Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Movie Theaters in Ames

I have always loved going to the movies.  This is a photo of the old Collegian Theater here in Ames.  I don't know what the picture was taken for but it shows the theater,  There is a bank where the theater once stood.  I actually think the theater was better for the community than the bank but that is another story.  The bank took out all the neat stuff that was in the theater including the seats, some of which line the Masonic Lodge in Ames.   

There were four theaters in Ames.  This was my favorite. It was on the West end of Main Street. I used to sit down close to the screen. I guess now I realize that was probably because I needed glasses. No one knew that but when I was in fifth grade the teacher noticed that I was squinting and using my hands to help me focus.  I could read just fine (still can) without glasses but could not see things far off.  I remember when I got the glasses I was amazed to be able to see individual leaves on the trees across the street.
Oops - off topic. The Collegian was quite large and had some large stuffed fish (one a swordfish) that the manager of the theaters in Ames, Joe Gerbrach had caught.  They were impressive.  Inside the theater was a second lobby where you could buy popcorn, candy and drinks.  You had to go upstairs to the restrooms and the lounges up there were very nice.  They had chairs that were built so that when you sat in them one person on each side you could have a private conversation.
The other end of Main Street we had the Capitol Theater which was where you went to see the Hopalong Cassidy movies and Westerns and Serials.  My most vivid memory of the Capitol was when they would not let me in. The price was for Children under 12 and that was what I had in order to go to the movie.  The girl would not believe that I was not older.  I was big for my age.  I had to go down to the drugstore to call my grandmother who went down to the theater and chewed the girl out.  I can still hear her saying "That boy does not lie!"  She was still sputtering about it when I got back from the movie.  I carried that with me all my life.


The Varsity Theater in Campustown was just a plain theater where you went to see movies.  It held a lot of people and was probably a moneymaker for the Ames Theater Company because it was located near the college.  The really sad thing about it was what happened to it in the end.  The Cinemark people came in and purchased the theaters in Ames and now they have a monopoly.  They gradually closed most of them and now they have the North Grand 5 and Cinemark 12.  The Varsity was the last one closed.  The ISU student government thought that it would be nice to purchase it and use it for their own purposes. I heard a rumor that they were unable to do anything with it because the Cinemark people had hired folks to go in and destroy it for use as a theater.  I have no idea if that is true or not but if it is it is too bad.

The Ames Theater was also in Campustown and its attraction was that it had a balcony.  I never liked sitting up there as I have a little problem with vertigo and I could always imagine myself falling off.  Some of the rowdy kids used to throw candy off the balcony so I sat underneath so they couldn't hit me.  Then I imagined the balcony crashing down on me.  I was imaginative to say the least.

Finally there was the Ranch Drive In on the West side of town.  Mom and Thelma Martin used to pop up a large bag of pop corn and would take us there Two adults and 4 kids.  They had a playground just below the screen where we could go to play before the movie started and then go back to watch the movie in our car.  You could purchase a little incense right to keep the bugs out and it was sometime hard to see but we all enjoyed it and it was a great way for the mothers to have some time together and we enjoyed ourselves.

It is so sad that the theater experience in Ames is no longer a special thing.  Going to the movies here is a chore and instead of cartoons we now have endless advertising,  slow ticket and concession lines, restrooms inconveniently located and crummy parking. I really have to want to see the movie in order to make the effort to go. 

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