Thursday, September 13, 2007
History major helps revive the Alhambra Theatre on its anniversary
 Andy Jeffries, a Ladoga, Indiana native and USI senior history major, spent the summer months as an intern for Alhambra Theatre, Inc.’s board of directors, researching the theatre’s history, scanning old newspapers, and interviewing people who patronized the theatre before it closed in 1956. He will give a public presentation on his research in honor of the 94th anniversary of the Alhambra Theatre’s grand opening. The Alhambra Theatre’s Anniversary Celebration will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, September 27, in front of the theatre. Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel and Betsy Hopkins, president of Alhambra Theatre, Inc., will offer remarks before Jeffries’ presentation. The public is invited. Jeffries said Evansville’s Alhambra Theatre was one of many influenced by the Alhambra palace in Spain. “The original Alhambra inspired Romantic Era art,” he said. “The Moorish style of architecture captured the imaginations of a lot of Romantic Era artists, writers, and so forth. That is probably what led Schlotter to design the theatre in this way.” Alhambra theatres opened all over the world, but according to Jeffries, only one American Alhambra Theatre - a traditional playhouse built in New York in 1905 – predates Evansville’s. “That would make Evansville’s Alhambra the first dedicated movie theatre of its name in the country,” he said. With its Moorish domes and archways and distinctive brickwork, The Alhambra Theatre was the jewel of Evansville’s Goosetown neighborhood when it opened on September 27, 1913. Designed by architect Frank Schlotter, the theatre cost $18,000 to build and was one of the largest movie theatres in Evansville. It included a cigar shop and a confectionary, and spurred new business in the area now designated as the Haynie’s Corner Arts District. The Alhambra Theatre and other neighborhood theatres showed second-run films. “The downtown movie theaters would show the movies first, and they would be shown in the neighborhood theatres later. These were the same movies shown anywhere else in the country, and the serials and newsreels would have been the same, too.” A woman who grew up on Parrett Street told Jeffries that when she was a little girl, admission to the theatre was a nickel, but her father gave her six cents so she could buy popcorn, too. “She used to love going there to watch the serials more than the movies themselves,” he said. “She loved Zorro and Gene Autry.” The theatre attracted adults during the week and children on Saturdays. Because the neighborhood was close-knit, ushers would often admit for free children who couldn’t afford to pay. The Alhambra Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It is one of Evansville’s last remaining neighborhood movie theatres. “When the theatre was built, businesses came, and when the theatre did well, businesses did well. When the theatre closed up, businesses couldn’t attract customers,” Jeffries said. “The whole economic scene of that area is tied to that theatre.” With the help of Stewart Sebree of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, Alhambra Theatre, Inc. recently received a $15,000 grant from the Efroymson Fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation for exterior renovations to the theatre. For more information about The Alhambra Theatre’s Anniversary Celebration, contact Wendy Knipe Bredhold at 812/461-5259. Students interested in internship or co-op opportunities should contact USI’s Career Services at 812/464-1865. |
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