Delmar Garden Theater

Noble at SW Second Street,
Oklahoma City, OK 73102

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Delmar Garden Theater

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Architects: William A. Wells

Styles: Art Nouveau

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Delmar Garden Theater

Athel Boiter, a sweetheart of a man who was a film booker knowledgeable in theater lore, once told me the history of Delmar Garden Theater.

Mr. Boiter said that John Sinopoulo was a Greek immigrant who wanted to build a stylish amusement complex that held a uniting theme throughout a park setting. In 1902 Sinopoulo opened on the banks of the North Canadian River his Delmar Gardens Amusement Park, which was designed in elaborate Art Nouveau styling that blended blissfully with surrounding wooded acreage.

Delmar Gardens Park offered an exotic animal zoo, festive penny arcade, thrill rides, cafes and a fine restaurant, a floating wedding chapel, a swank ballroom, a blue ribbon horse racing track, a tranquil boardwalk beer garden, a high class saloon dance hall, and a top notch 3,000-seat theater.

Delmar Garden Theater interior was designed in intricate Victorian gingerbread, with Art Nouveau accents. Orchestra seating held leather upholstered opera chairs, box seats contained comfortable wicker chairs and love-seats, and three horseshoe shaped balconies were equiped with steep pitch bleachers. While the auditorium had soft gas lighting, the heavily draped stage was brilliantly illuminated by electric switchboard lighting.

Built to be a vaudeville house, Delmar Garden Theater also installed film equipment in 1903 to feature “The Great Train Robbery”, which ran for eleven weeks. Regardless of the fact that film showings at the Delmar proved to be successful, management preferred to continue mainly as a two-a-day vaudeville venue, with only an occasional movie thrown in at the end of a weak vaudeville program. (One advantage for vaudvillians appearing on the family oriented Delmar stage was that they could also present “adult material” in late night sketches at the Delmar Saloon).

Lon Chaney, Sr. was appearing at Delmar Theater in 1905 when he rescued a beautiful 16 year-old songbird from a flooded basement dressing room. Her name was Cleva Crieghton, and after a whirlwind courtship the couple married there in Oklahoma City, but whether or not they took advantage of the romantic Delmar Garden floating chapel is lost to time.

Back in those early days, every spring the North Canadian River overflowed its banks causing extensive water damage to Delmar Gardens Park. Flooding was the reason for an early demise of this lovely pleasuredome. It closed in 1910, and was razed the following year.

Click the below link to view antique color postcard images of Delmar Gardens Amusement Park and Theater.

Contributed by Jeff Chapman

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

xxx
xxx on May 5, 2006 at 8:11 pm

A source for vintage photos of Delmar Gardens is listed below-
View link
and
View link

During the early 1930’s the mission revival style Market Theatre (also 3000 seats) was built on the Delmar site. Though now an antique mall, the boxoffice lobby, balcony, and stage remain intact.

Okie
Okie on May 17, 2006 at 6:43 pm

GREAT NEWS!
Renovation of Market Theatre has now begun at an estimated redevelopment cost of $4,000,000. This theatre opened June 16, 1928, at an original construction total of $500,000.
Click below to explore free web pages containing a complete history and professional color photographs;

http://www.okcfarmersmarket.com/photos/18.jpg

Okie
Okie on May 17, 2006 at 6:51 pm

Further contemporary and vintage photos can be seen on the below link;
http://www.okcfarmersmarket.com

Okie
Okie on July 15, 2006 at 4:14 pm

This antique color postcard shows Public Market complex, built on site of Delmar Garden Theatre. The Market Theatre occupied upper floors of this Mission Revival style structure.
View link

Lauren Durbin
Lauren Durbin on November 6, 2006 at 9:29 am

Some more recent photos of the Market Theater:
View link

jchapman1
jchapman1 on April 7, 2007 at 6:13 pm

About a dozen vintage postcard views of Delmar Gardens can be seen on below page -
View link

raybradley
raybradley on October 22, 2009 at 10:26 pm

Architect William A. Wells designed the Delmar Garden Theatre, and most all buildings within the park.
View link

raybradley
raybradley on March 11, 2011 at 2:23 pm

311 South Klein Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 is the exact address for this listing

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