| City/Town: • Wetumka |
| Location Class: • Theater |
| Built: • 1948 | Abandoned: |
| Status: • Demolished |
| Photojournalist: • Billy Dixon • Jennifer Burton • Leslie Flaming |
The Redskin Theater opened on August 10, 1948, it was owned and operated by Cecil Duncan and was one of three in the town of Wetumka. Movie theaters and drive-ins were a hit during this time and the one-screen, five hundred seating theater thrived throughout the fifties and sixties. Prices for admission were considerably low compared to today’s, with adults costing $1.25, students $1 and children 50 cents. Around the 1970s it was then turned into a dinner theater called The Balcony, guests could grab a meal and a movie for a prime night out on the town.
But with the rise of technology and digital movies, a lot of movie theaters were hit hard including the old Redskin Theater. The closure was inescapable and it has since sat on a lonely corner rotting away. Every so often it does get attention from the local ‘Sucker Day’ Parade where banners are hung from the old marquee and people gather on the sidewalks. The inevitable came in October 2019 when the terribly neglected building was demolished by the City. It was riddled with black mold, asbestos and was far too gone to be saved. There is only an empty lot where the Redskin Theater used to sit.
Gallery Below
http://cinematreasures.org/photos?page=2&theater_id=23623
https://www.newspapers.com/image/449550228/?terms=redskin%20theater%20wetumka&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/666805880/?terms=redskin%20theater%20wetumka&match=1
If you wish to support our current and future work, please consider making a donation or purchasing one of our many books. Any and all donations are appreciated.
Donate to our cause Check out our books!
Man, that place looks like it was trashed before it was demolished. I worked there as a projectionist in 1984. . I saved the glow dial clock that hung to the left of the screen for years. .
It was bad then, but noting like this. . so sad. The last time I saw a movie there was in 1969 with Joe Minyen, Leroy Leftwitch and his cousin Robin, when we saw the John Wayne movie, “Hellfighters”