the theater
The grand opening of the theater was in January 1918. There had been a contest to name it. The winner's name has not been found (yet) but the name given the theater was Hillman's Ideal. Hillman was actually a touring company that came to Table Rock, so perhaps there was no winner but rather the name was given to the new owner.
the projection booth
Bernie Swanson checks out a film strip
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The east projector
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Looking at the forward wall between the east and west projectors
East projector
East projector
the balcony
View from the balcony, October 12, 2019; the Bouncing Czechs are onstage.
HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
the "new" theater -hillman's ideal theater-1918
The opening of the beautiful new theater was announced in the January 4, 1918 edition of the Argus.
Detail of Photo 258, annotated as taken in 1918
Closer detail of Photo 258
Photo 258
Photo 78.
Detail of Photo 78 -- Hillman's Ideal says the sign on the right....
world war i
America entered the war on April 6, 1917 -- within days of when construction of the hotel block buildings began. This event appears to have been on the one-year anniversary.
April 12, 1918
A reference to the 89th Division, 355th Infantry, is called for. As described by James Olson in his book "The History of Nebraska," the 355th Infantry was a significant unit; in France during World War I, the 355th was known as "Nebraska's Own." The 89th Division, most assigned to the 355th, was known as the "Fighting Farmers" and respected for their ability to do with the physical hardships of the war as well as their courage. Table Rock residents including Harry Madden and Bill Vondrasek both belonged to the 89th Division and were assigned to the 355th Infantry.
June 21, 1918
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June 21, 1918
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September 18, 1918
November 22, 1918
1919
July 4, 1919
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July 1919
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1920
Photo 4086. February 6, 1920, the morning of the big fire.
Photo 3501, at some time after the fire. Photo shared by Sherry Winkinhofer
November 12, 1920
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November 19, 1920
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April 27, 1923
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April 13, 1923
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charlie harlow buys the theater
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July 6, 1923
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October 25, 1923
judgment against former owner of theater, john n. phillips, bankrupts & closes the theater in 1924. theater fixtures sold for $490 |
April 25, 1924
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1930
1930 - theater sold by l. m. greene to w. hale of lincoln, effective march 1, 1930 |
January 31, 1930
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fire in the theater - february 28, 1930
The front-page article about a fire in the theater is excerpted below this.
Here is the front-page article excerpted. It is divided horizontally into three parts but must nevertheless be read in columns.
The theater reopens - April 11, 1930
fire in the hotel spreads to the theater - 1931
August 28, 1931
the roxy theater is under new management in 1936
March 12, 1936
May 21, 1936
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March 12, 1936
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February 10, 1938
July 11, 1938, Nebraska State Journal
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July 11, 1938 Lincoln Star
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1940s
August 1941. Photo 2313, by Arvid Blecha.
1943
November 11, 1948
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December 30, 1948
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June 1948
Photo 4029, shared by Judy Aylor
January 18, 1951
theater to be managed by mrs. & mrs. george mason of tecumseh, to be run by mr. and mrs. lewis day, 1957
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June 6, 1957
August 1, 1957
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September 12, 1957
July 4, 1957
1958 - village disbursements from its theater fund |
May 7, 1958
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1960s
September 14, 1961
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September 21, 1961
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September 22, 1966
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May 25, 1967
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June 8, 1967
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maintenance issues
leak on east side of theater roof, 2019
Water damage on the east wall of the theater. In about 2016, the roof leaked but a temporary repair was made. In August 2019, the repairs failed and leaking resumed. With an extremely rainy season and hail and damage calling the only commercial roofer who would work on our buildings away temporarily, as of October 12, 2019, repairs have not yet been effected. The problem is that when the roof was installed, a seam ran down the middle of a trough area, and the seam in the bottom of the trough has split. The solution is to build a part roof on the east side of the theater roof to cover the trough area and permit proper run off.
