Fillmore Towne Theatre

Last updated

Fillmore Towne Theatre
  • The Barnes Theatre 1916-1926
  • The Stearns Theatre 1926-1931
  • The Fillmore Theatre 1931-1971
  • The Fillmore Towne Theatre 1971-1994
Fillmore Towne Theatre
Address338 Central Avenue
Fillmore, California
Coordinates 34°23′59.65″N118°54′48″W / 34.3999028°N 118.91333°W / 34.3999028; -118.91333
Capacity 325
Screens1
Current useCommunity theater, music concerts, arts education and film festivals
Construction
OpenedOctober 2, 1916 (1916-10-02)
Rebuilt1996
Years active1916-1994
Website
mudturtletheatrical.org

Fillmore Towne Theatre is a former vaudeville and movie theater in Fillmore, California and is a landmark in downtown. Built in 1916, the single-screen theater showed silent films.

Contents

History

The single-screen theater was used to show silent films and the stage area was used for vaudeville. Mary Pickford performed here.

Built in 1916, the Fillmore Towne Theatre has gone through numerous owners as well as several names. Previously known as Barnes, Stearns, Fillmore, this theater has gone through two fires and an earthquake. [1]

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the City of Fillmore purchased the building. [2] Through extensive fund raising by citizens in the Save the Towne Theatre Committee, as well as federal and state grants, such as those given by the State Historic Preservation Office, the theatre was restored. [3] [4] After the restoration (costing in excess of $1 million), it reopened in 1996, showing the latest movies. [5] [6] The theatre stopped showing feature films in April 2011 as the city budget could no longer make up the shortfall. [7] [8]

In 2021, the theater was purchased by Mudturtle Theatrical, Inc. Mudturtle intends to restore the theater to make it a venue for "building community through the arts". [9]

Structure

This single-screen theater was renovated in 1994, with new seats and carpet, as well as a live stage in order to restore its vaudeville roots. It has a total of 333 seats on the main floor. The balcony is closed.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fillmore, California</span> City in California, United States

Fillmore is a small city in Ventura County, California, United States, in the Santa Clara River Valley. In an agricultural area with rich, fertile soil, Fillmore has a historic downtown that was established when the Southern Pacific built the railroad through the valley in 1887. The rail line also provided a name for the town: J. A. Fillmore was a general superintendent for the company's Pacific system. The population was 16,419 at the 2020 census, up 9.4% from 15,002 during the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movie palace</span> Type of movie theater

A movie palace is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped, while the rising popularity of large multiplex chains in the 1980s and 1990s signaled the obsolescence of single-screen theaters. Many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple-screen venues or performing arts centers, though some have undergone restoration and reopened to the public as historic buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Theatre (Columbus, Ohio)</span> Theater and former movie theater in Columbus, Ohio

The Ohio Theatre is a performing arts center and former movie palace on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Known as the "Official Theatre of the State of Ohio", the 1928 building was saved from demolition in 1969 and was later completely restored. The theater was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saban Theatre</span> Historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California

The Saban Theatre is a historic theatre in Beverly Hills, California, formerly known as the Fox Wilshire Theater. It is an Art Deco structure at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hamilton Drive designed by architect S. Charles Lee and is considered a classic Los Angeles landmark. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Theatre</span> United States historic place

The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California, United States. It is currently owned by the city of Glendale and operated by SAS. The theater's capacity is 1,400.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theater (Spokane, Washington)</span> Performing arts venue and former movie theater in Spokane, Washington, US

The Fox Theater in Spokane, Washington is a 1931 Art Deco movie theater that now serves as a performing arts venue and home of the Spokane Symphony. It was designed by architect Robert C. Reamer, notable for his design of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. It was part of the Fox Film Corporation Empire founded by studio mogul William Fox. The theater opened September 3, 1931, and showed films continuously until it closed September 21, 2000, after an engagement of the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theatre (Fullerton, California)</span>

Fox Theatre is a historic movie theater located on Harbor Boulevard in Fullerton, California. Built in 1925 as part of the chain of Fox Theatres, the theater was closed and abandoned in 1987. The Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation is currently in the process of fundraising and restoring the theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UC Theatre</span> Music venue and former movie theater in Berkeley, California, United States

The UC Theatre is a music venue on University Avenue near Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States. From 1976 until 2001, it was a movie theater known for a revival house presentation of films. In 2013, The Berkeley Music Group was formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission to renovate and operate the UC Theater as live music venue. It reopened its doors on April 7, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strand Theater (Lakewood, New Jersey)</span> United States historic place

The Strand Theater is a vaudeville theater located at 400 Clifton Avenue in Lakewood Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 22, 1982, for its significance in architecture, art, and theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza Theatre (El Paso)</span>

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas, United States, built in 1930. The theater stands as one of the city's most well-known landmarks, and remains operational today. The theatre is a National Historic Building of Significance featuring the 2,050-seat Kendall Kidd Performance Hall, and the smaller 200-seat Philanthropy Theatre. It hosts Broadway productions, musical concerts, individual performers and the annual Plaza Classic Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric theatre</span> Type of movie theater

An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting.

Edith Reeves was an American silent film actress who also appeared on Broadway in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artcraft Theatre</span> Movie theater in Franklin, Indiana

The Historic Artcraft Theatre is a movie theater in Franklin, Indiana in the United States. The theater operated as a first-run movie theater continuously for 78 years before closing. It was the headquarters for Syndicate Theatre's cinema network from 1936-2000. Saved from demolition by historic preservation group Franklin Heritage Inc., the theater shows classic movies and hosts concerts as the group restores the Artcraft and other local buildings. The Artcraft is one of the best examples of an art deco theatre in Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empress Theatre (California)</span>

The Empress Theatre is a historical landmark located in downtown Vallejo, California built in 1911. It was re-opened in 2008 after nearly 20 years of disuse following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The one room movie house has undergone complete renovation and seismic retrofit. Operated as a non-profit, it now shows movies, hosts live performances, and is rented for private events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Theater District (Los Angeles)</span> United States historic place

The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orpheum Theatre (Wichita, Kansas)</span> United States historic place

The Orpheum Theatre is a historic theater in downtown Wichita, Kansas, United States. It was designed by renowned theatre architect John Eberson with funding from a group of local investors and opened on September 4, 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Theater, Richmond, Virginia</span> Historic theater in Richmond, Virginia, US

The National Theater is a historic theater in Richmond, Virginia. Part of a section of Broad Street once known as Theatre Row, the National is the only one of the three original auditoriums still standing. Built in 1923, the theater was constructed with an adaptable stage that allowed it to show early motion pictures as well as live performances. It experienced a 1968 conversion to a dedicated cinema house and was renamed the TowneTheater, in which capacity it operated until closing in 1983. After an extensive renovation, the theater reopened in 2008 as The National, serving as a live music and performing arts venue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vista Theatre (Los Angeles)</span> Movie theater in Los Angeles

Vista Theatre, formerly Lou Bard Playhouse and Bard’s Hollywood Theatre, also known as The Vista, is a historic single-screen movie theater in Los Angeles, California, located in Los Feliz on the border with East Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventura Theatre</span> Historical concert venue in California

The Ventura Theatre is a historic live concert venue in downtown Ventura, California. This was "the only luxury theatre built in Ventura County in the 1920s in the "style of the great movie palaces." The lavish, elegant interior of gilt and opulence was originally designed by Robert E. Power Studios of San Francisco and has been restored. The theatre with a capacity of 1,150 and a flanking office building were designed by architect L. A. Smith in the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that was favored by architects of motion picture theaters during the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rialto Theatre (South Pasadena, California)</span> Theater in South Pasadena, California, US

The Rialto Theatre is a 1,200-seat theater in South Pasadena, California. Located on Fair Oaks Avenue, it is considered one of the last single-screen theaters in Southern California and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. "The Historic Fillmore Towne Theatre". Archived from the original on May 15, 1998. Retrieved May 18, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Biasotti, Tony (April 26, 2017). "Fillmore sets stage for revival of 101-year-old theater". Ventura County Star. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  3. Pancho, Doll (March 16, 1995) "Film Mementos to Be Sold for the Towne Theatre" Los Angeles Times
  4. McDonald, Jeff (August 10, 1994). "City Maps Restoration of Its Historic Theater". Los Angeles Times.
  5. Green, Nick (November 01, 1996) "Show Finally Goes On at Historic Theater" Los Angeles Times
  6. Zoltak, James (April 13, 2011) "Fillmore council votes to close landmark theater" Ventura County Star
  7. "Welcome to the Fillmore Town Theatre" Archived 2013-03-25 at the Wayback Machine City of Fillmore Accessed 18 May 2014
  8. McLeod, Jean (April 13, 2011)"Fillmore Town Theater closing down after this weekend" The Fillmore Gazette
  9. Woods II, Wes (September 24, 2021). "Arts set to return to historic Fillmore theater after city sale". Ventura County Star. Retrieved January 21, 2022.