I spent the night in Wells about 8 years ago, and drove out to the Kee on snowy roads. They were showing something I’d already seen, but I donated the price of a ticket, and the kindly old man who was running the place let me wander around and take a bunch of pictures. When I get them up on Flickr, I’ll share a link.
This is not a remodel, and was not done in 2014. Street view from 2008 shows it under construction. Maybe they tore down the old theater to build it? About half of the old downtown has been demolished, including almost the entire north side of Main, so I’m not sure where 4 theaters would have fit in such a tiny town (didn’t reach 1,000 people until the 1950 census).
Theater was around before 1941 for sure. Found a picture pre-remodel (1938), and the building at that point was your typical semi-fancy brick front thing from the ‘20s.
Marker is in the wrong place. The street number is between 300 and 308 (eastern corner of Main and Morris). The Odd Fellows hall next door is 310. Opening in 1937 was inauspicious, because the local coal mine closed in 1939, and the nearby mine in Jerome closed in 1945. Surprised it hung on as long as it did.
Google has shockingly poor coverage of this entire area. Most towns got one quick pass on the main road past town in 2008 and nothing since, so still no streetview. I had sent the one photo to John years ago so he could add this, and I’ve finally gotten around to editing the batch. I’ll post a link to Flickr when I upload them.
Lastly, there was another theater in town. It may have been called the Nicollette, and was much older. Based on the one photo I found, if it hasn’t been demolished, it might be the building on Center St next to the Borough Hall/Fire Station (marked on Google map). Sadly, I didn’t realize anything was on Center, so no picture of that.
Need to fix the description! Remove the part about the Palace, which is wrong. Figure out if the Palace was the other theater building on 12th, and create an entry if we can name it.
Streetview is facing the wrong way, and a bit too far East. 2008 streetview shows your typical turn of the century 2-story commercial block. Very deep, with a gable roof at the rear. Looks derelict already, 3 storefronts, one might have been a bar. Only really notable feature was the white glazed brick columns along the front.
Sorry, typo for the remodel date. I imagine it must have been about 1946, when it ‘opened’ according to the article. It’s clear from looking at the brick that the entire front of the building was removed and replaced. Also, those windows are not stained glass, it’s glass block, and there are three strips, not four.
I think Chuck was badly confused about this theater, and suggest the description be changed.
Looks like the name history in the listing is wrong. The photos clearly show the marquee said ‘New Moon’. Maybe ‘Moon’ was just a mistake in the first few listings? Anyhow, this should be listed under ‘New Moon’, not the shamefully lame ‘Showplace 3’, which was only toward the very end.
Anyhow, current usage as of my visit in 2014 was a church which runs the bowling alley on a reduced schedule. Marquee protected under some bland siding. Maybe they can restore it?
Exterior ruined with a coat of white paint. Of course, since they just used cheap stuff, it’s already peeling in the 2015 streetview. Hopefully someone will see sense and strip it all off.
The front was not marble. Either Chuck was confused, or maybe it had marble when it was built. The 1949 remodel was beige and red-brown enameled metal panels. I doubt it had marble inside. The building is being worked on, and the interior looks like your standard plaster, where there’s anything still on the brick at all. Not sure how much is due to the interior demolition the crew was doing when I walked by, but the interior is in very poor shape, the balcony frame is bare at the back, and only a tiny bit of the lobby walls were still plastered. The screen must have been pretty small, the roof steps down quite a bit toward the rear.
Very low quality listing. Theater is a little quonset style building on N Colorado St. Number is in the low 400s (even side). When I was there in 2010 it seemed to be a community theater, but I can’t tell if it’s still open. Looks to be in good shape, anyway.
Needs streetview added to replace low-quality enlargement of a thumbnail we have now. Address of a business across the street is 264 Randolph St, so maybe 265-7?
1970 picture shows 147 as a Montgomery Ward with an ugly metal front. Hard to tell if the second story was already gone. At that point, building to the left was a Ben Franklin, and building to the right an appliance store. I don’t think this got renumbered, but this doesn’t look like a theater at all.
Description needs to be corrected, this was open later than the ‘50s. Page 65 of the NRHP listing for downtown has a circa 1970 photo showing that the façade was covered in white stucco, and a simple triangular marquee with 'Strand’ on a blade at the front was added. Looks like the remodel dates to around 1940-50. At some point it joined far too many historic buildings downtown in becoming a parking lot.
Theater is not demolished, although it’s very hard to tell it was ever there. Page 119 of the NRHP listing for downtown has a circa 1970 photo. Recessed entry under three small arches, and no marquee, just the name painted across the front (where it says ‘Alpha Pawn’ now).
147 is the low, wide building on the right of the street view. From the back, it appears to have had another story, although the entire back has very large ‘warehouse’ windows. Either E Main got renumbered, or the auditorium was inside this large building, and almost certainly is gone.
I spent the night in Wells about 8 years ago, and drove out to the Kee on snowy roads. They were showing something I’d already seen, but I donated the price of a ticket, and the kindly old man who was running the place let me wander around and take a bunch of pictures. When I get them up on Flickr, I’ll share a link.
This is not a remodel, and was not done in 2014. Street view from 2008 shows it under construction. Maybe they tore down the old theater to build it? About half of the old downtown has been demolished, including almost the entire north side of Main, so I’m not sure where 4 theaters would have fit in such a tiny town (didn’t reach 1,000 people until the 1950 census).
Theater was around before 1941 for sure. Found a picture pre-remodel (1938), and the building at that point was your typical semi-fancy brick front thing from the ‘20s.
Extensively remodeled, current function is apartments and retail. White brick building, might be from the ‘20s originally.
Google has typically terrible coverage of this town, like most of the rest of central PA, but I think this is on Broadway between 5th and Center.
Owner’s daughters? There’s a tiny scrap of terrazzo left in front, and it’s written as ‘Mary-Lee’ there.
Marker is in the wrong place. The street number is between 300 and 308 (eastern corner of Main and Morris). The Odd Fellows hall next door is 310. Opening in 1937 was inauspicious, because the local coal mine closed in 1939, and the nearby mine in Jerome closed in 1945. Surprised it hung on as long as it did.
Google has shockingly poor coverage of this entire area. Most towns got one quick pass on the main road past town in 2008 and nothing since, so still no streetview. I had sent the one photo to John years ago so he could add this, and I’ve finally gotten around to editing the batch. I’ll post a link to Flickr when I upload them.
Lastly, there was another theater in town. It may have been called the Nicollette, and was much older. Based on the one photo I found, if it hasn’t been demolished, it might be the building on Center St next to the Borough Hall/Fire Station (marked on Google map). Sadly, I didn’t realize anything was on Center, so no picture of that.
Very well preserved for something closed so long. It’s now a bar, seemed popular with an older crowd.
Need to fix the description! Remove the part about the Palace, which is wrong. Figure out if the Palace was the other theater building on 12th, and create an entry if we can name it.
Streetview is facing the wrong way, and a bit too far East. 2008 streetview shows your typical turn of the century 2-story commercial block. Very deep, with a gable roof at the rear. Looks derelict already, 3 storefronts, one might have been a bar. Only really notable feature was the white glazed brick columns along the front.
Sorry, typo for the remodel date. I imagine it must have been about 1946, when it ‘opened’ according to the article. It’s clear from looking at the brick that the entire front of the building was removed and replaced. Also, those windows are not stained glass, it’s glass block, and there are three strips, not four.
I think Chuck was badly confused about this theater, and suggest the description be changed.
Looks like the name history in the listing is wrong. The photos clearly show the marquee said ‘New Moon’. Maybe ‘Moon’ was just a mistake in the first few listings? Anyhow, this should be listed under ‘New Moon’, not the shamefully lame ‘Showplace 3’, which was only toward the very end.
Anyhow, current usage as of my visit in 2014 was a church which runs the bowling alley on a reduced schedule. Marquee protected under some bland siding. Maybe they can restore it?
Exterior ruined with a coat of white paint. Of course, since they just used cheap stuff, it’s already peeling in the 2015 streetview. Hopefully someone will see sense and strip it all off.
The front was not marble. Either Chuck was confused, or maybe it had marble when it was built. The 1949 remodel was beige and red-brown enameled metal panels. I doubt it had marble inside. The building is being worked on, and the interior looks like your standard plaster, where there’s anything still on the brick at all. Not sure how much is due to the interior demolition the crew was doing when I walked by, but the interior is in very poor shape, the balcony frame is bare at the back, and only a tiny bit of the lobby walls were still plastered. The screen must have been pretty small, the roof steps down quite a bit toward the rear.
Very low quality listing. Theater is a little quonset style building on N Colorado St. Number is in the low 400s (even side). When I was there in 2010 it seemed to be a community theater, but I can’t tell if it’s still open. Looks to be in good shape, anyway.
Needs streetview added to replace low-quality enlargement of a thumbnail we have now. Address of a business across the street is 264 Randolph St, so maybe 265-7?
Not that it really makes any difference, but the theater was sort of where the minivan is parked (on the other side of the street).
Streetview is wrong. This was on Brownsville Ave, back from Market.
Streetview is wrong, shows the empty lot where the Hollywood used to be.
Needs to be listed as demolished. Happened between 2008 and 2012, I think.
1970 picture shows 147 as a Montgomery Ward with an ugly metal front. Hard to tell if the second story was already gone. At that point, building to the left was a Ben Franklin, and building to the right an appliance store. I don’t think this got renumbered, but this doesn’t look like a theater at all.
Description needs to be corrected, this was open later than the ‘50s. Page 65 of the NRHP listing for downtown has a circa 1970 photo showing that the façade was covered in white stucco, and a simple triangular marquee with 'Strand’ on a blade at the front was added. Looks like the remodel dates to around 1940-50. At some point it joined far too many historic buildings downtown in becoming a parking lot.
Theater is not demolished, although it’s very hard to tell it was ever there. Page 119 of the NRHP listing for downtown has a circa 1970 photo. Recessed entry under three small arches, and no marquee, just the name painted across the front (where it says ‘Alpha Pawn’ now).
147 is the low, wide building on the right of the street view. From the back, it appears to have had another story, although the entire back has very large ‘warehouse’ windows. Either E Main got renumbered, or the auditorium was inside this large building, and almost certainly is gone.