Circle Theater - Tulsa, OK
N 36° 09.583 W 095° 57.493
15S E 233885 N 4005719
Opened on Sunday, July 15, 1928
Waymark Code: WM1V00
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/09/2007
Views: 79
The theater is located in the Chilton Building built by architect/builder William R. Chilton. The building “has a steel foundation, built to carry four additional stories when needed.” Though the Circle Theater was built after the age of the silent movie, it was equipped with a two-manual, four-rank Robert-Morton pipe organ.
The building is located in the historic Whittier Square Shopping Center, Tulsa’s first suburban shopping center. Although compatible in style with the other buildings on the block, the theater however, did not meld in entirely with the rest of the late 1920 business district. The theater featured a distinctive, multicolor brick, and although only two-stories like many of the buildings in the center, was unrivaled in height.
The setting of the Circle Theater is the most noticeable characteristic that set the theater apart from other buildings in the shopping center. As originally designed, the theater was located conspicuously closer to the street than any other building on the block. This relates directly to the historic function of the building as a movie theater. Selling an intangible, movie theaters relied on an intimate setting between the movie theater and patron to reduce distractions from the broader shopping district.
In 1957 the south storefront was incorporated into the theater entrance creating a larger theater lobby. The sloped auditorium was created by digging below grade and the theater remains a large open space with a single screen. Centrally located above the second story windows is a stone name plate which reads “19 Chilton 28.”
The nameplate has a decorative surround with stone corners.
The Circle Theater is listed with the Oklahoma Historical Preservation office and has applied to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Although not the earliest or fanciest movie theater in Tulsa, the Circle Theater is the only pre-1960’s theater still in existence. Constructed in the Commercial Style, the Circle Theater is distinctive from the opulent and frequently exotic styles of big city movie palace architecture of the period. The restrained use of style is probably attributable to two factors: the lack of a professional architect in the design and the placement of the theater in an early suburban shopping center.
Business Name: Circle Theater
Business Type: Theater
Physical Address:
10 South Lewis Avenue
Tulsa, OK USA
74104
Web Address: [Web Link]
Condition of Neon Sign: Fully Working Order: Best viewed at night in its full glory!
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