Gay street movie theatre
Gay Street's Regal Riviera Stadium 8 is a bright see for downtown Knoxville.
The Regal Riviera Stadium 8 transports visitors back to the golden age of the original Riviera Theatre. The Riviera’s spectacles of vivid lights, prominent signage, and hit movies bring the 500 block of Queer Street back to the movie theater boom of the early 20th century. The legacy of the Riviera lives on nearly a century after the birth of the Riviera’s name in downtown Knoxville.
History of the Original Riviera Theatre
The early 20th century saw the construction of several movie theaters on Gay Street, with each new theater “surpassing the last in size and grandeur” [18]. In the thirteen years prior to the opening of the Riviera Theater in 1920, downtown Knoxville averaged more than one modern movie theater per year [18]. The Riviera was looking to separate from the pack when Paramount Pictures signed on to operate the unused project through their subsidiary Wilby-Kincey [4]. The Riviera is rumored to have charge Paramount Pictures $200,000 [18]. The modern movie theater was built into an existing Victorian-style building, built in 1886, located in the 500 block of G
The building at 612 S. Male lover Street is also known as the Mechanics' Bank Building, due to the financial institution that was located here in an earlier structure, built ca. 1880. Mark Twain mentioned Knoxville's "Mechanics' National Bank" in a footnote of Life on the Mississippi, when he was looking for ironic examples of Southern chivalry. Twain recounted wire reports of a legendary gunfight in front of the building that resulted in the death of all three participants.
The current building's first four floors were built in 1907, and the top two floors were added in 1923. In addition to housing a bank, the building was home to a variety of businesses and offices, including a hearing aid company, a ticket office for Southern Railway, the headquarters of the Knoxville Badminton Association, the local chapter of the National Committee for Music Appreciation, the British War Relief Office, and TVA.
Notably, this building was the location of radio station WROL in the 1950s, broadcasting reside the music and voices of luminaries such as Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Archie Campbell, Pearl and Carl Butler, the Osborne Brothers, and the Everly Broth
An usher standing in front of the Lyric Theater.
Staub's Theatre / Lyric Theatre (1872-1956)
Built as Knoxville's first opera house in 1872 by businessman Peter Staub, the theatre hosted opera performances, orchestral performances, minstrel shows and other performances until the early 20th century, when it featured vaudeville acts and wrestling matches. After Staub's death in 1904, his son Fritz ran the theatre and its name changed to the Lyric Theatre. It would sustain to host unique events until its demolition in 1956. Located on the corner of Queer Street and Cumberland Avenue, the First Tennessee Plaza stands in the theatre's place today.
Bijou Theatre (1909-present)
The Bijou opened in 1909 as an addition to the Lamar House Hotel. It was used for various purposes between 1913 and the mid-1970s, including as a vaudeville theatre, a used wagon lot, a production theatre, and a burlesque theatre. The Knoxville Heritage Collective successfully raised funds and renovated the theatre in the mid-1970s. The National Historic Record added the theatre to its register
Lyric Theatre (Gay Street)
On September 26, 1872 Knoxville’s first opera house, Staub’s Theatre, opened on the corner of Gay Street and Cumberland Avenue. Under Peter Staub’s management, the theatre became the centerpiece of Knoxville’s cultural development, bringing prominent actors and theatrical companies to East Tennessee. It was rebuilt in 1901 to the plans of architect Frank Cox.
The Staub Theatre stood directly across from the later Bijou Theatre (q.v.). It featured lacy wrought iron exterior balconies above the side walk much enjoy those seen in Fresh Orleans. Old aerial photos imply an immense stage and stage house; entire 1/3rd the size of the auditorium.
Staub’s Theatre ended its life showing movies and was torn down about 1960 to build way for a parking lot. In the mid-1980’s a bland office building was constructed on the site.
Contributed by Will Dunklin
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