The Venetian Theatre in Downtown Racine.
Photo provided by Oak Clearing Farm & Museum
Photo provided by Oak Clearing Farm & Museum
In celebration of Racine's 175th anniversary, RacinePost is running a series of stories about our city's storied history. Today, historian Gerald Karwowski recalls the city's lost treasures - its movie theaters. (As a sidenote, I just learned local theatres used to give out dinnerware to people who went to movies. Imagine going to see Avatar and coming home with a piece of a china!)
VENETIAN WAS RACINE’S FINEST THEATRE
By Gerald L. Karwowski
Many of us can remember the good times we had at one or more of Racine’s old theatres. Like the Sunday afternoon double features with three or four cartoons or specials featuring the milking of live cows on stage.
However, few people can recall W.C. Tiede, and his son Charley, showing Cameraphone movies at the College Avenue Orpheum, in the early 1900s, or Flickerless movies at the Crystal as it was called in 1914.
There are some who can recollect days at the Majestic Theatre, (Uptown) when the orchestra would slowly rise into view playing soft music, as a glow of colored light was cast against the huge curtain in the background. Or block long lines, when a hit was playing at the Rialto or Venetian.
The Venetian's screen and stage.
Theatres in downtown Racine included the Bijou, Orpheum, Rialto, Rex, Main Street, Palace, Badger, Racine, Imperial, Strand, White House and Dreamland to name a few.
Also scattered throughout the city were the Capitol, Granada, Crown, Allen, State Douglas, Grand, Princess, Star, two Majestics and more. Many of these date back to when admission was a nickel or a quarter and a whole family could have a night out for less than a dollar.
In the late 1920s “talkies” began to replace silent movies, which sparked the building of new theatres throughout the country. Racine was caught in this whirlwind of theatre-building in 1928, with four new theatres opening within weeks of each other. This were the Granada, April 7, Venetian, April 12, Majestic (Uptown) May 1, and Capital, May 30.
The largest was the Venetian, an atmospheric theatre with a $ 1 million price tag. Plaster art décor in Italian Renaissance design, with statues, enhanced this 2,100 seat showhouse. The north end of the Johnson Building now marks the site where the Venetian stood fronting Monument Square. It was razed in 1977.
Looking south inside the Venetian Theater.
The Majestic (Uptown) opened on Washington Avenue. The 1,500 seat theatre was built by Ernst Klinkert at a cost of over $250,000. Its interior is of Gothic design, some of which is still intact. However, all the seats have been removed and the lower areas were used for storage. The main corridor and lobby still has most of the original plaster art and trim.
Entry way inside the Venetian.
The Capitol, Douglas, Crown and Granada were smaller neighborhood theatres. Each had a seating capacity of about 1,000. They were equipped with stages and theatre organs.
The Granada was built with a Spanish décor inside and out, and was located on Charles Street near Douglas. The theatre was stripped of it 32-foot marquise in the late 1960s, when it was remodeled into a wholesale warehouse.
The Capitol was built in a Italian design and in later years was remodeled into a twin, Capitol 1 and 2 and in November of 1981, Park 1 and 2.
By far Venetian was Racine’s finest theatre with its ornate statues, twinkling ceiling stars and often long waiting lines. Today’s theatres are little more than boxes in comparison to the movie palaces which the city once had.
Venetian being knocked down.
