Opening of Plaza Theater - 1930
Opening of Plaza Theater - 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.
Report this entry
More from the same community-collection
Attendees at the Maud Sampson Williams ceremony El Paso, TX, March 24, 2022
Attendees at the Maud Sampson Williams ceremony El Paso, TX, ...
Attendees listen at dedication of historic marker, El Paso County Courthouse, March 24, 2022
Attendees listen at dedication of historic marker, El Paso ...
Quisa Davis, former judge, honors Maud Sampson Williams at dedication of historic marker March 24, 2022
Quisa Davis, former judge, honors Maud Sampson Williams at ...
Eva Ross and Quisa Davis at Maud Sampson Williams marker dedication March 24, 2022
Eva Ross and Ouisa Davis at Maud Sampson Williams marker ...
Attendees listen at dedication of historic marker, El Paso County Courthouse, March 24, 2022
Attendees listen at dedication of historic marker, El Paso ...
League of Women Voters, County Judge Samaniego at the dedication of historic marker, March 24, 2022
League of Women Voters, County Judge Samaniego at the dedication ...
Site of Dr. Nixon’s landmark 1924 vote at 2317 Texas Avenue
You are at Historias: El Paso's Black History, Site # ...
Beto O'Rourke gubernatorial candidate, El Paso Community Foundation, March 27, 2022
Beto O'Rourke gubernatorial candidate, El Paso Community ...
Villa Maria, homeless shelter, on cover of Loretto Magazine Spring 2014
Villa Maria, homeless shelter, on cover of Loretto Magazine ...
Historias: El Paso's Black History
The El Paso Museum of History invites the public to celebrate ...
Mary Woods Place of Residence - 200 St. Louis St. and Utah St. (now Mills and Mesa)
You are at Historias: El Paso's Black History, Site ...
Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot by Hank Willis Thomas
The past is always present. It is not always visible, but ...
Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot by Hank Willis Thomas
The past is always present. It is not always visible, but ...
Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot by Hank Willis Thomas
The past is always present. It is not always visible, but ...