Documentation
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Charles Theater (34-00328)
409 N Main StCharles City IA 50616
History and Architecture
Construction date
1934
Historic function(s)
Commerce/trade/specialty store
Recreation and culture/theater/movie theater
Current function(s)
Recreation and culture/theater/movie theater
Recreation and culture/theater/playhouse
Architectural classification(s)
Modern movement: art deco
Architect(s)
Wetherell and Harrison, Des Moines, IA
Evaluation Under National Register Criteria
National Register status
Not listed
Narrative(s)
The dominant role of this theaters exterior design and the retention of its high-style Art Deco design treament, its façade which departs from the traditionalcommercial block of the surrounding streetscapes and highly stylized and dramatic polychrome primary façade reflect its status of the Art Deco Movie Palace as executued in the mid-to-late 1930s in Iowa. In addition to its embodyment of the distinctive characteristics of a type, period and method of construction, it represents the work of Des Moines' master architectural firm of Wetherell & Harrison , noted for their design of Art Deco theaters; the building is one of the few extant examples of the firms work in the Art Deco style in Iowa. The building also possesses high artistic value. It represents a pattern of features common to the Art Deco Movie Palace genre as found in Iowa and the individuality and varation of features that occures witthin the Art Deco classification. The building is also signficant for its commercial associations with the historic sub-contexts "State-wide Impact of Era of Centralization and Domination of Movie Theater chains, 1920 -1948 and "Movie theater Development in Iowa in the Great Depression and the War years: 1930-1946."An earlier stage theater (Hildreth Opera House) appears at this location on the 1924 Sanborn. The Charles Theater first appears on the 1947 Sanborn. Completed in 1935 from a design by Wetherell & Harrison of Des Moines, it originally seated 600. First operated by a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, it later functioned under the ownership/management of Central States Theater Corporation. When Central States went bankrupt in the late 1990s, the building transferred to the City, who then gave it to the Stony Point Players. It still operates today with seating for 450.
