Murphy Theatre
Wilmington, OH Photo courtesy Mark Hackett
The Murphy Theatre knows how to announce a night out in downtown Wilmington. Its tall sign and glowing marquee give Main Street a proper theater welcome, just as they have for generations. There's a baseball connection behind this movie-house landmark, too.
Charles Webb Murphy, former owner of the Chicago Cubs, financed the theater as a gift to his hometown. It opened July 24, 1918, following a roughly $250,000 construction project. A damaging fire in 1934 brought repairs and another change: more eye-catching neon lighting for the marquee.
UPDATE: The Murphy continues presenting concerts, movies, and live performances. Its entertainment history includes a record-setting run of The Sound of Music, but the building itself remains one of the biggest attractions. Fortunately, Murphy's hometown investment is still drawing crowds more than a century later. 07-26
Sterling Theatre
Sterling, IL Photo courtesy Don Gardner
The Sterling Theatre knows how to stand out in downtown Sterling. Its streamlined facade and glass-block tower give the building a look all its own, especially when the tower lights up after dark. This is one movie house where it's worth spending a little time admiring the entrance before checking what's playing.
Opened in 1924 for vaudeville and movies, the Sterling suffered a devastating fire in 1943. Rather than disappearing, it reopened the following year with the Art Moderne appearance seen today. Clean lines, rounded forms, and the illuminated tower gave the rebuilt theater a thoroughly modern personality. What looks like one building's original design is actually the result of a major comeback.
Changing moviegoing habits eventually caught up with the Sterling, and it closed in 2008. Fortunately, the dark spell didn't become permanent. Renovation brought audiences back in 2013, returning a working cinema to downtown. The tower's lighting even changes colors for holidays and special occasions, giving regular passersby another reason to look up.
Sterling Theatre
Sterling, IL Photo courtesy Kelly Sullivan
UPDATE: The Sterling continues showing first-run movies behind its restored Art Moderne frontage. More than a century after its first audiences arrived, it's still giving people a reason to spend an evening downtown. Between surviving a fire and returning from a five-year closure, this hometown theater has earned its place along the streetscape. Fortunately, there are still coming attractions to advertise. 07-26
The Drexel Theatre brings a softer splash of movie-house style to Main Street in Bexley, just outside downtown Columbus. Its glass-block marquee and streamlined frontage have a personality all their own. Before the popcorn, though, this building was selling groceries.
Originally built around 1900, the storefront became a theater designed by Robert Royce and opened on Christmas Day 1937. The Drexel later developed a following for independent and art films. One especially successful engagement was Fiddler on the Roof, which stayed for an impressive 44 weeks in the early 1970s.
UPDATE: The nonprofit Drexel continues showing independent, international, and current films in its restored surroundings. Preservation work has kept the distinctive marquee and architectural details part of the experience. Fortunately, this former grocery store found a second line of business with considerable staying power. 07-26
Elmo Theatre
St. Elmo, IL Photo courtesy Don Gardner
The Elmo Theatre has one of those marquees that makes following old U.S. 40 worthwhile. Its curved, streamlined design gives downtown St. Elmo a little movie-house flair, even though the attraction board hasn't announced regular screenings for decades.
Opened in 1941, the Elmo replaced an earlier theater of the same name destroyed by fire in 1940. It served local moviegoers until mid-1979. Renovation efforts began in 2006, and new windows followed in 2011, but a return to regular entertainment never materialized.
UPDATE: The building and distinctive marquee survive, although recent architectural documentation describes the theater as vacant rather than an operating commercial property. The lights may be quiet, but the entrance still gives away exactly what this building was meant to be. Hopefully, another use will keep that unusual marquee out along the roadside. 07-26
Senate Theatre
Detroit, MI Photo courtesy Jay Lin
The Senate Theatre is a Detroit landmark with a particularly good soundtrack. Opened October 7, 1926, the neighborhood movie house eventually fell into disuse before organ enthusiasts found a new purpose for it—and brought along an extraordinary instrument.
The Detroit Theater Organ Club purchased the building for $1,000 in December 1962. Volunteers spent two years restoring it as a home for the Fisher Theatre's enormous Wurlitzer organ, with its four keyboards and 34 ranks of pipes. The dedication concert took place April 11, 1964, beginning an entirely new entertainment chapter.
UPDATE: The volunteer-run Senate continues presenting films, organ concerts, and special events. The Wurlitzer has now spent longer here than at the Fisher, its original home. That's quite a successful relocation for an instrument that required considerably more effort to move than an ordinary piano. 07-26
Court Theatre (Abandoned) Auburn, IN Photo courtesy Jay Lin
The Court Theatre is boarded up but appears to be operational.
Very nice marquee, a throwback to an earlier time. Many thanks to Jay Lin for info.
Opened under the Court name in 1916, the theater occupied part of the Commercial Club Building. Architect Alvin M. Strauss remodeled it into an atmospheric theater, reopening December 9, 1928. Movies weren't its only attraction: in 1957, the stage hosted the weekly Hoosier Hayride country-music program.
UPDATE: The Court closed in 1963, and its auditorium was subsequently demolished. Only the front portion survives, so the building can no longer be considered an intact theater awaiting reopening. Fortunately, that remaining section still marks the location of one of Auburn's former entertainment stops. 07-26
Murphy Theatre
Sterling Theatre
Sterling Theatre
Drexel Theatre
Elmo Theatre
Senate Theatre
Court Theatre (Abandoned)
