Elkader Cinema
108 N. Main Street,
Elkader,
IA
52043
108 N. Main Street,
Elkader,
IA
52043
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Related Websites
Elkader Cinema (Official)
Additional Info
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Elkader Theater, Showhouse, Circle Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
563.245.2666
Nearby Theaters
The 250-seat Elkader Theatre was built in 1941. It closed around 1993 and sat vacant for a decade. Lee and Diane Akin along with a local volunteer group have refurbished this old movie theatre. They received a $50,000 grant from the Main Street Iowa program, $20,000 from the Upper Mississippi Gaming Commission and many private donations. The original marquee from 1941 was repaired and reused. The Elkader Cinema is once again showing movies, but since recliner seats were installed in 2022, the seating capacity has been reduced to 77-seats.
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Same operators as Prairie Cinema in Prairie Du Chien. Also offers video rentals.
The ELKADER Theatre is seen in a color photo and small article (“Main Street, USA”) on Page 8 in the December/January 2020 issue of Reminisce Magazine.
According to the NRHP registration form for downtown Elkader’s historic district, Harold and Belma Hall, owners and operators of the Rivola Theatre at 119 N. Main Street since 1927, opened the Elkader Theatre in September, 1941 in a commercial building that had been built in 1901. The Elkader and Rivola both continued to be listed in the FDY for several years, with the Rivola listed as closed, but the Year Book listed both with 250 seats, though the Elkader apparently had 400 from the beginning.
The NRHP form says that the Rivola, opened in 1921, was the first movie theater in Elkader, but they missed something. The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists two houses in the town: The Crystal, located on Main Street, and the Majestic, no location noted. A history of Clayton County published in 1916 says that John L. Flanagan opened the Majestic in 1910. There is a possibility that the Majestic was an aka for the Elkader Opera House, which opened in 1903 at 207 N. Main Street, but I’ve been unable to confirm this.
With all-reserved seating in recliners the capacity is now 77 according the the chart on the theatre’s website.
Joe, I’ve added both the Crystal and Rivola. I agree the Majestic may well have been the opera house, but it’s unclear. There’s no mention of movies in any of the histories, but the old NRHP listing for the building says it was used as a theater until 1947. Could very well have been live theater only. I don’t see any other obvious choices on the 1913 map.