Lyric Theatre
Downtown Kalamazoo Theater (1912-1924)
South side of East Main Street (now East Michigan Avenue), east of Burdick Street (112 East Main Street, next door west of “The Hub” restaurant).
Opened and operated as a film theater from 11 May 1912 until 1 June 1924.
Postcard view of E. Main St. (Michigan Ave.) looking west, c.1910. Lyric Theater site circled. Private collection
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, 1908. Local History Room
Established in January 1912 by Louis C. Barnes, then owner and manager of the Gem Theater and part owner and manager of the Orpheum Theater. Barnes claimed the Lyric would be “the most complete and most beautiful moving picture house in Michigan, with the possibility of making it a 10-cent vaudeville theater in addition” (Gazette).
Floor-plans for this site are not available, but would generally be similar to the New Theater on West Main Street. Rockwell A. LeRoy was the architect. W.M. Houtcamp Company was awarded the contract for “decorating” the theater.
“The Lyric is without doubt one of the finest and most artistic picture houses in the middle west. It represents and expenditure of between $12,000 and $15,000 and embodies everything that is up-to-date and attractive in the way of a moving picture theater. The interior decorations are rich and elaborate and the lighting effects are as near perfect as it is possible to make them.
The theater will seat 300 persons and the seats are as fine as those in any theater in Kalamazoo. There is a wide middle aisle and four fire exits, making the house ideal from the standpoint of fire protection, as it can be emptied in less than a minute.
The front extends two stories in height and is said to be the handsomest of any in Michigan, being decidedly ornate, showy and artistic. The burnt ivory effect is employed, all the decorative work and figures being done in that soft, pleasing color.”
—Kalamazoo Gazette, 10 May 1912
Operated by Kalamazoo Amusement Company; L.C. Barnes, Managers and Proprietors (Proprietors of Elite, Lyric, Orpheum, and Colonial theaters.). Seating was claimed to be nearly 300 including the balcony.
Expanded in 1934 as the Michigan Theater, seating was claimed at 615.
Sources
Information originally compiled in 1995 by J.P. Jenks. Additional information was later added by library staff. Information compiled from Kalamazoo City Directory listings, details obtained in researching newspaper reports published at the time by the Kalamazoo Gazette and Kalamazoo Telegraph Press, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, Kalamazoo County Warranty Deeds and numerous other sources.
Updated March 2019.
Additional Resources
Books
A history of theater in Kalamazoo
Pixley, Jorge V., 1958
H 792 P694
Theater in Kalamazoo from 1860–1890
Johns, Marion, 1955
H 792 J65
Articles
“Lyric picture theater on East Main will cost $10,000; elegant house”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 30 January 1912, p.8
“Theater man predicts two more vaudeville houses for Kalamazoo”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 31 January 1912, p.6
“Begin work on new theater next”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 14 February 1912, p.4
“New Lyric Theater to open tomorrow”
Kalamazoo Gazette, 10 May 1912, p.3
Local History Room Files
Subject File: Theater