1937 articles in Salem’s daily paper referred to a “New Lyric Theater” being built on Fourth Street. At this time, the older Lyric Theater was still in operation. The opening of the “New Lyric” was never mentioned in those pages, but the Preston Theater opened on Fourth Street in 1941. Perhaps it was a remodeled and renamed New Lyric, or the New Lyric’s completion was for some reason postponed for several years and never actually opened under that name, instead being named after its owners.
The January 23, 1941 edition of the Salem Post & Democrat-Bulletin announced that the Preston Theater would open for business the following day; the owners were Kenneth and Olive Mae Preston. The facade’s first floor was done in black structural glass, with a sunburst motif above the marquee. Inside, the color scheme was reported to be “blue, brown, cream, and soft rust.” There were 600 seats and no balcony. Projectors were by Simplex. The opening show was “Comrade X” starring Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr.
The Shindig is no more; long live the State Theater! The original name is back above the marquee and live performances are being presented. statetheatrelive.com
The building housing the Strand last appeared on Google Street View in July 2013, but more recent aerial photos show that it has since been demolished.
When the church moved into the old theater, a bar owner purchased the huge cursive RITZ sign and intended to place it on the facade of his bar on Washington Avenue in nearby St. Louis. This never came to pass, and the Ritz bar went out of business. I wonder where that sign wound up!
The tornado didn’t spell the end of the building. The library remained inside the old La Cosa until the ‘80s or '90s, when a new library was built behind it. Upon completion of its replacement, the La Cosa/library structure was demolished. (So that’s where it was, Chuck; right in front of the site of the present library, just a few feet from the street. I remember it well; it was the library I went to as a kid!)
Bigger multiplexes killed off the smaller theaters, for the most part. The Mark Twain and the Sunset Hills couldn’t compete with the shiny new cinemas at Crestwood Plaza and Ronnie’s Plaza. The AMC 12 was literally built just behind the instantly-doomed Creve Coeur, a Wehrenberg triplex that was the chain’s flagship when built as a single-screener in the ‘60s. I like the older theaters 'cause they had more character, but that’s just the way it goes. :(
I have something to add to JAlex’s post: The Post-Dispatch once reported that the Jerry Lewis chain was planning to build a cinema in the St. Louis suburb of Overland; it was never constructed. The three Jerries that came to fruition in this market were the one on this page, the one that became the Bridgeton/Bridgewood, and one on Bellefontaine Road that survived longer than the others as a link in a small chain (People’s, maybe? My research notes are in storage.)
A little exciting news about the Bonanza: The building is being rehabbed, and the latter-day brick-and-paneling facade of the first floor has been torn out to temporarily reveal part of the old theater’s lobby. The photo linked here shows ancient posters advertising the Garrick Theater, and if you click the “right arrow” key you’ll see three more pictures of the Bonanza as it appears in June 2013!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrensnow/8979694833
The strange name of “S'Renco” came from the theater’s manager, Ruby S. Renco. I wish I had the date of the newspaper I saw it in to back me up, but I’m pretty sure I read that this cinema closed to the public shortly after the projectionist was mugged IN THE PROJECTION BOOTH DURING A MOVIE. Must’ve been a rough neighborhood! The apparent age of the building now on the site, the Barnard Rubber Stamp Company, suggests that it’s the same building that housed the theater.
Anyone interested in doing further research should take into account that Jablonow and Komm are the correct spellings of the names of the families involved in the running of this and many other theaters. (Source: multiple mentions in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Globe-Democrat)
I’ve noticed it too, but I’ve noticed how often Chuck’s descriptions could use a little clarification. I think they’re probably both right, in a way: Many of these theaters were probably independently run before Fanchon (not Franchon) & Marco came into the picture. The City Directories can be trusted, to a point: Sometimes a theater would exist for a couple years or more before making it into the Directory, and sometimes the Directory would continue to list it for a few years after it had gone out of business.
The actual address is 215 S. Cedar. Freaked out for a minute and thought it had been demolished! :D
A photo of the Preston appears in the online guide to Salem’s walking tour: http://www.salemmo.com/walkingtour/location47.asp
1937 articles in Salem’s daily paper referred to a “New Lyric Theater” being built on Fourth Street. At this time, the older Lyric Theater was still in operation. The opening of the “New Lyric” was never mentioned in those pages, but the Preston Theater opened on Fourth Street in 1941. Perhaps it was a remodeled and renamed New Lyric, or the New Lyric’s completion was for some reason postponed for several years and never actually opened under that name, instead being named after its owners.
The January 23, 1941 edition of the Salem Post & Democrat-Bulletin announced that the Preston Theater would open for business the following day; the owners were Kenneth and Olive Mae Preston. The facade’s first floor was done in black structural glass, with a sunburst motif above the marquee. Inside, the color scheme was reported to be “blue, brown, cream, and soft rust.” There were 600 seats and no balcony. Projectors were by Simplex. The opening show was “Comrade X” starring Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr.
Google Earth shows that the theater has now been demolished.
Sadly, this entire block has been demolished.
The Shindig is no more; long live the State Theater! The original name is back above the marquee and live performances are being presented. statetheatrelive.com
The address is wrong; the building that housed the Lyric (and, later, in 2015, an indoor beach!) is at 318 4th St.
The building housing the Strand last appeared on Google Street View in July 2013, but more recent aerial photos show that it has since been demolished.
The September 2013 Google Street View shows a crew working on the exterior of the theater!
When the church moved into the old theater, a bar owner purchased the huge cursive RITZ sign and intended to place it on the facade of his bar on Washington Avenue in nearby St. Louis. This never came to pass, and the Ritz bar went out of business. I wonder where that sign wound up!
There’s a bunch of 1999 Illiana photos in this set on FLickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/darrensnow/sets/72157605357779599
The tornado didn’t spell the end of the building. The library remained inside the old La Cosa until the ‘80s or '90s, when a new library was built behind it. Upon completion of its replacement, the La Cosa/library structure was demolished. (So that’s where it was, Chuck; right in front of the site of the present library, just a few feet from the street. I remember it well; it was the library I went to as a kid!)
One of my favorite things about this cinema is that the snack bar is accessible to mall-goers who aren’t theater customers. Extra income…pretty smart.
I’ll bet the architects were actually A.F. and Arthur Stauder, a team of brothers who were pretty active in the area.
Bigger multiplexes killed off the smaller theaters, for the most part. The Mark Twain and the Sunset Hills couldn’t compete with the shiny new cinemas at Crestwood Plaza and Ronnie’s Plaza. The AMC 12 was literally built just behind the instantly-doomed Creve Coeur, a Wehrenberg triplex that was the chain’s flagship when built as a single-screener in the ‘60s. I like the older theaters 'cause they had more character, but that’s just the way it goes. :(
I have something to add to JAlex’s post: The Post-Dispatch once reported that the Jerry Lewis chain was planning to build a cinema in the St. Louis suburb of Overland; it was never constructed. The three Jerries that came to fruition in this market were the one on this page, the one that became the Bridgeton/Bridgewood, and one on Bellefontaine Road that survived longer than the others as a link in a small chain (People’s, maybe? My research notes are in storage.)
A little exciting news about the Bonanza: The building is being rehabbed, and the latter-day brick-and-paneling facade of the first floor has been torn out to temporarily reveal part of the old theater’s lobby. The photo linked here shows ancient posters advertising the Garrick Theater, and if you click the “right arrow” key you’ll see three more pictures of the Bonanza as it appears in June 2013! http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrensnow/8979694833
The strange name of “S'Renco” came from the theater’s manager, Ruby S. Renco. I wish I had the date of the newspaper I saw it in to back me up, but I’m pretty sure I read that this cinema closed to the public shortly after the projectionist was mugged IN THE PROJECTION BOOTH DURING A MOVIE. Must’ve been a rough neighborhood! The apparent age of the building now on the site, the Barnard Rubber Stamp Company, suggests that it’s the same building that housed the theater.
Anyone interested in doing further research should take into account that Jablonow and Komm are the correct spellings of the names of the families involved in the running of this and many other theaters. (Source: multiple mentions in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Globe-Democrat)
The photo above, it should be noted (the one I’m looking at presently has the Fox in the foreground) depicts the American’s Grand Avenue location.
I’ve noticed it too, but I’ve noticed how often Chuck’s descriptions could use a little clarification. I think they’re probably both right, in a way: Many of these theaters were probably independently run before Fanchon (not Franchon) & Marco came into the picture. The City Directories can be trusted, to a point: Sometimes a theater would exist for a couple years or more before making it into the Directory, and sometimes the Directory would continue to list it for a few years after it had gone out of business.