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 Merced Theater - Merced, CA Posted by:  Big B Bob
N 37° 18.032 W 120° 28.826
10S E 723315 N 4131188
A classic old theater being brought back to it's original grandeur by the local community.
Waymark Code: WM3QDT
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/04/2008
Views: 153
Merced Theater
Merced Theater, 1934
From the Merced Theater Foundation website:
The Merced Theater opened on October 31st , 1931 with the world premier of Local Boy Makes Good
staring Joe E. Brown. The building was constructed over the previous
nine months at a cost of $380,000.00. For the next 47 years it would
serve the Merced community in a wide variety of ways including
concerts, graduations, dance performances, weddings and
of course, movies. It was and still is treasured by the people of
Merced County. The Tower is the most recognized landmark in Merced.
The
Theater was designed by the Reid Brothers , prestigious
architects from San Francisco for the Golden State Theater
Corporation, and boasted 1,645 seats with the first air
conditioning for any building in the County. The City of Merced had a
population of only 7,066 at the time. We believe the Theater
is the last project completed by the Reid Brothers as one of them
died 3 months after the opening. The Theater building includes five
retail spaces and ten second floor apartments on the Main
Street frontage.
What
made the Theater so special was the Theater's interior. Sitting
in the Theater was a like being in a Spanish castle courtyard with blue skies and even a cloud machine.
I heard from a projectionist, that the cloud and star projector was
stolen many years before I arrived. It had been attached to the
foot of the balcony and someone during a show had detached it and walk
out of the building with it.
In 1978, I work as
an usher at this Theater. At that time, it was owned and operated
by United Artists. The company had decided to change the way they
did business in Merced, so, they first offered the theater to the city,
but the city was, at that time, not interested in purchasing the
theater. The local art community
tried gallantly but failed to save it. That fall, the Theater's
interiors were demolished and removed. A central full height partition was
constructed and a four screen multiplex was created. The multiplex configuration remains to
this day.
The tragedy is that the new configuration was never
financially successful and ultimately could not compete with the newer movie
theaters as a movie only operation. The building slowly fell further into disrepair and the doors were finally closed in 2002.
These are photos I took a week before the demolition. My friend,
Anders and I climbed up into the rafters to record what would no longer
exist in a few days. I remember coming in as the work was being
done, they literally tore out the beautiful history of this once
majestic theater. The intent of the Merced Theater
Foundation to restore the interior to match the original scheme
to the degree possible while updating theatrical, lighting and
sound systems to a state-of-the-art standard.
In
2002 the City of Merced Redevelopment Agency purchased the Theater Building. Since that time the Merced Theater
Foundation has leased the Theater from the City and
is responsible for day to day operations. Theater Two remains
operational with 300 seats and a small stage where movies
are shown monthly and other events are held by arrangement.
One day soon, the Merced Theater will return to it's majestic look and serve the community as it was meant to be.
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Year Theater Opened: 1931
Ticket Price (local currency): 0.00 (listed in local currency)
Matinee Price (local currency): 0.00 (listed in local currency)
Number of Screen(s): 1
Concessions Available: yes
Web site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Must take a photo of the theater.
Please try to include yourself or gps in the picture.
Tell of your experience at the theater, if it is still a theater. If it is no longer a theater tell of an experience from the past at the theater, if this can be done.
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