Alamo Theatre
1027 Canal Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
1027 Canal Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
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Status should be: Demolished.
Herman Fichtenberg’s Fichtenberg Amusement Enterprises opened the Alamo Theatre on October 10, 1908 with Selig’s brand new release, “The Ranchman’s Love,” and Edwin S. Porter’s “A Voice From the Dead” with live musical numbers between. Fichtenberg Amusement would add the Dreamworld, Plaza, Pico and Globe Theaters. On March 25, 1917, Fichtenberg Amusement merged with Saenger Amusement under th latter’s namesake.
The venue operated some eight years under Saenger Amusements.The Alamo ceased operations at end of lease on August 31, 1925 with Erich von Stroheim’s “Greed.” Earlier in the year, F. Rubinstein & Co. had purchased the lease. Rubenstein’s opened after a significant interior refresh on October 22, 1925. It received a streamline moderne exterior makeover in the 1930s. It was then folded into a long running W.T. Grant retail store followed by a number of others.
Demolition of the former theater and its neighbor occurred in June of 2020 following the catastrophic collapse of the Hard Rock Casino project on October 12, 2019 after the top floors of the 18-story hotel project collapsed. To allow crews to safely dismantle the collapsed tower and recover victims’ remains, the venerable buildings had to be removed.
From WWLTV, New Orleans: A city commission that oversees historic preservation got out of the way Wednesday, declining to review a proposal to demolish two historic properties next to the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel a day after the city’s fire chief issued emergency demolition orders.
The Central Business District Historic District Landmarks Commission had three requests on its agenda for Wednesday to demolish properties adjoining the Hard Rock Hotel high-rise, which collapsed Oct. 12, killing three workers.
Two of those buildings are historic old theaters, including the Alamo Theatre, which was designed by noted architect Emile Weil, best known locally for designing the Byzantine-style, domed Touro Synagogue building Uptown in 1908.