Motion Picture News (Nov 1915-Jan 1916)

November 6, 1915. ACCESSORY NEWS SECTION '■■■■■■I 155 Directory o£ New Theatres BlIiliniliiHil i|Ni'!i'™iii?iiir"i'»lil|1ii!!7iniHiiii|!i||||i!i||i|i||||[| . _:a;jji!litiil!ililllilja. This department is designed to be a weekly guide to all sales, leases, construction and remodeling of photoplay theatres. If you are building, selling, leasing or renovating, kindly communicate it at once for publication. CALIFORNIA THE old Union theatre on East Fourteenth street, Oakland, has been remodeled, renovated and enlarged and will be opened again shortly. A one-story reinforced concrete theatre building is to be erected by M. L. Josey on Geary street, near Powell, San Francisco, at a cost of about $30,000. The Broadway theatre at Oakland has been closed, and the old building, which has long been a land mark in that city, will be torn down. Robert Francis Shinn has taken over an old theatre at Monterey, and this will be opened as soon as it can be remodeled and redecorated. The Bell Amusement Company has opened a new theatre at Vallejo under the management of P. H. Hanlon. The Pastime theatre at Fresno is now being conducted under the same management as the Kinema theatre. The San Bruno theatre has been opened at San Bruno, a suburb of San Francisco, by H. Ricci. The Majestic theatre at Tulare is being remodeled and the seating capacity increased. The work will be completed before the winter rains set in. CANADA Mr. "Ken" Finlay, manager of the Princess theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, is in Montreal on a business trip. Mr. Finlay is at present superintending the construction of a theatre that will eclipse anything now in the Capital City. It will open in December. Mr. Finlay will manage the new theatre, which will be known as the "Regent." Last week, through Mr. Herbert Lubin, the managing director of the Metro Canadian Company, Mr. Finlay signed up for the Metro programe. St. George's theatre on Bank street, Ottawa, Ontario, which is now an upstairs nickel show under the management of ExAld. Harry Low, will shortly be reconstructed putting it on a par with the best in the city. Ottawa has at present fourteen motion picture theatres, one with a seating capacity of 1,400 was recently opened and another which will seat still more will be opened shortly. Ottawa's picture shows alone will seat over 12,000 people at one time, and it is only nine years since the first moving picture theatre was opened here by Mr. "Ken" Finlay. In the centre of the shopping district is Ottawa's newest and largest photo' play house, "The Centre," which opened last Thursday. The theatre has 1,400 seats and is absolutely fireproof. One pleasing feature is that there are no stairs to climb, there being a gradual incline to the upper floors. FLORIDA The Strand Amuesement Company of Tampa opened a new house on October 16. W. H. Warren, of Aurora, 111., has assumed the management of the Plaza Theatre in St. Augustine. ILLINOIS Mr. and Mrs. Eiler Jones opened a new motion picture theatre at Cambridge on November 1. The building cost $10,000. The front is of white terra-cotta with a tile floor. The interior is beautifully decorated, and the seats, which accommodate 400 persons, are well arranged on a sloping cement floor. J. O. Adams, proprietor of the Lyric motion picture theatre at Centralia, is redecorating his house. Fred Bagby has purchased the Princess motion picture theatre from Charles Nunn and Ray Kline, at Macomb. He plans a number of improvements. Harry Loper, proprietor of the Lyric motion picture theatre at Springfield, has secured the exclusive rights for the Fox features in that city and is showing a Fix picture three days of every week. L. L. Butterfield has purchased the Gem motion picture theatre at Macomb, from J. R. Bennett. Mr. Bennett's son, Gale, will manage the house. Frank M. Smith, of Rockford, has bought from Sarah E. Tierney the motion picture theatre property on Chicago avenue, opposite Washington street, in Evanston, with 53 by 156 feet of ground, for an indicated consideration of $33,000, subject to $18,000 incumbrance. INDIANA Feature photoplays only are being shown now in Ladoga; Hugh Rapp, proprietor of the Family theatre, recently changed to features, and J. E. Mangus, manager of the Opera House, has been running features for some time. Stoddard and Wallace recently opened the opera house at Rockville, as a moving picture theatre. Feature photoplays are being shown exclusively. Robert Hortes, proprietor of the Star Theatre, at Coal Bluff, reopened his theatre October 23. Mr. Hortes was compelled to close a short time ago on account of the large number of cases of diphtheria in Coal Bluff. C. F. Halderman has bought the Lyric theatre at Greencastle, from L. O. Kelley. The theatre has been redecorated and shows are being given every day instead of Thursday and Saturday. Ben Van Borssum has purchased the Crescent Theatre, at Terre Haute. He is also proprietor of the Savoy Theatre, at Terre Haute. A moving picture machine has been installed at the Y. M. C. A at Auburn. Comedies and travel pictures will be shown. A $250 moving picture machine has been bought by the Irving school at Hammond. Three cash prizes are being given away to every first night house when a serial is shown at the Empire theatre at Milan. The prizes amount to $2. There also are a number of consolation prizes, consisting of tickets of admission. Hull and McNeelan Hall, at Holton, has moving picture shows Wednesday and Saturday nights. The Star theatre at Princeton has been sold to Gene W. Barrett, of Lawrenceville, 111., by Charles F. Woods. A new front is being put in at the Felter theatre at South Whitley, by Wilson Brothers. Mrs. Julia Remington has taken charge of the Victoria theatre at Lafayette. Stanford Remington, her son, who has been manager of the Victoria, has gone to Kankakee, 111., to manage the Gaiety theatre. The equipment of the Lyric theatre at Jasonville is being moved to Rosedale, by Frank Straughn, who expects to open a moving picture theatre in Rosedale about November 1. The Theatorium, at Crawfordsville, has been bought by Fred Mater, one of the proprietors of the Gem, from A. S. Miller. MASSACHUSETTS Mayor Cliff of Somerville has granted permission to hold moving picture shows in the First Universalist Church on Cross street. The church is the oldest of the denomination in Somerville, and is about to be abandoned for church purposes for a building to be erected on Highland avenue. George B. Miller announced that he had obtained a lease of the Suffolk theatre, Holyoke, for the period of November 15-29 and Table of contents will hereafter be found erery week opposite inside back cover.