Comments from SethG

Showing 951 - 975 of 1,432 comments

SethG
SethG commented about Main Street Theatre on Mar 9, 2020 at 8:50 am

Building has been gutted, and is just a brick shell. Work going on inside, so it’s not being torn down.

SethG
SethG commented about Lyric Theatre on Mar 1, 2020 at 9:27 pm

Long gone, if the address is correct. Site now the parking lot for an ugly bank.

SethG
SethG commented about Rialto Theatre on Feb 7, 2020 at 1:45 pm

1906 Cahn guide gives the seating as 1,200. Still doing stage shows as well at that point. Prices $.25 to $1.50 (or about $7.10 to $42.60 today).

SethG
SethG commented about Gem Theatre on Jan 19, 2020 at 6:27 pm

Should be listed as demolished. The current building is only one story. The 1924 Sanborn shows the theater as a two-story brick building. On that map, the address is 108. Not sure why the renumbering, 104 already was skipped to make this 108.

On the 1909 map, the address is 106. The theater is sharing the building with a millinery, at about 60/40 in favor of the theater. The stage section is also smaller on this map.

The building was originally a tin front, constructed sometime between 1886 and 1892, and occupied by a dry goods store until the theater moved in. The tin front is not noted after the 1902 map.

SethG
SethG commented about Star Theatre on Jan 19, 2020 at 2:02 pm

I don’t know why the sentences in my submission needed to be moved around. In 1906, the building was still the hotel, which was built sometime between 1893 and 1898. I was just stating that the space which became the theatre was offices in 1906.

SethG
SethG commented about Strand Theatre on Jan 18, 2020 at 11:44 am

Might as well put a copy of this on the Uptown page.

SethG
SethG commented about Strand Theatre on Jan 17, 2020 at 3:53 pm

That’s the wrong 4th St. The Pershing was at 109 SW 4th St, which was called 10th St until before 1923, and was called Walnut before 1901.

The 1923 Sanborn shows the Pershing on the corner of W 4th St and W Delaware St. It was a brick building, one to two stories tall, with the screen in a concrete section at the rear. The building seems to have been a conversion of the Fairfield Ice & Coal Co., which occupied a building with the same footprint and concrete rear section on the 1913 map. The wooden front section was replaced, possibly during the conversion. This corner was home to industrial enterprises at least as far back as 1901.

The lot is now home to a cheap prefab shed which houses the local American Legion post.

The building you’re talking about is very shallow, and is a store on the 1923 map. Before that, it may have been the offices of a livery stable, but it’s been remodeled so much it’s hard to tell how old it is.

SethG
SethG commented about Capitol Theater on Jan 14, 2020 at 5:33 pm

Status needs to be listed as demolished. The 1909 Sanborn shows a 2-story tin front in the middle of the 100 block of W Chestnut on the south side (so an odd number). This is two wooden stores joined by one front with a central stair. The deeper east half is a bowling alley. By 1912, this space is shown as a ‘picture show’. Presuming the address to be correct, this was likely a forerunner of the Anatole.

SethG
SethG commented about Nostalgia Theatre on Jan 14, 2020 at 4:01 pm

The good news is that the chintzy ‘Showtime’ boxes went off to the dump by 2016, revealing the sides of the marquee again. They’re only a bit rusty after years of being covered. The upper story windows have been replaced by cheapo white plastic frames, which really don’t match the style. That ugly wooden ticket booth is history as well (although I wonder what was under the wood), and the doors moved to the center.

SethG
SethG commented about Florine Theatre on Jan 14, 2020 at 3:30 pm

The Cinematour thread linked to by Joe is confusing. Konrad had the wrong address for the Casino (it was likely at 103 W North), and one of the earlier posters suggests the Orpheum and Florine were both in operation in 1946, along with a Roxy, which Konrad claims was built on the site of the Casino. The building at 103 W North was never demolished, although the location of 103 E North became a parking lot as far back as 2009 (and probably well before that).

SethG
SethG commented about Florine Theatre on Jan 14, 2020 at 3:05 pm

Joe is right about the probable location. The May 1912 map shows a wooden theater building on this site. On the March 1906 map, there are some small wooden stores. The theater building runs the whole depth of the block, and has a deep stage at the rear. The entire building was tin clad, with an ornate front featuring a double-arched entry. The front wall of the lobby was concrete block (doubtless the stuff patterned to look like stone), and the ticket booth was in a bowed-out central portion. From the article above, it appears this building was replaced in 1921.

There is however, a problem with the Opera House ID. The 1906 map shows the opera house across the street, at 117. This building still exists, with an ugly windowless flat front from sometime post-WWII. That building appears at least as early as 1894. By 1912, it appears to have closed, and only the ground floor stores are noted. The structure appearing on the 1912 map is much less substantial. It is noted on the map only as ‘Moving Picture Show’, although the stage is noted as having scenery.

I could only find Cahn guides online for 1897 and 1905, and neither mention Flora at all.

SethG
SethG commented about Nostalgia Theatre on Jan 14, 2020 at 2:28 pm

Last movie mentioned was in 2018. A music studio is using part of the building. Last FB activity was summer 2019. I don’t think they show movies anymore.

SethG
SethG commented about Main Theatre on Jan 11, 2020 at 10:49 am

The hotel survived until at least 1996 when it was destroyed for a parking lot, a foolish waste in a rapidly shrinking city with almost no businesses in this block. Although the Sanborn maps neglect to show it, the building had a very elaborate stone front.

SethG
SethG commented about Manos Theatre on Jan 11, 2020 at 10:46 am

I’m not sure exactly when this was demolished, but the hotel, which is part of the same parking lot today, was mentioned in a 1996 guide to the National Road (US 40).

SethG
SethG commented about Imperial Theatre on Jan 11, 2020 at 10:41 am

It’s strange that the Sanborn surveyor wrote ‘Imp’ rather than Imperial. There was definitely room for the whole word. I’m disappointed that it wasn’t the Imp, which is much more fun.

SethG
SethG commented about Plaza Theatre on Jan 10, 2020 at 6:02 pm

Since the Plaza was demolished in 1938, this must be somewhere else.

SethG
SethG commented about West End Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 3:06 pm

The 1914 map shows a very deep stage, a deep horseshoe balcony extending all the way to that, and a long narrow central entry between a bookstore and a grocery. Apartments were on the second floor, and a dance hall occupied the third, which must have been miserable for the apartment dwellers.

SethG
SethG commented about West End Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 2:57 pm

This building has been demolished. There’s a cheap pre-fab business center on the site now. The 2007 streetview is the typical blurry mess, but it’s possible the VFW was the same building. The insurance maps show it as three stories, not two, but it could have been cut down.

SethG
SethG commented about Main Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 2:24 pm

Actually, looking at the picture of the Manos with the soldiers marching past, I think you can see the old hotel in the background. It looks like Kresge’s was content to slap a storefront on the ground floor and call it done.

SethG
SethG commented about Manos Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 2:22 pm

The address is ridiculously wrong. Looking at one clear exterior shot, it seems that it was at 8-12 E Main between the currently extant building on the corner, and what looks like the old Mahaney/Exchange/Fuller hotel next door, which is also now a parking lot.

SethG
SethG commented about Main Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 1:36 pm

This has been demolished, and is now a parking lot. The hotel was built in 1891 as the Mahaney. Sometime between 1901 and 1907 it became the Exchange, but the 1914 map shows it as the Hotel Fuller. It was a 4-story brick structure filling about 1/3 of the lot, with a rear section filling in the rest. The rear section contained a dining room, and was narrower, presumably to allow light to reach those areas. The 1914 map shows a bar and office occupying most of the front of the ground floor, with only a narrow lobby. It’s unclear where the theater would have fit. I assume Kresge’s actually purchased the lot to demolish the hotel and build a store.

SethG
SethG commented about Main Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 1:25 pm

No, this is looking from the intersection of Beeson, so the hotel would have been on the left side of the street, behind the photographer. However, the Rex is visible as the brown 2-story building on the right, just before the large white-fronted department store.

SethG
SethG commented about Capitol Theatre on Jan 9, 2020 at 1:09 pm

The 2005 photo is not of the original building, which was a large square brick building of 1-2 stories with a peaked roof. It occupied the NE corner of W Peter St and Pittsburgh Rd. The entrance was off Peter, so presumably the address was not on Pittsburgh. As can be seen in the rather blurry main picture, there was a balcony which ran on three walls, right up to the stage.

If the 2005 picture was taken in Uniontown, then the original theater must have been destroyed in the fire, and smaller buildings constructed on the lot. Since that entire corner is now a parking lot, it’s hard to tell whether the ‘new’ Dixie faced Peter or Pittsburgh.

By the way, there is no Pittsburgh STREET, which is why the map is screwed up.

SethG
SethG commented about Fiske Theatre on Sep 24, 2019 at 1:07 pm

I think you meant 1930, when the movie came out.

SethG
SethG commented about Fiske Theatre on Sep 24, 2019 at 1:03 pm

We stopped in Oak Grove so I could see this theater. The very friendly staff invited me in, and Mr. Holland (who is the mayor), showed me around. The movie was almost over, so I waited a few minutes and they let me roam around inside and take a bunch of pictures. The theater is very well cared for.