Westgate Outdoor Theatre (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
→History
Reschultzed (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
|||
(7 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{coord|42.7165|-87.8378|display=title}}▼
{{Infobox building
▲| coordinates = {{coord|42.7165|-87.8378|display=inline,title}}
| name = Westgate Outdoor Theatre
| image =
Line 12:
| developer = [[J. & M. Enterprises (Minneapolis, Minnesota)]]
}}
==History==
In June 1948, the 35-acre site was purchased by [[J. & M. Enterprises (Minneapolis, Minnesota)|J. & M. Enterprises]] of [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], which announced that it would immediately begin work on constructing an outdoor drive-in theater with state-of-the-art features and a planned capacity of approximately one thousand cars.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45474942/the_journal_times/ "Outdoor Theater Announced Here"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 21, 1948, page five.</ref> Located in the formerly rural but rapidly suburbanizing area of [[Mygatts Corners, Wisconsin|Mygatts Corners]], the site was immediately outside Racine's city limits at the time. In December 1948, the Nelson Walker homestead along Washington Avenue was demolished more than a century after it was built, in order to make way for the theater's ongoing construction.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45488660/the_journal_times/ "Mygatts Corners"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 14, 1948, page 21.</ref> During construction, on March 19, 1949, an oil burner in the production booth exploded, causing approximately $2,000 in damage but no injuries.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45489096/the_journal_times/ "Happenings in the City"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 19, 1949, page three.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45489196/the_journal_times/ "City Briefs"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 21, 1949, page four.</ref>
The Racine Outdoor Theatre opened on April 30, 1949, with a showing of the 1948 musical romantic comedy film ''
In September 1951, the theater was acquired by the [[Papas-Spheeris Company]], which began major renovations in advance of the 1952 season. 650 new speakers were installed, post lights were added to improve visibility for drivers, and a children's playground was built at the base of the screen. Papas-Spheeris also renamed the venue, calling it the Westgate Outdoor Theatre.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45493575/the_journal_times/ "Improve Theater on Highway 20"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 21, 1952, page 22.</ref> Westgate reopened on April 17, 1952, with a showing of the 1951 Western film ''
On the night of May 23, 1958, four children of the same Racine family suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning when their father ran their car's motor too long during a show at the theater. The children were administered oxygen at [[St. Mary's Hospital (Racine, Wisconsin)|St. Mary's Hospital]] and were released in the morning.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45507119/the_journal_times/ "4 Racine Children Are Overcome by Monoxide at Outdoor Theater"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 24, 1958, front page.</ref>
Line 26:
[[File:Turn Style and Westgate, 1966.png|thumb|Westgate Outdoor Theater, located behind the [[Turn Style Family Center (Racine, Wisconsin)|Turn Style Family Center]], as seen in 1966.]]
In 1959, the theater added a go-cart attraction, the Mighty Midget Race Track, to its property.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45508806/the_racine_journaltimes_sunday_bulletin/ "A Go-Cart Race Track Starts to Click in Racine"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 13, 1959, page 18.</ref> In March 1961, Papas announced plans to build Westgate Family Center, a {{convert|100000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} [[discount department store]] immediately north of the theater, at a time when such stores were a new concept in retailing. Although Papas owned the land extending north to Washington Avenue from the theater, his plan required purchasing land west of Perry Avenue from the Racine Water Department for part of the store's parking lot.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45509006/the_journal_times/ "Westgate to Build Store Containing 50 Departments"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 6, 1961, page six.</ref> The Water Department agreed to sell the land for $27,750. By July 1961, Papas had come to an agreement with the Chicago-based [[Jewel Tea Company]] grocery store chain, which would open its first department store in the new building. The planned store was downsized to {{convert|90000|sqft|m2}}, allowing a larger parking lot in front of the store and making the land purchased from the Water Department unnecessary for parking. Instead, Papas announced that the land would be used for [[
Construction on the Jewel store began in September 1961, requiring the Mighty Midget go-cart track, playground trampolines, and some of the theater's parking area to be removed.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45511052/the_journal_times/ "Jewel Tea Expects to Break Ground for Family Center About Sept. 1"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 20, 1961, page 32.</ref> During construction, Jewel acquired the [[Turn Style]] chain of four discount department stores in Massachusetts, and applied the Turn Style branding to the new Racine store. The new [[Turn Style Family Center (Racine, Wisconsin)|Turn Style Family Center]] opened on March 28, 1962.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45542382/the_journal_times/ Advertisement], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 27, 1962, page 3B and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45542337/the_journal_times/ page 4B].</ref> On August 30, 1962, the Racine City Plan Commission agreed to annex the theater into the city of Racine.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45542650/the_journal_times/ "OK Annexation of 55 Acres"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 31, 1962, page 4A.</ref>
Line 32:
With the opening of the [[Westgate Cinema (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westgate Cinema]] indoor theater across the street in 1968, the outdoor theater declined in popularity. In the mid-1970s, the nearby [[Christ Church United Methodist (Racine, Wisconsin)|Christ Church United Methodist]] offered Sunday morning outdoor worship services at the theater.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45547719/the_journal_times/ "News of the Churches"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 22, 1974, page 4A.</ref> These events sometimes included pastors from other churches as part of the "Community-All Faiths Worship series".<ref>Dose, Emmert H. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45547898/the_journal_times/ "Outdoor theater is place of worship"], [[Racine Journal Times]], July 16, 1977, page 4.</ref>
Westgate Outdoor Theater ended the 1978 season without fanfare on September 18, showing a double feature of ''
==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/12236 Westgate Outdoor Theater] at Cinema Treasures
[[Category:Drive-in theaters in Racine, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Buildings on Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Buildings on Washington Avenue]]
|