Where the Tower Theatre Stood Tall

Landmarks At 2200 Block of Kearney Street Helped Shape Park Hill

By Phil Goodstein

As Park Hill boomed after World War I, the demand for neighborhood retail increased. Neighbors, working with city hall and real estate investors, recognized this in 1926 when they agreed the 2200 block of Kearney Street was ideally posed for small stores, and got it zoned for that purpose.

At this time, the land was near the far eastern edge of the neighborhood. Seeing a demand for their services, soon a number of groceries and pharmacies emerged near 22nd Avenue and Kearney Street. The early 1930s saw the addition of a couple of neo-Tudor apartment houses at 2221 and 2233 Kearney St. Filling stations were soon part of the mix at the corner of 23rd Avenue, including a body shop.

Development continued following World War II. No attraction pulled more people to the block than the neighborhood cinema, the Tower Theatre at 2245 Kearney St. BMP Building Company developed it at the cost of $58,000 in 1949 as a one-story hall, lacking a basement and balcony.

Matinees and Candy Land

BMP was the name of the partnership of Ray S. Briggs and Pat McGee. The former was close to the empire of Atlas Theatre Corporation, the operator of a wide variety of neighborhood cinemas around Colorado. The Art Neon Company, a firm owned by the head of Atlas Theatre, Charles U. Yaeger, put up the Tower’s sign, a modernistic tower.

The Tower emphasized its high-quality color projector and white platinum screen. A Wurlitzer organ filled the auditorium with music. So infants would not disturb performances, there was a glassed room where parents could view the movies with their small children.

Through the 1950s, the Tower was a second-run theater, showing films that had premiered a few weeks earlier downtown.

Saturday afternoon children’s matinees were especially popular. Some attending them sneaked into the house along the side exits. Having done so, after the show they spent their 25 cents, the admission charge, across the street at Candy Land, 2206 Kearney St.

Youngsters patronizing the store called its owner, Elmira Trauer, the “Candy Lady.” She seemingly appeared out of nowhere as soon as they entered the store, glaring at them through her bifocals until they left. If they got her in the right mood, she offered them a special “Guess What?” bag that had a wide variety of unusual goodies.

Trauer closed the store in the late 1960s, retiring to Kansas, where she died at age 87 in 1986.

Where Buster got his chops

Not all succeeded in sneaking into the Tower. They needed to beware of Buster. This was the nickname for a ferocious usher, James H. Snider of 2353 Ash St.

Snider sought to take charge at the cinema, shining his flashlight everywhere. Included was spying on young couples making out during the movies. Soon he had numerous detractors who claimed that he looked like a cartoon character Buster.

Within a few years, Snider moved from the Tower Theatre to the Denver Police Department. As Buster Snider, he was long notorious as the officer who issued the most citations in the city – all while preying on young women who were unable to protect themselves from his sexual advances.

During the 1950s, the Tower impacted other businesses on the block of Kearney, including Tower Drugs, the Tower Beauty Salon, Tower Realty, Tower Barber Shop, and Tower Chef Restaurant. Some of these businesses were directly adjacent to the Tower Theatre in storefronts: The auditorium of the Tower was on the alley; the shops were directly east of it.

By 1961, McGee and Briggs operated McGee-Briggs Enterprises at 5425 Colfax Ave. They sold the Tower Theatre that November to Wolfberg Theatres. Besides running the Paramount Theatre downtown at 16th Street and Glenarm Place, the new owner oversaw numerous drive-ins around town.

Rowdies roaming the area

Wolfberg shut the Tower for remodeling. It reduced the cinema’s capacity from 911 to 750, providing patrons with more legroom. The renovated house reopened on New Year’s Eve 1961 as the Crest Theatre. Often it was the first neighborhood stop for Hollywood hits which had had their local premiers at the Paramount.

The Crest Theatre developed an excellent working relationship with the Park Hill Action Committee, the residential organization of southern Park Hill during the 1960s. The neighborhood group, a forerunner of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., had movie nights there as both fundraisers and social occasions.

Particularly popular during the late 1960s/early 1970s, were regular family movies at the Crest. The cinema gave the improvement organization the entire proceeds of the box office, keeping the concessions revenue. For a brief period, the Crest had bicycle giveaways as part of its promotions.

By the late 1970s, the Crest was suffering. Movie theaters everywhere were increasingly in the hands of a few gigantic national chains. The corporations emphasized multi-screen complexes, usually in or next to suburban shopping malls. The owners did not care to make the extra effort necessary for a place like the Crest to succeed.

As the theater became ever more dilapidated, the clientele for its evening shows changed from adults to teenagers. For a while, it welcomed the adolescents, lowering its prices. The teens took over the place to such an extent that adults preferred to go elsewhere.

Added to this were rowdies who roamed the area after the late show let out. A new manager stipulated the theater would not allow teenagers into the late show unless accompanied by an adult.

For a while, a police patrol escorted patrons out of the Crest after the last show. None of this worked. The cinema closed about 1982.

Reshaping Kearney Street

Soon thereafter, the Korean Full Gospel Church moved into the Crest space. The Korean Smyrna Presbyterian Church, previously at 50 S. Colorado Blvd., subsequently occupied what had been the Tower Theatre.

Shalom Evangelical was part of the latter operation, a private business operated by the Presbyterian Church USA. Congregants mostly lived outside the area and had little interaction with the rest of Park Hill.

The church moved out in early 2012, and the building has since been seemingly empty. Meanwhile, numerous businesses have reshaped the 2200 block of Kearney Street as it continues to be a prime Park Hill identity.

Phil Goodstein grew up in Park Hill and remembers patronizing the Tower Theatre and Candy Land. He will be giving a bicycle tour of the neighborhood, including the 2200 block of Kearney Street, on Sunday, June 21. See details below. Goodstein is also the author of the comprehensive history of the neighborhood, Park Hill Promise (Denver: New Social Publications, 2012).

Solstice Park Hill Bike Tour With Goodstein

How is it that there is a Spanish-Moorish house at 1585 Glencoe St.? What are the origins of the 17th Avenue, Monaco Street, and Forest Street parkways? Where and what is Downington? Where was the Crest Theatre? Which Denver mayors have been from Park Hill?

All these questions and many more will be answered on a two-hour bicycle tour of the neighborhood led by Phil Goodstein. The ride will be on the longest day of the year, Sunday, June 21, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Meet in front of Park Hill Elementary, at 19th Avenue between Elm and Fairfax streets. Cost is $10 per person. For more info, call 303-333–1095 or go to leonardleonard.com.