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Dubuque, Iowa, Avon
To Close on April 1
DUBUQUE. IOWA—A royal landmark on
Dubuque's Main street will cease to exist on
April 1. It is the Avon Theatre. When fu-st
built in 1908. it was christened the Princess.
It was then the latest in theatre architecture.
A newspaper article appearing the day before
the theatre opened proclaimed:
"In this theatre, Dubuque has a structure
that is attracting the interest of the theatrical
architects of the country. It is the most
complete and perfect building according to
the modern ideas of theatre architecture
that it is possible to design."
That was 49 years ago. Today, the theatre's
doors are closed forever. Its infancy was during
the time of vaudeville. Its death comes
in the rock and roll era of today. A multitude
of eras spanned the years in between.
And the Princess, later the Avon, housed
entertainment which reflected those eras.
The final end for the theatre will come
April 1 when razing operations begin. It will
make way for the new J. C. Penney department
store.
William Bradley built the theatre and,
less than a year after it opened, leased it
to Harvey Fulton, on behalf of the Standard
Amusement Co. Then, in 1916, James Yiannias,
now general manager of Associated
Theatres, leased the house and has had the
theatre since. At the time Yiannias took over
the Pi'incess, the theatre no longer had
vaudeville acts. He tried to revive them in
1927, but was not too successful. M. F. Stangl,
now a projectionist at the State Theatre,
was employed as projectionist at the theatre
from 1915 to 1956.
The Princess, and later, the Avon, had its
ups and downs. First it was a nickelodeon,
then a first run house, later, a second run
house. In 1956, the Princess began to falter,
running only second time around movies
three days a week. April 1, it will falter for
good.
Variety Seeks V2 Million
For Its Heart Hospital
MINNEAPOLIS—The Variety Club will
resume
its drive to raise $500,000 to finance a
fifth floor for the heart hospital on the University
of Minnesota campus. Chief Barker
Sim Heller at a dinner meeting told members
approximately $70,000 toward the goal already
has been accumulated. The federal government
will contribute a goodly share of the
money needed to defray the cost.
The additional floor will permit an extension
of heart research work.
There was a big turnout last Saturday night
for the auxiliary's Valentine party and several
hundred dollars were realized. This money
will go to buy additional hospital TV sets and
for gifts for children patients.
New Lamberton 0^vne^
LAMBERTON, MINN.—Elmer Vollmer has
taken over operation of the Berton Theatre
following purchase from O. B. Dahlgren of
Walnut Grove, who continues to operate a
theatre there. Vollmer, a native of Lamberton,
and his family moved into the theatre
apartments. The Berton had been owned
by Dahlgren 15 years.
Theatremen Enter Pleas
Against Five-Cent Levy
LINCOLN, NEB. — Amusement industry
representatives turned out in force to oppose
a bill before the Nebra.ska unicameral legislature
which would establish a five cents per
head amusement tax in the state. The bill
was tabled.
The measure was introduced in the unicameral
legislature by Senator "Terrible Terry"
Carpenter, who dreamed up the "Joe
Smith for vice-president" gag at the Republican
national convention and who, himself.
is a drlve-in theatre owner among his many
busine.ss interests.
The big industry turnout at the hearing
on the bill before the revenue committee,
followed a plea by the Allied Independent
Theatre Owners of Iowa, Nebraska and Midcentral
and other organizations. The Allied
bulletin pointed out that the proposal would
amount to a 50 per cent tax on a ten-cent
admission or 10 per cent tax on a 50-cent
admi.ssion ticket.
In the hearing, theatremen contended that
the tax would just about sink the industry,
which already had been dealt a severe blow
by television.
Speaking for the Nebraska Theatre Owners
Ass'n, Robert R. Livingston of Lincoln,
association president, said that "motion picture
theatres have been harder hit in the
last two years than any other type of amusement."
He noted that three film exchanges
out of eight in Omaha had gone out of business.
Livingston said the cause of the decline
is the increase in the number of television
sets in the family home. He reported that
Zorn in Benkelman Dark;
E. Merle Gwin to Denver
BENKELMAN, NEB. — The Zorn Theatre
has been forced to close its doors because
of insufficient patronage. E. Merle Gwin,
owner, said dwindling patronage had made
continued operation of the business impossible.
Television competition was credited with
cutting attendance here until the operation
of the business was not only unprofitable
but for the past two years had failed to meet
expenses.
Gwin, who came to Benkelman in 1948
after buying the business from Mrs. Marie
Zorn, has accepted a position in Denver and
the family plans to move there as soon as
school is out in May.
The inroads on theatre attendance by television
was felt locally almost with the coming
of Channel 6 at Hayes Center. Gwin was
determined to close the theatre at this time
last year after several profitless months of
operation preceding the new year. Local business
people, in an effort to keep the theatre
in operation, joined together in presenting
a free show each month to bolster the theatre's
revenues. Continued loss of patronage,
however, and the resulting loss in the expense
of operation of the theatre made the
continuation of the theatre's operation impossible.
Gwin is known in the film industry as a
67 per cent of the homes in the state now
have television, 87 per cent in Douglas Coimty
(Omaha) have sets and 81 per cent in
Lancaster County (Lincoln).
Opponents to the bill included Lincoln
City Attorney Jack Pace, who claimed the
bill might be unconstitutional as regards to
taxing governmental subdivisions. He said
the activities it would involve include dancing,
swimming, golf and amusements planned
at the city auditorium.
A. Q. Schimmel, president of the Lincoln
Baseball Club, said an amusement tax would
be "most injurious" to the club, an affiliate
of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He said the tax
could not be passed on to the purchaser of a
ticket because the price does not change. He
said the tax "could possibly eliminate baseball
in Lincoln" and elsewhere over the state.
Others who protested the Carpenter bill
included Ed Schultz, secretary of the State
Fair board: R. C. Patterson, state adjutant
of the American Legion, who said it would
cut down the number of Junior Legion teams,
and Howard Kennedy of Broken Bow, drivein
and four-wall theatre owner, who told
the committee flatly "the tax would put us
out of business."
Senator Carpenter was the only person
appearing for the bill. Before the hearing
started, he circulated an amendment proposal
which would exempt many amusements,
would provide that the tax wouldn't
apply on any amusement of 50 cents and
would exempt certain charities.
The revenue committee voted 5-to-2 to
temporarily table the bill.
capable businessman and exhibitor. Since
coming to Benkelman in 1948, he built the
Zorn Theatre into one of the finest theatres
in the area, making many physical improvements
in the plant and exhibiting the newest
films. The theatre had a following from
all surrounding towns and maintained a large
mailing list of regular out-of-town customers.
Whenever something new developed in the
industry, he was the first to bring it to
local theatregoers. He maintained the best
in projection equipment and his sound system
was the finest in the area. He was the
first to show three dimension features and
pioneered CinemaScope in the territory, being
the first theatre in a hundred-mile circle to
oring the new process to its patrons.
Theatre Aide Gets Point
V\^rong; Check for $11,000
BISMARCK, N.
D.—Theatre manager Bob
Rosen was thankful that his English assistant,
John Sayer, was working with dollars
and not the English pounds which are worth
almost $3 each.
Reason is that Sayer was making out the
payroll checks for theatre employes and his
pen slipped, and Rosen signed a check for
$11,000 instead of $1,100.
Fortunately the slip was discovered before
the check was cashed.
BOXOFFICE February 16, 1957 NC-1