Avalon Theater, Grand Junction, Colorado Cooper Theater 1923 39.066989 -108.561491 645 Main Street Grand Junction Mesa Colorado USA https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Avalon+Theatre/@39.0670056,-108.5636792,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x87471c670bf4f8a3:0x3 Google Map link for Avalon Theater, Grand Junction, Colorado According to local historian, professor Don MacKendrick, the Avalon Theater was the brainchild of Daily Sentinel publisher Walter Walker. The Park Opera Theater had closed in the preceding years, and the Majestic Theater had abandoned live acts in favor of moving pictures. Walker envisioned a theater where live acts could play year round. He formed a board for the construction of a theater with local businessmen Clyde Biggs and William Moyer. The buildings and land on Main Street at the southwest corner of 7th Street were purchased. The buildings, which had been there since the founding of the town (according to MacKendrick), were torn down and the new theater built in 1923. The building accommodated around 2,000 people. It followed Walker's vision of booking acts for a year out at a time, so that people had advanced notice of when certain acts were coming. It was the sight of many community events, including fundraisers for the Soup Eaters, the Grand Junction Lions Club Carnival, and a cooking school. It also hosted vaudeville and movies in the early Twentieth century. Here is a description of the Avalon from MacKendrick: “The success of the Avalon in its hay-day was largely the result of Walter Walker’s efforts. He, apparently, plunged considerable money into the project, served without pay as a general manager, probably lost a lot of money in the operation. But the company went to extremes to, each year, declare a dividend. On a couple of occasions when there was no profit, they borrowed money to declare a dividend so that the public would think that the Avalon was a roaring success. Which it was, from the standpoint of providing first class entertainment in the community. But, from a financial standpoint, it apparently struggled from the very beginning. By the 1930s, the financial picture became even bleaker, thanks to the Depression and the company was forced to lease the Avalon and then to sell it to a movie chain. The theater was rechristened the Cooper and, of course, still stands.” According to Josephine (Taylor) Dickey, the theater had a segregated section upstairs for the seating of African Americans, separately from white people, that was referred to as "Negro Heaven". According to Richard “Dick” Williams, a drummer with local bands in the 1930’s, the house orchestra at the Avalon generally consisted of Howard English, who played piano, and a violin player, Glen Schroeder. When big acts toured, the house orchestra would be augmented by a clarinetist, Tabby Roberts, a baritone sax player, Mr. Peterson from the Daily Sentinel’s print shop, and Johnny Cameron, a drummer who had stage experience in Chicago and New York. The building was known for many years as the Cooper Theater, and showed movies. It returned to its original moniker in the 1990's and underwent a large remodel. It now caters to local events and hosts local and national acts. *Public domain photograph by unattributed author. yes yes