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Historic place

Warner Theatre (Overholser Opera House / Orpheum)

217 W Grand Ave, Oklahoma City, OK

It opened as an opera house in 1903, became the Orpheum and then the Warner, and in the 1950s was Oklahoma City's first Cinerama theater.

📅 1903–1964🏛️ TheaterDemolished
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The story

A Retro Metro OKC writer calls it the granddaddy of downtown movie houses. It opened in 1903 as the Overholser Opera House, became the Orpheum after a 1921 renovation, and was acquired by Warner Brothers in 1928. Its original seating of about 2,400 dropped to about 2,000 after the Warner changeover, and fell further when it was remodeled in the mid-1950s as the city's first Cinerama theater.

The theater closed in 1964. The source does not give a demolition date, but says the site is now part of the Center City parking garage and lot. The Retro Metro writer notes that internet sources disagree on when the Cinerama renovation happened.

What's There Now

The site is part of the Center City parking garage and lot.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

The house began with about 2,400 seats.
It was Oklahoma City's first Cinerama theater, though the exact renovation year is disputed.
Warner Brothers acquired it in 1928.

Nearby history

Cooper Cinerama Theatre (Liberty Theatre)

19 N Robinson Ave · 32 m away
Opened as the Liberty in 1915, it became the Harber and then the Cooper, where Cinema Treasures says Cinerama and Cinemi

Globe Life Insurance offices

311 W Grand Ave · 60 m away
Globe Life Insurance Company bought the building in 1953 and kept offices there for 21 years.

Katz Drug Store

200 W Main St · 93 m away
In August 1958 Clara Luper led Black students to its lunch counter, and by the third day the counter served them.

John A. Brown's Department Store

213 W Main St · 98 m away
Oklahoma City's biggest downtown department store spread across a block of Main and Park, and was torn down for a Galler

Hales Building

201 W Main St · 122 m away
A 12-story bank building that owners fought to save for years was dynamited in 16 seconds, to clear a shopping Galleria

Biltmore Hotel

228 W Grand Ave · 128 m away
At 33 stories it was the tallest building in Oklahoma, and it was brought down with explosives in 1977, four years after

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Sourceshttps://www.retrometrookc.org/?p=24745