By Parker Anderson

In downtown Prescott, at the corner of Cortez and Union Streets, stands a marker commemorating that at that site, now a basketball court, once stood the old Goldwater department store. It is rare for historic markers to commend structures that no longer exist, but it is proper to do so here. Prescott is still haunted by the demolition of the building in 1978. However, the destruction gave momentum to Prescott's historic preservation movement, which continues to this day.

It is unlikely that there is anyone left alive who remembers the Goldwater Store, but many old-timers remember well what it became. Many still fondly refer to this area as the Street of the Studio Theatre. 

In 1933, the Elks Opera House had been the town's main entertainment venue and sole movie theatre. There had been previous attempts at competition. There had once been a theatre near the Head Hotel which had gone by various names, including Electric Theatre and New State Theatre. Although it hosted movies and live shows in the teens, it proved no competition for the antlered building. No one else attempted to start a movie house in Prescott after that, until Albert Stetson came along. 

Albert Stetson was a wealthy Arizona businessman who, along with his brothers Harold and George, operated the Studio Theatre in Phoenix and were preparing to open a Studio Theatre in Bisbee. Attempts to start a new movie theatre in Prescott were unsuccessful years earlier, but Stetson was certain he could succeed in 1933. 

Stetson arrived in town in the summer of 1933 and proceeded to open negotiations with Morris Goldwater to lease the old department store for ten years and completely remodel it into a theatre auditorium. Once the deal was closed, Stetson announced his intentions to the newspapers. The remodeling was to cost $75,000, and would be supervised by local architect Chris Totten. It would have a seating capacity of 550, and according to Stetson, he already had procured a deal with leading Hollywood distributors for "an ample supply of the best pictures that can be secured by any theatre". 

Excavation and concrete work on the new Studio Theatre in Prescott began on July 12, 1933, under the labor of contractors Jim, Mason, and L.O. Williams. Stetson opened an office in room 30 of the Bank of Arizona building. Foxworth-Galbraith supplied the paint, Vyne Brothers Electric installed the wiring, Prescott Lumber Company provided the acoustic material, M.F. Kuhne Plumbing installed the plumbing, heating, and ventilation, and ALL of these businesses played this up in their newspaper ads. The Studio Theatre was gearing up to be a big event in Prescott history. 

The opening of the theatre was set for Friday, September 29, 1933, and was accompanied by a massive publicity blitz. The Courier ran a detailed article describing every facet of the interior and the exterior, noting that the marquee alone utilized 500 light bulbs. The Head Lumber Company, the Arizona Power Company, and Tribby's Shoe Store tried to jump on the bandwagon by running paid ads in the Courier wishing the new theatre well. 

An old plaque on the building noting its original year of construction - 1879 - was due to be taken down and replaced by a new one engraved with 1933, but Prescott Chamber of Commerce Secretary Grace Sparkes voiced her displeasure over this prospect, and Stetson agreed to leave the old plaque and put the new one directly underneath. 

Stetson hired a full team of employees, including Cecil Coates as Assistant Manager, William Cherry as the doorman, James Tadlock and Max Osterle as ushers, Frances Dial and Betty Hirschfeld as cashiers, Shirley Born and C.V. MacWay as projectionists, and Forest C. Backus as the theatre's maintenance man. With much fanfare, Stetson announced that the first motion picture to play there would be THE MASQUERADER with Ronald Colman, along with various short subjects and a newsreel and a Krazy Kat cartoon. Admission would be 35 cents for adults and 10 cents for children. Guests of Honor at the grand opening were Albert Stetson's business associates, Horace Jones from the Phoenix branch of Western Electric; C.A. Caballero from LosAngeles; Leo Hungerford from Los Angeles; A.W. Hammond from the Hammond Lighting Company in Los Angeles, and R.A. Eckels, also from Los Angeles. 

The Stetson Brothers went all out for opening night. They prepared a special screen presentation to dedicate the theatre in lieu of the usual speechmaking. They hired a band to play outside to entertain prospective patrons who might be turned away in the event of a sellout, and indeed, over 200 citizens were denied entry to the first show due to a complete sellout. Morris Goldwater sent a huge basket of yellow chrysanthemums, and other baskets of flowers were sent by the Hassayampa Hotel, Goldberg's Film Delivery, and the Courier and Journal Miner newspapers. 

To keep patronage at a high, Albert Stetson boldly announced his next step. Mickey Mouse had recently become a popular cartoon figure, and certain theatres in cooperation with Walt Disney were forming Mickey Mouse Clubs. Stetson decided this was just what Prescott needed. Supplying membership applications, every child in Prescott was invited to join. As members, each child would be able to attend special kiddie matinees and entertainment for members only. The response was huge. Furthermore, the Studio Theatre was remarkably successful at getting top Hollywood films with top stars like James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson, leaving mostly grade-B movies for the Elks Theatre. 

Understandably alarmed by this turn of events, the Elks Lodge and Elks Theatre manager Charles Born announced plans for an extensive remodeling job on the building, and many of the changes made at this time can still be viewed today. This was when a second center aisle was added to the balcony, and the sides of the balcony were ramped instead of stair-stepped. New carpeting and paint were also added to attract customers. 

Ultimately, the Studio Theatre and Elks Theatre competed with each other for years, but the competition finally ended when Claude Cline took over management of BOTH entertainment venues. In the early 1970s, when Cline built the Marina Theatres, he closed the Studio permanently. In 1978 the building was demolished. 

(Parker Anderson is a tenacious researcher at the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (o108pb). Reuse only by permission.
Prescott's local Mickey Mouse Club met in front of Studio Theatre at the southeast corner of Cortez and Union Streets shortly after it was first opened as a movie house in 1933. The Studio, which was formerly the Goldwater department store, served as a theatre until the early 1970s. In 1978 the building was demolished.