The Knickerbocker Theater - Holland, Michigan
N 42° 47.424 W 086° 06.193
16T E 573343 N 4737929
The Knickerbocker, as it was named and carved upon its face to this day, was reportedly built for $30,000 by local businessmen Tieman Slagh and Arend Smith.
Waymark Code: WMQ72H
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2016
Views: 5
“Holland’s New Playhouse Whose Name Stands for the Very Best Among Dutch People,” read the headline above the photograph of the Knickerbocker Theatre in December 23, 1910, local newspaper. It was followed by a large paragraph describing the theatre as one of the important building improvements for that year “for the welfare of the city and the people in general,” even as the workmen continued to prepare it for an early 1911 opening date. Days before the planned opening date, coowner Tieman Slagh was killed by a 28 foot fall while hanging the electric sign of the newly completed theatre. In September 1911, the theatre was leased to Charles E. New and John C. Agnew of Evanston, Illinois [but] the renters could not make the new theatre profitable and, by November 1913, the theatre was once again under new management.
The new manager, J. W. Himbaugh, took over the theatre and was the one responsible for introducing moving pictures, known as “talkies,” and a better heating plant. Theatrical shows were also shown, but only sporadically.
The young theatre was sold to the Carley Amusement Company in 1926, and some years later, the building, by now the Holland Theater, became part of the gigantic Butterfield chain of theaters.
Eventually, electronic home entertainment, such as television and videocassette recorders (VCRs), as well as multiscreen cinemas, took their toll on downtown theatres. The Knickerbocker’s sister theatres, the Park and the Strand, soon went out of business. Butterfield Theaters owned the theatre up until 1985, when it was purchased by Goodrich Theaters. Goodrich spent $300,000 on renovations before selling the 355-seat venue to Hope College in 1988 for just under $200,000, as part of the Riverview Development Project.
Year Theater Opened: 1911
Number of Screen(s): 1
Concessions Available: yes
Web site: [Web Link]
Ticket Price (local currency): Not Listed
Matinee Price (local currency): Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
Must take a photo of the theater.
Please try to include yourself or gps in the picture.
Tell of your experience at the theater, if it is still a theater. If it is no longer a theater tell of an experience from the past at the theater, if this can be done.