since. I hope that what I just read is not true “closed”.
A 2011 photo can be seen here.
This theater is closed and has been for at least 2 years.
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yzz6wa2
Nice looking marquee.
Here is a 1980 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/p825og
Here is a 1982 photo:
http://snipurl.com/gjw3n
Here are puzzling tidbits from the L.A. Library’s California Index: Pacific Coast Architect, issue of July, 1928 reported that architect Frederick S. Harrison, of either Oakland or Sacramento (there are two cards, each giving a different location- maybe he had offices in both cities) was designing a $45,000 theater to be built in Corning for W.F. Rogers. Another card cites Motion Picture Herald, issue of June 8, 1935, as saying: “D. and F. Rogers have purchased a half interest in the Corning Theatre.” I have no idea if W.F. Rogers was related to D. and/or F. Rogers.
There’s not enough information there to determine if any or all of these cards refer to the Rodgers Theater, but Corning has always been a small town and it seems unlikely to have ever supported two theaters. Also, I don’t know if “Rogers” in both of those magazines was simply a misspelling of “Rodgers” though the current owners of the theatre might know. If somebody could check the Tehama County Assessor’s office, they could find the original construction date of this building. If it was 1928 or 1929, it’s almost certainly the one originally designed by Harrison.