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Emanuel Evangelist Temple (photo credit Mike Wood)

Emanuel Evangelist Temple

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

First Opened: 1926

Atmospheric Style: Spanish Courtyard

Architects: LaCroix & Memmler

Status: Repurposed

Former Name: Zenith Theatre

Address: 2498 W. Hopkins Street, Milwaukee, WI 53206 Link opens in new window


Overview

The 1,360-seat Zenith Theatre opened as a north side neighborhood movie theatre in 1926, designed as an atmospheric theatre with a Spanish Courtyard theme. The theatre was fully equipped for vaudeville in its early days.

The asymmetrical auditorium side wall decoration featured large French doors with matte glass panes, which were in fact scrim/gauze-filled frames fronting the organ chambers where the pipes of a Kilgen theatre organ were installed.

Fox Theatres took over the theatre in 1938, however by 1954 business was not good and the theatre was sold to a church for $110,000. Following $70,000 of renovations the former movie palace was reopened as the Milwaukee Evangelistic Temple.

The church moved out of the building and it was listed for sale in 2015. The theatre is currently vacant and its status largely unknown.

Further Reading

Online

Historic Photos & Documents
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Photos of the Emanuel Evangelist Temple

Photo credits are noted where data was available at the time of inclusion. Photos displayed here may be subject to copyright; refer to our Copyright Fair Use Statement regarding our use of copyrighted media and contact us Contact Us with any concerns.

Photos
Emanuel Evangelist Temple: Auditorium in 2017, courtesy Flickr user <i>BWChicago</i>
Auditorium in 2017, courtesy Flickr user BWChicago
Emanuel Evangelist Temple: Auditorium in 2017, courtesy Flickr user <i>BWChicago</i>
Auditorium in 2017, courtesy Flickr user BWChicago
Emanuel Evangelist Temple: Exterior in 2019, courtesy <i>Google</i>
Exterior in 2019, courtesy Google


Photographs copyright © 2002-2024 Mike Hume / Historic Theatre Photos unless otherwise noted.

Text copyright © 2017-2024 Mike Hume / Historic Theatre Photos.

For photograph licensing and/or re-use contact me here Contact Us.





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