Scott Theatre
281 S. Main Street,
Waldron,
AR
72958
281 S. Main Street,
Waldron,
AR
72958
2 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Scott Theatre (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: K. Lee Williams Theaters Inc.
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Styles: Art Deco, Atmospheric, Rustic
Previous Names: Pines Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
479.637.3222
Nearby Theaters
Built on S. Main Street in Waldron in October 1930 as the Pines Theatre. It was one of the oldest continuously-operated movie houses in Arkansas.
Renamed Scott Theatre from April 28, 1940, it originally had 340 seats, and features a semi-circular shaped marquee with the name of the theatre in red neon letters, has been remodeled and renovated several times over the course of its history. When it closed in April 2014 it was operating Fridays through Mondays only. It had reopened by April 2016.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 26 comments)
Jimmy, sorry but it was not a Lon Chaney film… The Feature was something with Ramon Navarre, I don’t have the title with me right now but I have a newspaper from opening night and it is listed,it was a talkie. Thanks for coming to the Theatre though, hope to have you back very soon. Have you noticed the display of old Scott Theatre stuff in the lobby? There are schedules there from as early as 1951 including a 1958 schedule that features Elvis in “his first dramatic singing role” Jailhouse Rock… and some of the 45 and 50 cent tickets from the fifties.
Ray Watson
Great of you guys to have saved some history.When so many theatres close it is everything in the dumpster.I have been able to save items tossed and much of it from the forties.Best of luck.Always.
I loved this theater when I was growing up in Waldron. When I was little, I didn’t even know that all theaters that weren’t drive-ins weren’t beautiful art deco movie houses like the Scott Theater. I just assumed they were.
I remember how the Christmas movie every year drew in pretty much every kid in town. The whole theater would be full, kids even sitting on the floor in front of the rows of seats and in the aisles. “Santa” would pass out candy and we’d watch a kid’s Christmas movie. And it was all free. It was a lot of fun.
I can’t smell popcorn or pipe smoke that I’m not instantly reminded of the beautiful theater lobby. Mr.Ken smoking his pipe, keeping an eye on us as little ones and a more suspicious, but just as welcoming eye on us as teenagers. Once I wondered for a second why my folks who were usually really protective and kept a pretty tight leash on us let us go to the theatre alone so often, and then I realized, we weren’t unsupervised. Mr. Ken knew each and every one of us and would be sure that none of us got into any real trouble.
I loved the bathrooms. They were tiny, but the beautiful tiling was really cool.
I loved standing outside waiting to get in under that big awning, bathed in the lights, as cars passed by cruising up the street,turning around at the Sonic, and cruising back down. Especially in the winter when it was cold, you’d wait out there, seeing and being seen, and then get inside greated by the warmth of the heat, but also the warmth of the colors of the lobby and the hot popcorn.
I remember old Hollywood star pictures in the hallway between the lobby and the screening room and I think a bit of memorabilia behind the snack counter,too. As a kid I didn’t see the significance, but looking back as a grown up, I bet they were really neat historical Golden Age of Cinema stuff. Wish I’d have paid better attention.
Yeah,and snapped a few pictures,like the rest of us should have.
Thanks Melissa… IT is an honor to keep the SCOTT up and running, I enjoyed many Friday and Saturday nights there as a teen and some before and after that. I was so shocked to find out that other theatres were just plain Cinemas and not like our “Grand Old Lady” She is 80 years old now and as strong as ever…..!
A man looked my wife up the other day and told a story of coming to the theatre on a weekend for a date, he put his ticket and a small movie program in his billfold and went to stay night at his aunts house, someone was going through his aunties house after she was gone and found his long lost wallet, he brought the stuff to us and it is on display in the Lobby with other little treasures we have collected.. He was there in 1953!!! ….Raymond
anyone know if Scott Theatre suffered some damage from the storm last Friday?, is open open for business this weekend?, I think not, but if anyone knows anything about it ……..
I searched Waldron Arkansas, and this theatre didn’t come up. I had to do a Google search before I found this page. Strange. Anyway, I’m adding a photo of a postcard from the Boston Public Library online collection.
Closed in April 2014 according to its Facebook page.
Status should be open. Website: http://www.scotttheater.com/ 220 seats. Phone#479-637-3222.
Originally built as the Pines Theatre for the tiny Kemp-Hughes Theatre Circuit, the first ten years of the theatre found it as a Rustic Atmospheric architectural style honoring the pine trees indigenous to the Waldron area and portraying the Pilot Mountain and its peak just north of the town. The side walls featured pine country in floor to ceiling murals including a mountain stream. In photos, see the original proscenium complete with mountaineer’s home. Hollowed logs and wood paneling gave off ember lighting effect as if in a fireplace. And rock elements jutting here and there provided a campfire effect. The projection booth was the watchtower for the theater which opened in October of 1930. John Hughes Forrester ran the operation and had concepts including an “Amusement Meal Ticket” to encourage more frequent or multiple ticket buyers and a student discount card to stimulate younger people coming to the Pines.
After its ten-year lease expired, Forrester moved on and K. Lee Williams Circuit took over the theatre under Gerry Doig’s management. Renamed the Scott Theatre, it received a major interior redesign in 1940 losing most of the original rustic elements. Even more original elements were going again in a 1950s redesign brought widescreen presentations. On January 24, 1960, a major fire gutted the interior though leaving the exterior virtually unchanged but the interior would be completely changed. Fortunately, the fire took place during church services so volunteer firefighters were nearby and did a good job of preventing further loss.
The theatre closed in 2014 but then under new operators got a nice redesign for its 85th anniversary reopening in October of 2015. Though the theatre looks markedly different from its original design, it is now complete with digital presentation and remains a cinema treasure for the area.