This is the 4th article I've
written on the Alpine Theater. Since I spent
hundreds of hours in that old theater, growing up in Alderson, no
wonder I'm so attached to it. I've always wanted
some photos to add to the text, and in the 20
years I've been searching, a couple have
recently come to the surface.
The photo below is not the
Alpine Theater in Alderson. However, the Alpine
company built several theaters in the same style
similar to the C & O, who built railroad stations
by the same plan. This photo is the Alpine in
Ripley, W. V. before it was restored. As you can
see it has the same
hanging marquee, the double doors on each side of the
ticket booth, and the coming attractions poster
housings on each side of the building. Sure
looks like our old Alpine theater to me.
But, we need to go back to the beginning. Below is
a photo of our
theater in Alderson that was built by Andrew S. Russell. Mr. Russell
came to Alderson in 1914 and started his theater business. Whether
he built his theater right away is not known. The top floor old F.
G. Lobban building was built in 1880 and was used for town hall
meeting and other parts
were used for the town's various lodge meetings. For years the Town
Hall was also used as a movie house. It stands to reason, there was
a place to show movies until Mr. Russell until he built his theater.
Mr. Russell was very successful with his theater
showing high class family films. He also built a successful business
that had clothes, shoes and other associated items. His reputation
was that of a capable business man of good judgment and integrity
and he was held in confidence by the people of his adopted
community.
In 1943, the Russells sold the
theater to the Alpine Theater Circuit and they remodeled the front
the same way in the first picture. Probably the way most of us
remember it.
Below is the theater the way it
is today. I understand they use it for storage now. Some statistics:
It had a stage and one screen. Behind the screen was a large Altec
speaker system which had a 15' woofer and a horn tweeter. This
speaker was called "The Voice of the Theater", and was found in
many, many theaters.
The room had 338 seats and a balcony, where before integration, African Americans sat.
The projection booth was also on the balcony in an enclose room,
which had two projectors. Remember the 3-D movies?
The photo below is the one in
Ripley after it was fully restored. Today it is showing movies and
has live performances.
