Collegiate Theatre
214 S. White Street,
Wake Forest,
NC
27587
214 S. White Street,
Wake Forest,
NC
27587
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The Collegiate Theatre was opened in 1936 but was destroyed by fire and explosion on March 12, 1940. It was rebuilt and reopened. Seating was listed at 302 and this was the smaller of the two theatres in the town operated by Howell Theatres. The Collegiate Theatre closed in 1956.
Contributed by
Chuck
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This article from the Wake Forest Gazette says that M. E. Joyner opened the Collegiate Theatre in 1936. It was burned and rebuilt in 1939, and was closed 1956.
The Forest Theatre was on South White Street, not Main Street, which is where the town’s old business district is. The book Wake Forest University says that the Forest and Collegiate Theatres were across the street from each other, so the Collegiate was on White Street too. There are photos of the Collegiate’s box office and the Forest’s auditorium (Google Books preview.)
This is from the “Theatres Under Construction” column of Film Daily, December 16, 1938: “NORTH CAROLINA Wake Forest — Collegiate, 302 seats, White St.; Builder: T. C. Hester; Architect: C. C. Whitacre; Cost: $10,000; Operator: C. C. Whitacre.”
The correct address for the Collegiate Theatre is 214 S. White Avenue. Opened in 1939, the theater was destroyed by an explosion and fire on March 12, 1940. The building’s owner, local fast food purveyor Shorty Joyner, had the house rebuilt and it operated until shortly after Wake Forest College moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. At that time, Mr. Joyner moved his hot dog restaurant into the building, where it remains today.
The theater’s history is recounted on >this web page from the Wake Forest Historical Museum.