St. Cloud Movie Theatres Revisited: Eastman and Hays Theatres
WJON is taking a look at former St. Cloud movie theaters. I am joined by Steve Penick and John Decker from the Stearns History Museum. The Eastman Theater was located at 21 2nd street south in St. Cloud. It opened in 1940, had seating of 464, it closed in 1967 and was since demolished. Penick and Decker say the Eastman Theater did just movies in their 27 years of operation. The Eastman Theater was operated by Minnesota Amusement Company. The Eastman Theater is pictured above.
The Hays Theater originally opened on December 8th of 1913 as the Starland Theatre before changing its name to the Nemec Theatre and later was renamed United Capitol Theatre and then People’s Theatre. It became the Hays Theatre in 1945 with seating capacity listed as 820 with one screen. The Hays was operated by the Minnesota Amusement Company and by ABC in the 1960s before being operated by Plitt Theatres until its closing. The building was demolished in 1977 to make way for the St. Cloud Library. The Rivers Edge Convention Center is now in that location in downtown St. Cloud. The Hays address was 411 West St. Germain Street.
If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Steve Penick and John Decker from the Stearns History Museum it is available below.