Opening of Plaza Theater in 1930

Opening of Plaza Theater in 1930

A huge crowd accompanied the opening of the Plaza Theater on September 12, 1930. Designed as a modern film house with the flexibility of presenting stage shows, the Plaza eventually hosted popular traveling shows and movies. Its size (capacity of 2,410), elaborate decor, and technical innovations made it stand out: While the exterior facade was designed to be reminiscent of a Spanish mission-style parapet, patrons were awed by the interior, with its intricately painted ceilings, mosaic-tiled floors, decorative metal railings and sconces and antique furnishings (Spanish Colonial Revival style). Additionally, the Plaza offered electrically cooled drinking fountains, a nursery, a $850 marble and brass telecheck system that alert ushers when a seat became vacant, and a Brenograph machine that could throw over a thousand color effects onto the black-and-white scenes. However, in the 1950s, the Theater's patronage declined and by the 1970s it was sold. In the 1980s, the El Paso Community Foundation saved the Plaza from demolition and donated it to the City of El Paso in 1990. After, it was restored to its original splendor and today hosts concerts, shows, musicals and plays once again.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library. Collection Name: Plaza Theater. Photo ID: Plaza Theater.jpg.

Uploaded by: UTEP Library Special Collections

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

High School Girls Basketball Team

The Tigers High School Girls Basketball Team known as the ...

Unknown Baseball Team

Unknown baseball team in downtown El Paso,Texas.

El Paso Baseball Team

El Paso baseball team.

John Ayoub and Salim Ayoub

John and Salim Ayoub.

Hon. Charles Davis

Mayor of El Paso, Tex., 1905-07. Burial location unknown.

President Harry Truman Visits El Paso, Texas

September 26, 1948. First person the President looked for when ...

William Yandell 1842-1900 El Paso, Texas

William Martin Yandell was born in 1842 near Murfreesboro, ...

Dr. Edward Alexander

Edward Alexander was a pioneer military surgeon in charge of the ...

Nannie, Rust Yandell, El Paso,TX circa 1895

Nannie Rust Yandell, wife of Wm. M. Yandell , El Paso, TX circa ...

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman visits El Paso,Texas.

Post Office sorting room

Maud Doane, whose name is on the back of the photo, worked as a ...

Clerks

Maud Doane, whose name was on the back of this photographs, was ...

El Paso, Texas County Officers

These men were part of the first Commissioners' Court of El Paso ...

Tri State Accessories Corporation

Tri-State Accessories was located at 425-27 W. San Antonio. They ...

Central Hotel, 1881

The White House Department Store was eventually located at this ...

Cortez Building

The Cortez Building is located on the northeast corner of North ...

Palm Tree

The palm tree is not native to El Paso.

Kress Building

100 E. Mills: Perhaps the funkiest building downtown, this ...

Downtown Historic District

The Downtown Historic District of El Paso, Texas, is the area ...

Plaza Theater Tour

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. The ...

Plaza Theater Staircase

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. The ...

Plaza Theatre, Glyn Wyler Foyer

Glyn Wyler along with her husband, Karl O. Wyler Sr., were ...

home.search_collection