Ritz Theatre
119 E. Van Buren Street,
Centerville,
IA
52544
119 E. Van Buren Street,
Centerville,
IA
52544
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The theater was open by Feb. 1913. The building was originally built for the Citizen, which ceased publication in May 1916. They originally used the entire building, but had retreated to the basement by the time the theater opened. The 1907 map shows the first floor as a pool & billiard hall. The side of the building still shows the original 1893 structure, with a second floor bay removed, and all the window openings bricked over. I’ve added a map view of the original layout.
This is not showing movies, and is only open for special events. The name should probably revert to Ritz from the clumsy and verbose name used now.
Plans for the restoration of the Ritz Theatre were done by the Des Moines firm Wetherell Ericsson Architects. The successor firm to Wetherell & Harrison, designers of many theaters in Iowa, Wetherell Ericsson merged with RDG Planning Design in 2007. RDG’s web site has this page about the Ritz. They give 2012 as the expected year for the completion of the project.
I’ve seen Harrison Ford in quite a few silent movie listings. He must have been popular in his day.
From the September 29th post above:
It was at the Ritz Theatre that people came to see the movie that had been filmed on location on Centerville’s Town Square. The stars of the 1921 silent movie were Norma Talmadge and Harrison Ford. The title was Loves Redemption: Its a Wonderful Thing.
Harrison looks good for his age….
Some additional information here. I don’t know why there’s a discepancy in the two addresses, though.
http://tinyurl.com/3jfp38
when will it be ready … for me?
When the Ritz Theatre was a movie theatre it seated 450 people.