Continued...
The airconditioning room, that is what it is, a room,
was created by using piping with little sprinklers with
a catch pan. Air is sucked in through a vent and blown
over the sprays of water which is then pumped into the
theatre with another blower.
William Blakesly was the one of the first wave of Californian's
to come into Lander for hunting and fishing and decided
to stay awhile. He saw the chance to start a business.
The old TJ Bossert buidling across the street from the
now Grand Theatre, was the original Grand. It hosted stage
shows with an occasional black and white film. Stage shows
were the first theatre entertainment since movies were
just coming into their own. He bought the old Grand, and
then bought the land across the street when the old Wyoming
Hotel burned down.
William Blakesly was not greeted warmly by Lander Society
as evidenced by the local newspaper. When the new Grand
Theatre was built and opened, the local paper was strangely
quiet about it. No articles can be found, except where
Mr. Blakesly applied for a building permit. But the Riverton
paper was more open minded and a few pictures of the new
Lander theatre appear there.
The local Lander High School performed many Senior plays
there as evidenced by the graffitti still on the large
airconditioning ducts. In fact, the stage and storage
rooms underneath the theatre stage sport many generations
of graffitti that are allowed to remain due to their historical
value.
The Grand, because of it's solid concrete construction,
acts like a large cave. It remains a constant cool 65
degrees, except in the winter, when that dips a little
on a night that runs below 0. It continues to be heated
by steam heat due to the need for the humidity for the
movie screen. Because they did not have the sound systems
back then that we do now, the Grand has an awesome acoustic
ability. Any sound from the orchestra pit can be heard
distinctly in the balcony.
The Grand has been kept as original as possible. The ceiling
has not been repainted due to the artwork by a local Shoshone
artist. We have never been able to get his name, but he
was contracted to do the paintings on the sound boards
between the antique lead glass lights in the auditorium.
Due to age and water damage those are now covered in sound
fold. But his native patterns remain on the ceiling and
can be viewed best in the balcony.
The Grand theatre is unique in its building for several
reasons. It's front was designed in the Californian Mission
Style archway, while sporting two business fronts that
have faithfully through the years provided income in time
when movies or plays were not doing as well. In the back
of the building it can be seen that it has a raised back.
This was due to Blakesly genius. He knew that movies eventually
would be the thing. So to hedge his financial bet, he
built the Grand so that the movie screen and stage drops
could be raised up into that part of the building, leaving
the stage free.
The stage is still in place, but now a stationary screen
stands on it with Voice of the Theatre speakers standing
tall behind it. The Projector booth still contains one
of the original Simplex projectors which has been converted
down the years and is still in use. The Balcony is currently
under construction and will be offering the finest seating
in the theatre with love seats. Additional charges will
apply for this preferential seating.
There are many more unusual stories about the Grand including
a bee invasion, bat skirmishes and the occasional ghost
story. For any more information or questions please contact
us.
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