Theatre’s Rooftop A Practical Joke?

posted by JimRankin on June 16, 2005 at 7:45 am

MILWAUKEE, WI — The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has this story about our former BAY theatre which later became the LAKE:

A local eccentric owner painted huge letters on its flat, black roof saying “Welcome to Cleveland” when planes fly over it to Milwaukee’s airport a few blocks away. This has amused and startled more than a few flyers, and the story of it makes interesting reading.

Click on the link above, and when there, click on the photo to enlarge it and see what all the fuss is about. The marquee still hangs on the front of the theatre which has been Mr. Gubin’s photo studio and residence for many years now, and which has had its seats removed, but its new incarnation is probably a more suiteable usage than many others.

What will become of it when Mr. Gubin becomes too old to climb the steps to his balcony-home is anyone’s guess, but maybe the roof top joke will by then have long faded away, much to the delight of both cities. Maybe the author of the forthcoming sequel to “Milwaukee Movie Palaces,” Larry Widen, can get permission to copy this photo into the appendex of his new book: “Silver Screens” to appear in a year from now. He can hardly overlook this bit of trivia about the fates of our movie palaces!

Theaters in this post

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment