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Show NPS Form 10- 900a (Rev. 8-86) Utah Word Processor Format (02741) Approved 10/87 0MB Ho. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section number __8___ Page ___3___ Casino Theatre, Sanpete County, Utah best operating in Southern Utah. The name of the theatre is to be changed to "Star Theatre," and in front of the building will be a large neon sign. 7 Because of the physical alterations to the building and the change in name that took place in 1936, that date is used as the ending date for the period of significance. The theatre was operated by Cyrill E. Andersen and his family from 1941 until 1974. Mr. Andersen continued full-week operation of the movie business until the mid-1950s . After that time the movie operation was reduced to three or four nights a week. After the death of Mr. Andersen, the theatre was closed down completely for some time. In April 1974 the Andersen children sold the theatre to Max Curt is of Aurora, Utah. The Curtises opened with part-week movie schedules, which they maintained until selling the theatre to Ernest M. and Dawn S. Larson in December, 1981. The Larsons have tried full-week movie scheduling but now run it only three nights per week. The Casino Theatre is one of a number of distinctively styled theatres constructed in Utah cities during the 1910s and ' 20s . Though the statewide context on theatres is not fully developed, field observations indicate that theatres were usually among the most elaborate examples of architecture in their communities. This is true for small towns like Gunnison as well as large cities. Examples include the Empress Theatre in Magna (1917, National Register 1985), the Egyptian Theatre in Ogden (1924, Natl. Reg. 1978), and the Orpheum (1905, determined eligible 1982) and Capitol (1912-13, National Register 1976) theatres in Salt Lake City. January 10, 1913, p. 1. 2lbid_. , May 2, 1913, p. 1. 3 Ibid .' . July 23, 1915, p. 1. 4 The construction date of the rear addition is based on mortgages taken out in November 1918 ($10,500) and June 1919 ($5,500). It is also verified by Paul Julius Duggins, grandson of Sims M. Duggins, who recalls watching the construction as a child of 5 or 6 years old. He was born in 1913. 5 "Prominent Citizen Dies Following Brief Illness,*' Gunnison^ Va1 1 ley News , January 5, 1928, p. 1. 6 A Mr. Johansen built a "house for entertainment" in Gunnison in 1896. See These Our^ gathers^ A jCg^jienr^^ (Sanpete County, Utah: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1947), p. 158. It was apparently the same facility that was listed as an opera house in Utah^State^ Gazetteer up until 1912-13. July 23, 1936, p. 1. |
