W.J. Delong and J.J. Evans opened the first Rex Theater on July 4, 1920 in the 19th Century-buiilt Knights of Pythias Hall. E.J. New took on the venue in January of 1921 to little success. The 313-seat theater wasn’t enough for W.L. Casey who took on the venture and moving the seats and projector to a Reardan, Washington Theater. But Casey wanted to have the Inland Empire’s best theater. He built and opened the town’s second Rex Theatre location opens with Will Walling in “The Village Blacksmith” on October 24, 1923. The theater went on to a great run.
The Wealthy Vaudette opened in the 1911 in the Giles Block building on Wealthy Street. According to the real estate listing, it was built for the purpose of being a theater. It had its own soda fountain serving as its concession stand putting it above the average theater in selling snacks to moviegoers. By 1912, it was called the Pastime Vaudette under new operators and it would shift to the Pastime Theater closing in early 1916 likely at the opt out point five years into its lease. The theater’s contents and soda fountain were sold off as it transitioned to an aviation factory.
As only $300 was spent in the transition from theatrical to aviation work, the pictures of the aviation company sort of look like a theater space. The Michigan Aircraft Company’s assembly location in 1917 was under the eye of designers Anthony Stadleman and Bert Kenyon. The concept of the flying boat was perfect with the local boat industry but Allan Lockhead had a similar Model F-1 Boat being produced in California. Lockhead’s Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company recruited Stadleman west-ward and the factory closed.
Its place was taken by a new Overland Automobile dealership in 1918 that appears also to have done virtually nothing to the interior of the former theater. This is germane as when the auto dealer closes, Oscar E. Varneau and wife Lillian - daughter of Joseph H. Poisson - reconvert the theater space to motion pictures. Verneau and Poission ran the Poisson Theatre (later Leonard Theater) and the Royal Theatre.
The Wealthy Street Theatre opened under that name on March 20, 1920 with Dorothy Phillips in “Paid in Advance.” Along the way, “Street” was dropped and it became the Wealthy Theater. The Varneau family steered the theater to the end of its 20-year lease. In 1931, he signed a new 20-year leasing agreement. He did the second leasing term well by closing the theater for.its true transition to sound reopening with a new Spanish patio style and all new sound system It reopened on February 7, 1931 with Charles Farrell in “The Princess and the Plumber.”
While the description above correctly mentions the 1934 renovation as its new look, the 1931 Spanish patio refresh by the Varneaus is pretty much what you see in the 2020’s Wealthy Theater. However, the theater did got a moderne marquis in 1934 and a new sound system again in 1936. In 1937, the B & J ( Butterfield and Johnson and then Butterfield Theatres) Circuit took on the venue. The Company had also taken on Varneau’s Royal Theater as well as the Our Theater and the Eastown.
B&J Theaters closed at the end of its third 20-year lease on June 6, 1971 with “Waterloo.” Wealthy Theater Co. took on the venue reopening on December 23, 1971 with Dustin Hoffman in “Straw Dogs.” The audiences were indifferent to the venue as it closed in 1973. Saved from demolition, the venue was back and operational as of the 2020s.
Operator Oscar Varneau - also of the Franklin Theater - turned his attention to the Wealthy Theater as he signed a new 20-year leasing agreement in 1931. He did it right closing the theater for.its true transition to sound reopening with a new Spanish patio style and all new sound system It reopens here on February 7, 1931 with Charles Farrell in “The Princess and the Plumber.”
Grover L. Willer ran Beecher’s Theatre and the circuit’s corporate office at this location. From 1917 to 1922 it was known as Beecher’s Division Theatre likely to alleviate confusion with the many Beecher theaters that existed at that time. In September of 1922, it is renamed as the Franklin Theater under new operators. It appears to have closed without converting to sound in 1929. It reopens with sound in January of 1930 and closes.
Herbert R. Boshoven takes on the Franklin operating with the Family, Madison, Liberty, Crown (Marne), Century (Coopersville). He rewires the Franklin with improved sound a an exterior and interior refresh on a 20-year lease. It reopens September 28, 1931 with “Annabelle’s Affairs” supported by “all kinds of short subjects. The Franklin continues until closure in 1951.
Boshoven had run the Franklin on a grind house policy with “low bargain prices” playing third-run double features on weekdays and triple features on weekends. The Franklin’s final show was February 12, 1951 with a double feature of Lew Ayres in “The Capture” and Martha Vickers in “Daughter of the West.”
Working with plans drawn by architect Roger Allen who also did the Isis to Center Theater’s streamline refresh concurrently, the Majestic gets its shocking streamline interior refresh shown here prior to reopening on August 5, 1938.
The Isis Theater Company was established in 1915 headed by George C. Nichols. It renovated an existing building using the plans of architect Lee DeCamp and a budget of $24,000 as the home of their theater which included steel beam reinforcement. The Isis Theatre opened here on January 26, 1916 with Edwin Stevens in “The Man Inside” supported by five vaudeville acts. Rose and Ivory were the colors of choice with green everywhere else.
Butterfield and Johnson Theatres (aka B&J Theaters and, latter Butterfield Theaters) took on the venue. It was wired for sound and then closed for a major refresh on June 1, 1938. Just the walls and a bit of the ceiling work remained in place as the venue received a streamline makeover and name change to the Center Theatre.
Working with plans drawn by architect Roger Allen who also did the Majestic streamline refresh concurrently, the interior accents moved to aluminum and stainless steel while getting fresh red and forest green accents. Terrazzo floor and deco concession stand awaited new customers. That date was August 17, 1938 and the films were “Kentucky Moonshine” with “Gold Mine in the Sky.”
The Center appears to have ceased operations at the end of a 20-year leasing agreement on February 2, 1958 with a double feature of “The Brain from Planet Arqus” and “Teenage Monster.” In June, a fire next door almost was the end of the venue but firefighters save the former Center. The Civic Theatre made the venue its home in 1959/1960; though it was booted out on June 2, 1962 due to an urban renewal project. That led to the demolition of the theater.
Gladys Johnson established the Southlawn Theatre Corporation in 1928. Likely using non-union projectionists, the Southlawn is attacked by stink bombs on the same day as targeting of the Creston, Stocking, Idlehour, Fulton, Biltmore, Alcazar, Royal, Rivoli, Liberty, Madison, Michigan, Madison, and Franklin theaters.
The Southlawn closed without converting to sound becoming home to a house of worship from 1929 and into 1931. But the venue reopened with sound on August 15, 1931 with “Trader Horn.” The Southlawn closed at the expiry of a 25-year lease on January 31, 1954 with “Tropic Zone” and “The Stand at Apache River.” It was converted for other purposes almost immediately thereafter.
The Stocking Theatre closed at the end of its second 20-year lease on December 2, 1956 with “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy,” “Love Happy” and Walt Disney’s Musicland."
Blessed Sacrament Parish purchased the Roxy Theater building on April 1, 1946. The theater operated to the end of its lease closing on April 23, 1946 with “Irish Eyes are Smiling” and “Wild Geese Calling.”
It appears that the Royal Theater opened on May 16, 1914. The “Cool” Royal Theatre closed after its second 20-year lease on July 11, 1954 with “The Long Long Trailer” and “Dangerous Mission.”
It was listed as “closed for the summer” after the July 29, 1947 showings of “The Harvey Girls” and “Blondie Knows Best” supported by a clever cartoon. Blondie knows that the State did not reopen.
The theater was renamed the Park Theatre on May 29, 1932 with “Play Girl” and “Strangers in Love.” The Park Theater closed on July 6, 1958 with “I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf” and “The Devil’s Hairpin.” It was offered for lease becoming an auction house and then a laundromat.
The RKO Keith Theatre closed on September 5, 1962 with “The Spiral Road.” Stars on its stage included Houdini, Jack Benny and Ethel Barrymore. The city took on the property as part of urban renewal.
Houting & Meeusen Wrecking Company of Holland salvaged all of the seats and it also salvaged its Wurlitzer seven-rank two manual pipe organ that had been installed in 1926 which was sold. The theater was demolished in 1963.
The 650-seat Michigan Theatre launched on June 24, 1916 by G.H. and C.W. Budde. of the Alcazar. Howard T. Reynolds took on the the Michigan Theater giving it a $5,000 streamline makeover and new name of the Vogue Theatre.
It relaunched on April 17, 1938 with High Wide and Handsome supported by The Wrong Road. The Vogue Theater temporarily closed on August 30, 1946 after showing “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” An ad promised its return after a refresh that never occurred. Reynolds, who also had the Family and the Stocking theaters - moved on from the Vogue. It sat vacant and was sold to Radio Bible Class, Inc. in 1951 for $20,000.
Final shows at the RKO Regent Theatre were held September 29, 1964 at end of lease with “The Hustler” and “Blue Denim.” Leonard VanderMate was on duty on opening night and was still working the booth on September 29, 1964. Good effort!
The city took on the property as part of urban renewal. They were able to salvage the Robert Morton organ - once played by Hazel “Bird” McGahey in its silent years - prior to the Regent’s demolition in 1966 and its extensive art collection. Houting & Meeusen Wrecking Company of Holland reportedly did a good job of salvaging useful items including the 16-lane bowling alley above the theater.
Gillingham and Smith Theatre Enterprises circuit had plans drawn by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane with superivisng architects Williamson & Crow as they created the new build Strand Theatre in 1915. The style was Adam. The theatre was bathed in green with mahogany wood accents.
The Strand joined Gillingham and Smith’s Monroe, Idlehour, and Original Vaudette theaters. The opening of the Strand occurred on September 18, 1915 with Clara Young Kimball in “Marrying Money.” The Strand was not able to make the transition to sound. In 1929, the building was sold to the Prange family and was remodeled to the Planos of George L. Stone becoming a new Prange’s Store opening on May 7, 1930.
N.P. and J.D. Winchell contracted with architects, the Benjamin Brothers to create the new-build Colonial Theater that opened on October 9, 1913. The theater at 752 Wealthy was next door to a busy Piggly Wiggly grocery store. However, it was not able to make the conversion to the sound era.
Charles P. Dickerman opened the Madison Theater in 1916 in the Gifford Block building at 1168 Madison. If reported correctly, it reopens in a new build Madison Square facility in 1920 at 1231 Madison by the Beecher Theater, Inc. Circuit. Beecher operated the Madison, Franklin, Liberty, Biltmore and Alcazar at that time. Grovner Willer and Herbert Boshoven (later of Boshoven-Busic Theatres) take on the venue giving it a major makeover and converting it to sound to remain viable. It reopens as the “New” Madison Theater on September 5, 1931 with “Daddy Longlegs.”
In 1940, Willer and Boshoven gave the venue an even more drastic streamline moderne makeover with new-look marquee. B.K.R. Theatres with Busic and two partners takes on the venue in 1949 and then it operated by the reformulated Boshoven-Busic Circuit in the 1950s.
Joe Busic closed here on January 12, 1957 with “These Wilder Years” and “The Young Guns.” It was converted to a roller rink at a cost of $8,000 by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Meholic opening on Feb. 7, 1957.
The Family Theatre opened October 27, 1923 with “Strangers of the Night.” It initially closed at the end of its lease on October 5, 1958 with “Tammie and the Bachelor” and “The Kettles in the Ozarks.” Williams Heidman reopened the venue on March 7, 1959 retaining the Family Theater name and policy. He closed April 30, 1961 with Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson" and a Disney cartoon festival.
As the Cinema, it showed art films beginning October 21st, 1961 . It stopped advertising some ten years later on June 19, 1971 with “Precious Jewels” and “The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago.”
The Creston started advertising in 1920 along with the adjoining Creston Candy Shop that served as the de facto concession stand for the venue. It did not close in 1959 running continuously to the adult transformation in 1973.
George C. Nichols opened the second ever movie house in Grand Rapids with the Superba Theatre in 1907. The venue had a 44 year run. Nichols would build a the Nichols Theatre (turned Uptown and Capri #1) - his first from the ground up in 1914 and the Isis Theatre (turned Center) in 1916. He also owned the Apollo, the Mystic and the Lyceum. Nichols appeared to have difficulty making sound conversions not transitioning the house to talking pictures with vaudeville on July 4, 1931.
The Superba struggled with live acts and exploitation fare until its 25-year lease expired. The next operator, Roy Taylor - of the Fulton and Southlawn theaters changed the name of the venue to the Rialto. This transition included a modern sound system by Western Electric and a Spanish Bungalow architecturally styled auditorium after a refresh. The opening of the Rialto was on September 4, 1932 with “Palmy Days” and “Midnight Morals.”
On May 19, 1948, the theater moved to a third-tier, grind house policy as the Fox Theatre with Jean Tierney in “Sundown” and Richard Dix in “Kansan.” It becomes the Fox Follies Theatre with burlesque on December 25, 1948. It reverts to the Fox Theatre but not before receiving an indecency claim for the double feature of “Souls in Pawn” and “Fools of Desire.”
The Fox lost its license in 1949 and was fined $10 but regained its license after agreeing to eliminate live burlesque acts. At that time, it is rebranded as the Art Theater on September 9, 1949 with “Stella Dallas” and “Topper.” The Art appears to have closed June 4, 1951 with “Edge of Doom” and “Tomahawk.”
W.J. Delong and J.J. Evans opened the first Rex Theater on July 4, 1920 in the 19th Century-buiilt Knights of Pythias Hall. E.J. New took on the venue in January of 1921 to little success. The 313-seat theater wasn’t enough for W.L. Casey who took on the venture and moving the seats and projector to a Reardan, Washington Theater. But Casey wanted to have the Inland Empire’s best theater. He built and opened the town’s second Rex Theatre location opens with Will Walling in “The Village Blacksmith” on October 24, 1923. The theater went on to a great run.
Grand reopening on October 3, 2024 with “Joker 2' following a sneak peak soft opening the previous night.
The building was acquired in the City of Grand Rapids' urban renewal project and demolished in April 1967.
The Wealthy Vaudette opened in the 1911 in the Giles Block building on Wealthy Street. According to the real estate listing, it was built for the purpose of being a theater. It had its own soda fountain serving as its concession stand putting it above the average theater in selling snacks to moviegoers. By 1912, it was called the Pastime Vaudette under new operators and it would shift to the Pastime Theater closing in early 1916 likely at the opt out point five years into its lease. The theater’s contents and soda fountain were sold off as it transitioned to an aviation factory.
As only $300 was spent in the transition from theatrical to aviation work, the pictures of the aviation company sort of look like a theater space. The Michigan Aircraft Company’s assembly location in 1917 was under the eye of designers Anthony Stadleman and Bert Kenyon. The concept of the flying boat was perfect with the local boat industry but Allan Lockhead had a similar Model F-1 Boat being produced in California. Lockhead’s Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company recruited Stadleman west-ward and the factory closed.
Its place was taken by a new Overland Automobile dealership in 1918 that appears also to have done virtually nothing to the interior of the former theater. This is germane as when the auto dealer closes, Oscar E. Varneau and wife Lillian - daughter of Joseph H. Poisson - reconvert the theater space to motion pictures. Verneau and Poission ran the Poisson Theatre (later Leonard Theater) and the Royal Theatre.
The Wealthy Street Theatre opened under that name on March 20, 1920 with Dorothy Phillips in “Paid in Advance.” Along the way, “Street” was dropped and it became the Wealthy Theater. The Varneau family steered the theater to the end of its 20-year lease. In 1931, he signed a new 20-year leasing agreement. He did the second leasing term well by closing the theater for.its true transition to sound reopening with a new Spanish patio style and all new sound system It reopened on February 7, 1931 with Charles Farrell in “The Princess and the Plumber.”
While the description above correctly mentions the 1934 renovation as its new look, the 1931 Spanish patio refresh by the Varneaus is pretty much what you see in the 2020’s Wealthy Theater. However, the theater did got a moderne marquis in 1934 and a new sound system again in 1936. In 1937, the B & J ( Butterfield and Johnson and then Butterfield Theatres) Circuit took on the venue. The Company had also taken on Varneau’s Royal Theater as well as the Our Theater and the Eastown.
B&J Theaters closed at the end of its third 20-year lease on June 6, 1971 with “Waterloo.” Wealthy Theater Co. took on the venue reopening on December 23, 1971 with Dustin Hoffman in “Straw Dogs.” The audiences were indifferent to the venue as it closed in 1973. Saved from demolition, the venue was back and operational as of the 2020s.
Operator Oscar Varneau - also of the Franklin Theater - turned his attention to the Wealthy Theater as he signed a new 20-year leasing agreement in 1931. He did it right closing the theater for.its true transition to sound reopening with a new Spanish patio style and all new sound system It reopens here on February 7, 1931 with Charles Farrell in “The Princess and the Plumber.”
Grover L. Willer ran Beecher’s Theatre and the circuit’s corporate office at this location. From 1917 to 1922 it was known as Beecher’s Division Theatre likely to alleviate confusion with the many Beecher theaters that existed at that time. In September of 1922, it is renamed as the Franklin Theater under new operators. It appears to have closed without converting to sound in 1929. It reopens with sound in January of 1930 and closes.
Herbert R. Boshoven takes on the Franklin operating with the Family, Madison, Liberty, Crown (Marne), Century (Coopersville). He rewires the Franklin with improved sound a an exterior and interior refresh on a 20-year lease. It reopens September 28, 1931 with “Annabelle’s Affairs” supported by “all kinds of short subjects. The Franklin continues until closure in 1951.
Boshoven had run the Franklin on a grind house policy with “low bargain prices” playing third-run double features on weekdays and triple features on weekends. The Franklin’s final show was February 12, 1951 with a double feature of Lew Ayres in “The Capture” and Martha Vickers in “Daughter of the West.”
Working with plans drawn by architect Roger Allen who also did the Isis to Center Theater’s streamline refresh concurrently, the Majestic gets its shocking streamline interior refresh shown here prior to reopening on August 5, 1938.
The Isis Theater Company was established in 1915 headed by George C. Nichols. It renovated an existing building using the plans of architect Lee DeCamp and a budget of $24,000 as the home of their theater which included steel beam reinforcement. The Isis Theatre opened here on January 26, 1916 with Edwin Stevens in “The Man Inside” supported by five vaudeville acts. Rose and Ivory were the colors of choice with green everywhere else.
Butterfield and Johnson Theatres (aka B&J Theaters and, latter Butterfield Theaters) took on the venue. It was wired for sound and then closed for a major refresh on June 1, 1938. Just the walls and a bit of the ceiling work remained in place as the venue received a streamline makeover and name change to the Center Theatre.
Working with plans drawn by architect Roger Allen who also did the Majestic streamline refresh concurrently, the interior accents moved to aluminum and stainless steel while getting fresh red and forest green accents. Terrazzo floor and deco concession stand awaited new customers. That date was August 17, 1938 and the films were “Kentucky Moonshine” with “Gold Mine in the Sky.”
The Center appears to have ceased operations at the end of a 20-year leasing agreement on February 2, 1958 with a double feature of “The Brain from Planet Arqus” and “Teenage Monster.” In June, a fire next door almost was the end of the venue but firefighters save the former Center. The Civic Theatre made the venue its home in 1959/1960; though it was booted out on June 2, 1962 due to an urban renewal project. That led to the demolition of the theater.
Gladys Johnson established the Southlawn Theatre Corporation in 1928. Likely using non-union projectionists, the Southlawn is attacked by stink bombs on the same day as targeting of the Creston, Stocking, Idlehour, Fulton, Biltmore, Alcazar, Royal, Rivoli, Liberty, Madison, Michigan, Madison, and Franklin theaters.
The Southlawn closed without converting to sound becoming home to a house of worship from 1929 and into 1931. But the venue reopened with sound on August 15, 1931 with “Trader Horn.” The Southlawn closed at the expiry of a 25-year lease on January 31, 1954 with “Tropic Zone” and “The Stand at Apache River.” It was converted for other purposes almost immediately thereafter.
Closed permanently following the September 28, 2024 programming
The Stocking Theatre closed at the end of its second 20-year lease on December 2, 1956 with “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy,” “Love Happy” and Walt Disney’s Musicland."
Blessed Sacrament Parish purchased the Roxy Theater building on April 1, 1946. The theater operated to the end of its lease closing on April 23, 1946 with “Irish Eyes are Smiling” and “Wild Geese Calling.”
It appears that the Royal Theater opened on May 16, 1914. The “Cool” Royal Theatre closed after its second 20-year lease on July 11, 1954 with “The Long Long Trailer” and “Dangerous Mission.”
It was listed as “closed for the summer” after the July 29, 1947 showings of “The Harvey Girls” and “Blondie Knows Best” supported by a clever cartoon. Blondie knows that the State did not reopen.
Reopened as the Roosevelt Theatre on September 23, 1933 with The Mind Reader and As the Devil Commands.
The theater was renamed the Park Theatre on May 29, 1932 with “Play Girl” and “Strangers in Love.” The Park Theater closed on July 6, 1958 with “I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf” and “The Devil’s Hairpin.” It was offered for lease becoming an auction house and then a laundromat.
The RKO Keith Theatre closed on September 5, 1962 with “The Spiral Road.” Stars on its stage included Houdini, Jack Benny and Ethel Barrymore. The city took on the property as part of urban renewal.
Houting & Meeusen Wrecking Company of Holland salvaged all of the seats and it also salvaged its Wurlitzer seven-rank two manual pipe organ that had been installed in 1926 which was sold. The theater was demolished in 1963.
The 650-seat Michigan Theatre launched on June 24, 1916 by G.H. and C.W. Budde. of the Alcazar. Howard T. Reynolds took on the the Michigan Theater giving it a $5,000 streamline makeover and new name of the Vogue Theatre.
It relaunched on April 17, 1938 with High Wide and Handsome supported by The Wrong Road. The Vogue Theater temporarily closed on August 30, 1946 after showing “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” An ad promised its return after a refresh that never occurred. Reynolds, who also had the Family and the Stocking theaters - moved on from the Vogue. It sat vacant and was sold to Radio Bible Class, Inc. in 1951 for $20,000.
Final shows at the RKO Regent Theatre were held September 29, 1964 at end of lease with “The Hustler” and “Blue Denim.” Leonard VanderMate was on duty on opening night and was still working the booth on September 29, 1964. Good effort!
The city took on the property as part of urban renewal. They were able to salvage the Robert Morton organ - once played by Hazel “Bird” McGahey in its silent years - prior to the Regent’s demolition in 1966 and its extensive art collection. Houting & Meeusen Wrecking Company of Holland reportedly did a good job of salvaging useful items including the 16-lane bowling alley above the theater.
Gillingham and Smith Theatre Enterprises circuit had plans drawn by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane with superivisng architects Williamson & Crow as they created the new build Strand Theatre in 1915. The style was Adam. The theatre was bathed in green with mahogany wood accents.
The Strand joined Gillingham and Smith’s Monroe, Idlehour, and Original Vaudette theaters. The opening of the Strand occurred on September 18, 1915 with Clara Young Kimball in “Marrying Money.” The Strand was not able to make the transition to sound. In 1929, the building was sold to the Prange family and was remodeled to the Planos of George L. Stone becoming a new Prange’s Store opening on May 7, 1930.
N.P. and J.D. Winchell contracted with architects, the Benjamin Brothers to create the new-build Colonial Theater that opened on October 9, 1913. The theater at 752 Wealthy was next door to a busy Piggly Wiggly grocery store. However, it was not able to make the conversion to the sound era.
Charles P. Dickerman opened the Madison Theater in 1916 in the Gifford Block building at 1168 Madison. If reported correctly, it reopens in a new build Madison Square facility in 1920 at 1231 Madison by the Beecher Theater, Inc. Circuit. Beecher operated the Madison, Franklin, Liberty, Biltmore and Alcazar at that time. Grovner Willer and Herbert Boshoven (later of Boshoven-Busic Theatres) take on the venue giving it a major makeover and converting it to sound to remain viable. It reopens as the “New” Madison Theater on September 5, 1931 with “Daddy Longlegs.”
In 1940, Willer and Boshoven gave the venue an even more drastic streamline moderne makeover with new-look marquee. B.K.R. Theatres with Busic and two partners takes on the venue in 1949 and then it operated by the reformulated Boshoven-Busic Circuit in the 1950s.
Joe Busic closed here on January 12, 1957 with “These Wilder Years” and “The Young Guns.” It was converted to a roller rink at a cost of $8,000 by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Meholic opening on Feb. 7, 1957.
The Family Theatre opened October 27, 1923 with “Strangers of the Night.” It initially closed at the end of its lease on October 5, 1958 with “Tammie and the Bachelor” and “The Kettles in the Ozarks.” Williams Heidman reopened the venue on March 7, 1959 retaining the Family Theater name and policy. He closed April 30, 1961 with Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson" and a Disney cartoon festival.
As the Cinema, it showed art films beginning October 21st, 1961 . It stopped advertising some ten years later on June 19, 1971 with “Precious Jewels” and “The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago.”
The Creston started advertising in 1920 along with the adjoining Creston Candy Shop that served as the de facto concession stand for the venue. It did not close in 1959 running continuously to the adult transformation in 1973.
George C. Nichols opened the second ever movie house in Grand Rapids with the Superba Theatre in 1907. The venue had a 44 year run. Nichols would build a the Nichols Theatre (turned Uptown and Capri #1) - his first from the ground up in 1914 and the Isis Theatre (turned Center) in 1916. He also owned the Apollo, the Mystic and the Lyceum. Nichols appeared to have difficulty making sound conversions not transitioning the house to talking pictures with vaudeville on July 4, 1931.
The Superba struggled with live acts and exploitation fare until its 25-year lease expired. The next operator, Roy Taylor - of the Fulton and Southlawn theaters changed the name of the venue to the Rialto. This transition included a modern sound system by Western Electric and a Spanish Bungalow architecturally styled auditorium after a refresh. The opening of the Rialto was on September 4, 1932 with “Palmy Days” and “Midnight Morals.”
On May 19, 1948, the theater moved to a third-tier, grind house policy as the Fox Theatre with Jean Tierney in “Sundown” and Richard Dix in “Kansan.” It becomes the Fox Follies Theatre with burlesque on December 25, 1948. It reverts to the Fox Theatre but not before receiving an indecency claim for the double feature of “Souls in Pawn” and “Fools of Desire.”
The Fox lost its license in 1949 and was fined $10 but regained its license after agreeing to eliminate live burlesque acts. At that time, it is rebranded as the Art Theater on September 9, 1949 with “Stella Dallas” and “Topper.” The Art appears to have closed June 4, 1951 with “Edge of Doom” and “Tomahawk.”