rvarani, as you know where these theaters were, maybe you’d like to add them to Cinema Treasures. Just start with the “Submit Your Favorite” box on the site’s home page.
I’ve also come across a couple of references to a house called the Bijou Theatre in Eveleth, from 1908 and 1915. As the Strand and Empress were both operating before and after 1915, the Bijou must have been yet another theater.
I should have checked the photos. I see that the Empress appears in one of them. In Google Street View it looks like the building has a new front and is part of the Wells Fargo Bank.
rvarani, you posted your comment while I was still writing mine. I’m not surprised that the Regent ended up without its balcony. I was wondering how they could have stretched that $12,000 budget to build one. It probably had to be left out due to lack of funds.
I’ve been trying to find out which building across the street from the Regent was the location of the Empress Theatre. It was supposed to have been a wood framed building, and it looks like a few are still standing on that side of the street. The Empress was in operation by 1912, though Rabinowitz was not running it at that time.
Here is one of several items about Frank Rabinowitz’s theater project at Eveleth that appeared in various issues of The American Contractor in late 1918:
“M. P. Theater: $12,000. 1 sty. & balcony. 25x125. Eveleth, Minn. Archts. Holstead & Sullivan, Palladio bldg., Duluth. Engr. W. K. Robertson, 4321 Fremont av., S., Minneapolis, Minn. Owner Frank Rabinowitz, Empress & Strand Theater, Eveleth. Brk. Ready to fig. abt. Sept. 27.”
Abraham Holstead and William J. Sullivan ran Duluth’s leading architectural firm of the period, and have many impressive buildings to their credit.
The December 7, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the new theater soon to be built in Eveleth:
“EVELETH, MINN.— Virginia Builders Supply & Contracting Company, Virginia, Minn., has the contract to erect one-story and balcony moving picture theatre, 25 by 125 feet, for Frank Rabinowitz, Empress and Strand Theatre, Duluth, to cost $12,000.”
The Regent Theatre in Eveleth was opened around 1920 by Frank Rabinowitz, the father of Marc Rabwin, who would later become one of the best known physicians on California’s movie colony. The future Dr. Rabwin himself even operated the Regent and an older house across the street called the Empress for about a year. Around 1924, Rabinowitz sold his theaters in Eveleth and moved to California, where his sons had already relocated.
The Regent is mentioned a few times in Judy, Gerold Frank’s biography of Judy Garland, whose father, Frank Gumm, was an exhibitor in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and a friend of Marc Rabwin’s (Google Books preview). Frank says that when Ethel Gumm, pregnant with an unwanted third child, sought medical student Rabwin’s advice about getting an abortion, Rabwin advised against it. I would hope that Liza Minnelli at least puts flowers on his grave now and then.
A book published in 1919, Westfield Quarter-Millennium, has this line: “A spacious new theater, ‘The Strand’ was recently erected on Church Street and ‘The New Nickel’ is located on Elm Street, near Bartlett.”
The Massachusetts district police report for the year ending October 31, 1917, lists only the New Nickel Theatre and a house called Columbia Hall in Westfield, so the Strand must have opened sometime between late 1917 and early 1919.
The Thursday, September 5, 1935, issue of the Arizona Independent-Republic said that George Mauk’s new Mauk theater at Coolidge would open Friday night. Mauk already operated an eponymous house at Florence, Arizona.
Mauk’s obituary in the January 22, 1946, issue of the Prescott Evening Courier said that he operated his chain of theaters until 1938, when he sold them to Louis Long and others.
Re kenmcintyre’s previous comment: was the name Lyric Theatre restored to this house in its last years, or was there a third Lyric in Springfield, or did Boxoffice just make a mistake?
In any case, this was the Lyric Theatre that was designed by Helmle & Helmle. It’s possible that one or another of the Helmles also designed the first Lyric, across the street (a storefront conversion), as members of the family were among Springfield’s busiest architects during the late 19th-early 20th centuries, but I haven’t found documentation.
It sounds like another case of FDY failing to keep its listings up to date.
The address field needs to be corrected. The first Lyric was at 223-225 S. Fifth. Odd and even numbers were on opposite sides of the street in Springfield, as in most American cities. The Vaudette/Lyric/Tivoli, at 216-218, would have been just a couple of doors from being directly across the street.
The April 5, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World mentioned a “Capital” Theatre on East Washington Street in Springfield. The owners, I. Burnstine and Joseph Shepard, were planning to open a new theater at 111 N. Sixth Street. Perhaps that was the house that was opened that year as the Amuse U Theatre, which we list at 115 N.Sixth.
The NRHP registration form for the Edisonia Theatre Block says that it was built in 1913 and designed by local architects E.C. & G.C. Gardner. The building was added to the NRHP in 1983.
Yes, Ken, that’s it, and it’s definitely the house that later became the Tivoli.
Loper is undoubtedly the correct spelling of the owner’s name. A brief biography appears on this page of the 1912 Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 3 by Newton Bateman. It says that he converted his restaurant in to a theater after it was destroyed by a riot on August 8, 1908. That would give the first Lyric an opening of late 1908 or early 1909.
However, at least one resident of Springfield believed that Loper had a restaurant and theater in operation in the first Lyric building at the time of the riot. In a 1984 oral history interview, Marion Ester Schermerhorn (1899-1994) (this PDF) says that Loper “…had a restaurant and a theater right together.” It could have been one of those instances when a shopkeeper converted a back room into a nickelodeon.
The Lyric is mentioned in an item in the April 5, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
“PROPRIETORS H. T. Loper of the Lyric and W. W. Watts of the Vaudette have taken a long contemplated step and are trying out the plan of the longer show and the ten-cent admission. These two high-class houses showing licensed pictures report that demands for a lengthier program and the elimination of the constant changing of audiences has been frequent. The Savoy is giving three reels of licensed pictures but not so recent releases for five cents.”
The Vaudette was the house that later became the second Lyric and then the Tivoli.
Now I really wish I hadn’t lost that link to the photo of the Lyric. The splendid terra cotta front of the Tivoli Theatre does look familiar, and I’m pretty sure that it was the building in the American Terra Cotta Company’s archives.
That means that it must have been the New Lyric/Tivoli that was designed by Helmle & Helmle around 1920.
In satellite view, it looks like the Midway had a very shallow stage house without a tall fly tower. Many vaudeville acts didn’t use much scenery, and some didn’t use any, so the space would have been sufficient for their purposes. The theater could never have mounted any sort of big stage production, though.
I must have intended to put a link in my previous comment but forgot to insert it. I can’t find the photo of the Lyric Theatre I was linking to now, but I’ll keep looking for it. The American Terra Cotta Company’s archives are at the University of Minnesota Libraries, and they’ve reconfigured their web site. I don’t know if the photos are even available online anymore.
Linkrot repair: The Bamaboys' web page I linked to in my first comment of October 17, 2009, is now at this link. The 1959 photo of the Martin Theatre is fourth from the bottom.
An October 23 article in a Rockford newspaper (one of the worst newspaper web sites I’ve ever visited, so I won’t link) says that the Midway Theatre has been stabilized with a new roof, and the owners intend to restore the building, but the part of the article available to me didn’t say anything about it being used as a theater again. I got the impression that at least part of the theater will be re-purposed for other uses. The owners will attempt to get the building listed on the NRHP so they can get tax credits for any restoration work they do, and if they do get it listed the exterior at least should be safe.
The article also said that the theater has been vacant since 2003.
Here’s an interesting line from the NRHP Registration Form for the Central Theatre:
“The original interior had ‘pastel tinting and designing by Hugo
Claussen combined with thick carpeting and soft florescent lighting to produce a restful feeling.’”
The form doesn’t specify the source for the quote naming Hugo Clausen (which I believe is the correct spelling of his surname), but it might have been from the Ely Daily Times, which is cited as a general source.
The NRHP registration form for the Schubert Theatre says that it was designed by Hugo Clausen.
Clausen was a Salt Lake City decorator who, like San Francisco’s Gale Santocono, sometimes did architectural design. His company decorated the Egyptian Theatre in Boise, Idaho, and Clausen himself painted murals in the Central Theatre in Ely, Nevada.
Though the Internet does have some instances of the spelling Claussen, I believe the correct spelling of the architect’s surname is Clausen. He was primarily a decorator. His Salt Lake City firm, Hugo Clausen & Company, did the decorations for the Egyptian Theatre in Boise, Idaho, and Clausen painted the murals in the Central Theatre at Ely, Nevada. He is credited by an NRHP registration form as the architect of the Schubert Theatre (now the Gooding Cinema) at Gooding, Idaho.
rvarani, as you know where these theaters were, maybe you’d like to add them to Cinema Treasures. Just start with the “Submit Your Favorite” box on the site’s home page.
I’ve also come across a couple of references to a house called the Bijou Theatre in Eveleth, from 1908 and 1915. As the Strand and Empress were both operating before and after 1915, the Bijou must have been yet another theater.
I should have checked the photos. I see that the Empress appears in one of them. In Google Street View it looks like the building has a new front and is part of the Wells Fargo Bank.
rvarani, you posted your comment while I was still writing mine. I’m not surprised that the Regent ended up without its balcony. I was wondering how they could have stretched that $12,000 budget to build one. It probably had to be left out due to lack of funds.
I’ve been trying to find out which building across the street from the Regent was the location of the Empress Theatre. It was supposed to have been a wood framed building, and it looks like a few are still standing on that side of the street. The Empress was in operation by 1912, though Rabinowitz was not running it at that time.
I have no clue where the Strand was located.
Here is one of several items about Frank Rabinowitz’s theater project at Eveleth that appeared in various issues of The American Contractor in late 1918:
Abraham Holstead and William J. Sullivan ran Duluth’s leading architectural firm of the period, and have many impressive buildings to their credit.The December 7, 1918, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the new theater soon to be built in Eveleth:
The Regent Theatre in Eveleth was opened around 1920 by Frank Rabinowitz, the father of Marc Rabwin, who would later become one of the best known physicians on California’s movie colony. The future Dr. Rabwin himself even operated the Regent and an older house across the street called the Empress for about a year. Around 1924, Rabinowitz sold his theaters in Eveleth and moved to California, where his sons had already relocated.
The Regent is mentioned a few times in Judy, Gerold Frank’s biography of Judy Garland, whose father, Frank Gumm, was an exhibitor in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and a friend of Marc Rabwin’s (Google Books preview). Frank says that when Ethel Gumm, pregnant with an unwanted third child, sought medical student Rabwin’s advice about getting an abortion, Rabwin advised against it. I would hope that Liza Minnelli at least puts flowers on his grave now and then.
A book published in 1919, Westfield Quarter-Millennium, has this line: “A spacious new theater, ‘The Strand’ was recently erected on Church Street and ‘The New Nickel’ is located on Elm Street, near Bartlett.”
The Massachusetts district police report for the year ending October 31, 1917, lists only the New Nickel Theatre and a house called Columbia Hall in Westfield, so the Strand must have opened sometime between late 1917 and early 1919.
The Thursday, September 5, 1935, issue of the Arizona Independent-Republic said that George Mauk’s new Mauk theater at Coolidge would open Friday night. Mauk already operated an eponymous house at Florence, Arizona.
Mauk’s obituary in the January 22, 1946, issue of the Prescott Evening Courier said that he operated his chain of theaters until 1938, when he sold them to Louis Long and others.
Here is a photo of Mauks Theatre in Coolidge, Arizona, dated 1937.
Here is a photo of the San Carlos Theatre in Coolidge, Arizona, dated 1939.
Re kenmcintyre’s previous comment: was the name Lyric Theatre restored to this house in its last years, or was there a third Lyric in Springfield, or did Boxoffice just make a mistake?
In any case, this was the Lyric Theatre that was designed by Helmle & Helmle. It’s possible that one or another of the Helmles also designed the first Lyric, across the street (a storefront conversion), as members of the family were among Springfield’s busiest architects during the late 19th-early 20th centuries, but I haven’t found documentation.
It sounds like another case of FDY failing to keep its listings up to date.
The address field needs to be corrected. The first Lyric was at 223-225 S. Fifth. Odd and even numbers were on opposite sides of the street in Springfield, as in most American cities. The Vaudette/Lyric/Tivoli, at 216-218, would have been just a couple of doors from being directly across the street.
The April 5, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World mentioned a “Capital” Theatre on East Washington Street in Springfield. The owners, I. Burnstine and Joseph Shepard, were planning to open a new theater at 111 N. Sixth Street. Perhaps that was the house that was opened that year as the Amuse U Theatre, which we list at 115 N.Sixth.
The NRHP registration form for the Edisonia Theatre Block says that it was built in 1913 and designed by local architects E.C. & G.C. Gardner. The building was added to the NRHP in 1983.
Yes, Ken, that’s it, and it’s definitely the house that later became the Tivoli.
Loper is undoubtedly the correct spelling of the owner’s name. A brief biography appears on this page of the 1912 Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 3 by Newton Bateman. It says that he converted his restaurant in to a theater after it was destroyed by a riot on August 8, 1908. That would give the first Lyric an opening of late 1908 or early 1909.
However, at least one resident of Springfield believed that Loper had a restaurant and theater in operation in the first Lyric building at the time of the riot. In a 1984 oral history interview, Marion Ester Schermerhorn (1899-1994) (this PDF) says that Loper “…had a restaurant and a theater right together.” It could have been one of those instances when a shopkeeper converted a back room into a nickelodeon.
The Lyric is mentioned in an item in the April 5, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World:
The Vaudette was the house that later became the second Lyric and then the Tivoli.Now I really wish I hadn’t lost that link to the photo of the Lyric. The splendid terra cotta front of the Tivoli Theatre does look familiar, and I’m pretty sure that it was the building in the American Terra Cotta Company’s archives.
That means that it must have been the New Lyric/Tivoli that was designed by Helmle & Helmle around 1920.
In satellite view, it looks like the Midway had a very shallow stage house without a tall fly tower. Many vaudeville acts didn’t use much scenery, and some didn’t use any, so the space would have been sufficient for their purposes. The theater could never have mounted any sort of big stage production, though.
I must have intended to put a link in my previous comment but forgot to insert it. I can’t find the photo of the Lyric Theatre I was linking to now, but I’ll keep looking for it. The American Terra Cotta Company’s archives are at the University of Minnesota Libraries, and they’ve reconfigured their web site. I don’t know if the photos are even available online anymore.
Linkrot repair: The article about the Guyan Theatre in Boxoffice of December 2, 1950, is now at this link.
Linkrot repair: The Bamaboys' web page I linked to in my first comment of October 17, 2009, is now at this link. The 1959 photo of the Martin Theatre is fourth from the bottom.
An October 23 article in a Rockford newspaper (one of the worst newspaper web sites I’ve ever visited, so I won’t link) says that the Midway Theatre has been stabilized with a new roof, and the owners intend to restore the building, but the part of the article available to me didn’t say anything about it being used as a theater again. I got the impression that at least part of the theater will be re-purposed for other uses. The owners will attempt to get the building listed on the NRHP so they can get tax credits for any restoration work they do, and if they do get it listed the exterior at least should be safe.
The article also said that the theater has been vacant since 2003.
Here’s an interesting line from the NRHP Registration Form for the Central Theatre:
The form doesn’t specify the source for the quote naming Hugo Clausen (which I believe is the correct spelling of his surname), but it might have been from the Ely Daily Times, which is cited as a general source.The NRHP registration form for the Schubert Theatre says that it was designed by Hugo Clausen.
Clausen was a Salt Lake City decorator who, like San Francisco’s Gale Santocono, sometimes did architectural design. His company decorated the Egyptian Theatre in Boise, Idaho, and Clausen himself painted murals in the Central Theatre in Ely, Nevada.
Though the Internet does have some instances of the spelling Claussen, I believe the correct spelling of the architect’s surname is Clausen. He was primarily a decorator. His Salt Lake City firm, Hugo Clausen & Company, did the decorations for the Egyptian Theatre in Boise, Idaho, and Clausen painted the murals in the Central Theatre at Ely, Nevada. He is credited by an NRHP registration form as the architect of the Schubert Theatre (now the Gooding Cinema) at Gooding, Idaho.
As noted in the Boxoffice article that Tinseltoes linked to, Victoria’s El Rancho Theatre was designed by architects Corgan & Moore.