| Plains Theatre Project | ||||
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In May, 2004 the Eads High School Class of 2006, at the time sophomores, decided to do something about the crumbling condition of the old Plains Theatre that was opened as a brand new theatre in August of 1947. They began the Plains Theatre Project with the goal of renovating the old theatre and make it a place for the community to enjoy once again. Below is some of the information the class has compiled as they continue toward their rejuvination goals.
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VICTORY THEATRE - 1945 This theatre was owned and operated by Woody Williams during the war years. It is located two doors south of the present-day Plains Theatre. Woody Williams then built the Plains Theatre in its present location and moved in the summer of 1947. |
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VICTORY THEATRE - 2004 The old theatre owned by Woody Williams is now in terrrible condition and is in dire danger of falling down. The class wants to add this building and the next door pool hall into the project in order to save all three buildings. |
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These two buildings have stood empty for more than 30 years are in very bad condition. However, the exterior can be saved and the class wants to add the two buildings onto the Theatre in order to create an arts center. The left building was the Victory Theatre and the right one was the pool hall in the 1970s. |  |
The Plains Theatre as it appeared last spring. The Theatre is now called the Crow-Luther Arts Center after George Crow generously donated the building to the Eads School District in 1999. The building is used for school events, but is getting more and more run down. |
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The roof of the pool hall located directly south of the Plains Theatre. It has fallen in and is open to the elements. There is a common wall between the two buildings that shows quite a bit of water damage. The terrible condition of the roofis due mostly to the neglect of the buiding, but also because of the flat roof design that was common in the early 1900s when these buildings were built. |
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The Theatre roof has been treated with polyurathane coating and braced to help hold the buildings old brick in place. The lifted area to the left is an added apartment (window) that is located in the upstairs of the Theatre building. The students would like to be able to rent out the upstairs apartment to help with the cost of running the Theatre. |
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Theatre Front Doors |
Theatre Ticket Window |
Theatre Lobby and Concessions Area |
Original tile in Theatre lobby area |
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MURALS The two murals on the large south and north walls of the Theatre were painted by local artist Ethel Richards in 1961. The class interviewed Mrs. Richards in May of 2004 to find out more about the murals. She said she was contracted by Charles and Betty Crow, the owners of the Theatre at that time, who wanted two large murals on the walls that would be thematic and match the general interest in movie B Westerns and serial Westerns. These murals are also appropriately thematic in this area of the country and depicts typical scenes in our local history. Mrs. Richards indicated she freshened up the murals in the early 1980s right before the Theatre was finally closed. She was pleased they were still there. |
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ANTIQUE PROJECTORS STILL WORK.... The projection room is accessed through a lobby door and up some very steep steps. Inside the projection room are two antique projectors dated back to the mid-1940s. According to Jack Garner, George Crow, and Charles Crow, the two projectors are original to the building. The offered to fire them up to show us how they work. They also thought they could be used to run film with a little adjustment to meet current film industry standards. We also found a couple of old films, a news roll, and a number of old supplies for the projectors. The are aimed through the projection holes cut in the wall between the room and the theatre area.. |
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ORAL HISTORY FOR THE PLAINS THEATRE PROJECT, 2004
Ethel Richards Interviewed 4/29/2004 |
The Murals Artist |
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George Crow Interviewed May, 2004 |
The Philanthropist |
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Jack Garner Interviewed May, 2004 |
The Projectionist |
TRANSCRIPT |
Charles Crow Interviewed May, 2004 |
The Owner |
TRANSCRIPT |
Betty Crow Interviewed 5/4/2004 |
The Owner / Concessions |
TRANSCRIPT |
Ruby Wissel Interviewed October, 2004 |
The Ticket Girl Victory Theatre |
TRANSCRIPT |
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