Hi-Ho Theatre

4610 S. Presa Street,
San Antonio, TX 78223

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Additional Info

Architects: DeHaven Pitts, Gordon M. Smith

Firms: Smith-Pitts-MacPherson, Architects

Functions: Storage

Styles: Quonset Hut

Nearby Theaters

Hi-Ho Theatre

Built in the Quonset Hut style like many others that went up quickly in the 1940’s. The Hi-Ho Theatre was opened on September 25, 1947 with Claire Trevor in “Batchelor’s Daughters”. Located on the corner of E. Southcross Boulevard and S. Presa Street. It was lined with glass panels along the front of the theatre looking into the lobby. It had a marquee that stretched from one side of the building to the other above the front of the building. The box office and entrance was located right side of the building. Two side aisles led into the auditorium which seated 682.

Contributed by Chuck Van Bibber

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

sarider
sarider on February 8, 2006 at 3:48 pm

The Hi-Ho Theater building is actually just off the corner of Linda Lou and South Presa, about 800 feet north of Southcross (which was Darchy Road) during the theater’s operation. The stagehouse and marquee are still identifiable. The building is used for storage by an adjacent business.

Jim Miller
Jim Miller on July 4, 2006 at 2:53 pm

The Hi-Ho’s owners lived in an apartment upstairs in the theatre. The theatre did fair business at first, but television really hurt the theatre in the late 40s and early 50s. It was set up to run 3-D movies, but that never took off, and the only types of films that brought in any kind of crowd were risque movies. The Archdicese of San Antonio called for a boycott of the Hi-Ho, and that finally did it in. The Hi-Ho was so named because it was between the Highlands and Hot Wells neighborhoods. The Hi-Ho had a sister theatre in Mathis, Texas called the IT.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 1, 2010 at 2:04 am

The web site Lost Memory linked to above says that Gordon Smith designed this theater. Smith was a partner in the firm of Smith, Pitts & MacPherson, with DeHaven Pitts and Charles T. MacPherson. The slightly earlier It Theatre in Mathis, Texas, another quonset-type house, is attributed to DeHaven Pitts.

rivest266
rivest266 on January 11, 2020 at 4:57 pm

The Hi Ho theatre opened on September 25th, 1947. Grand opening ad posted.

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