West Theatre continues to make memories

Jeremy Stewart
Chief Staff Writer

On a side street in Cedartown, Georgia, is a place where people have come for over 60 years to experience the magic of the movies.

O.C. Lam, then president of the Lam Amusement Company, opened the West Theatre on August 15, 1941, with help from the Cedartown Federated Clubs. The opening feature was the movie Three Sons o' Guns.

A full-page advertisement in the August 14 Cedartown Standard called the building ï¿½As modern as tomorrow to meet the needs of a growing city.ï¿½

Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents for afternoon showings to 30 cents for night showings. Children's tickets were always 10 cents.

The theatre featured 1,045 ï¿½all-steel, ultra-comfortable seatsï¿½ and air conditioning ï¿½with a change of air every minute and a half.ï¿½

The theatre, located at 112 West Avenue, was not named for its position but rather for A.G. West, a local industrialist, who owned a foundry and large house in the town.

Kenneth Browning, current owner of the West Theatre, came into the property through his fatherï¿½in-law, who had worked at the theatre since its opening in 1941.

When the building came up for sale in 1977, he and his father-in-law purchased it together. When his father-in-law became ill in 1983, Browning bought his half. His father-in-law passed away in 1984.

Built in the style of Art Deco, the outside of the West Theatre is reminiscent of Greek architectural design and includes relief sculptures and tile patterns.

Inside, visitors find themselves illuminated by hanging chandeliers in the lobby, where movie cards from the fifties and sixties adorn the walls.

Originally, one screen occupied the entire building.

In 1984, Browning decided to turn the one auditorium into two and split the theatre down the middle. Other than this, along with the lowering of the auditorium ceiling, nothing else has been changed.

As moviegoers walk towards the movie hall, a small, rectangular room, occupied by a small display, is the last stop before entering the seating area.

One's first assumption would be that it is simply an extension of the lobby, but not so.

During the early days of the theatre, movies ran during the daytime as well as in the evening. When people came in from the bright sun, they had to let their eyes adjust to the darkness of the auditorium.

The wall of the small room that faces into the theatre itself was once a series of windows.

Moviegoers would buy their ticket, come in and stand in front of the windows until their eyes allowed them to see in the dim light.

In 1990 Browning received the Georgia Trust Award for the refurbishment of a historical building, an achievement he is very proud of.

ï¿½For half the people in Cedartown, this is where they met their wives,ï¿½ Browning said, including himself in the group.

Married couples come from all parts of the country, including California and Texas, to visit the place where their love began.

Romance is not the only recollection that the theatre triggers; sometimes it can remind a person of his or her first job.

On a trip to Washington, D.C., in 1993, Browning and his wife went to former Sen. Sam Nunn's office in the Capitol.

Browning then found out, through conversation, that the senator's secretary had sold tickets at the theatre during the fifties.

In a similar instance, Browning saw a postcard-like gift certificate with the front of the theatre on it in the office of a woman in a high-rise building in downtown Atlanta.

Browning noted, ï¿½You know, you run into people like that all the time.ï¿½

The present status of the kids that have helped out at the theatre over the years is the thing that Browning finds most interesting.

Those who have started at the theatre working behind the concession stand have gone on the become teachers, pharmacists and doctors.

In fact, Browning said that he and his wife are planning a reunion for everybody who has worked at the theatre.

After refurbishing the outside in 2001, Browning is planning to repaint the lobby and possibly pull up the carpet and expose the original green, yellow and cream tile floor.

Browning has gotten many offers to sell the building but abandons the thought at the last minute.

ï¿½You just sort of grow attached to it,ï¿½ he said. ï¿½The age, the way it was built back then, the high domed ceilings. There are just not any more of them.ï¿½

Other old movie theaters in the area (like the Desosto theatre in downtown Rome) have been bought by their respective cities and turned into stage theaters in order to show plays.

Browning summed up the theatre in one word.

ï¿½Wonderful. It's just a wonderful piece of property. We enjoy running it. I'm just gonna try to keep it for a while,ï¿½ he said.

And as long as he does, memories will continue to be made.

Editor's note: Special thanks to the Polk County Historical Society for all their help with the research for this article.