Celebrating The Avalon’s Centennial: "Its History Is Our History.”

Photos courtesy of The Avalon Theatre

The Early Years

On January 23, 1922, Walter Walker, the owner, editor and publisher of The Sentinel, conveyed a bold vision to his readership for an, as yet, unnamed theatre: “The new auditorium would handle the finest road shows, the big artists, concert companies, the big feature movies, conventions, chautauquas, big indoor athletic events, large banquets, private dances and other attractions and gatherings …” For a town that had not yet reached a population of 10,000, this was indeed a bold vision. When compared to roads, housing, rail lines, sanitation, schools, hospitals and water projects, the citizens of Grand Junction surely would not have listed a modern theatre house among the top 10 things missing in their lives!

Despite formidable odds, Walter Walker channeled his newspaper, his powers of persuasion, his passion for Grand Junction and a good bit of his ego into rallying investors — large and small — around his proposed project. By early February 1922, the Grand Junction Theatre Company was incorporated at a 1,000-share capitalization of $100,000, with Grand Junction businessman William Moyer named president and Walter Walker vice president and general manager. On January 5, 1923 — less than 11 months later — the Avalon Theatre had its grand opening featuring Lucy Gates, the “World Famous Singer” and the “Songbird of the West.” She hailed from St. George, Utah, had her vocal training in Germany and was the granddaughter of Brigham Young.

Those 11 months were wild ones, which included a big push to attract investors, the theft of bricks, a huge “name-that-theatre” contest (won by Kathryn Forrest), numerous labor disputes, supply chain issues, postponed grand opening dates and major league mudslinging.  Rumor-mongers said the balcony would collapse under the weight of its audience due to shoddy workmanship. Three weeks before the grand opening, Walter Walker took this bull by the horn and ordered workers to bring 97,900 pounds of sacked gravel to the balcony — twice the estimated maximum carrying weight. He invited the townsfolk to observe independent engineers as they measured for any signs of sagging.

The Avalon Theatre’s first years were glorious. National touring performances of hit theatrical productions, such as The Bat, Potash & Perlmutter and Bombo performed to sold-out audiences. Live Vaudeville shows were a twice-weekly occurrence. More than 300 silent films were shown during the Avalon’s first year, accompanied by the six-piece Avalon Orchestra led by Glenn Schrader. The Palisade Stage offered stagecoach service from the Avalon to residents in the Grand Valley’s hinterland. Among the “superstars” of the day who appeared on the Avalon’s stage in the early years were Al Jolson, John Philip Sousa, Ethel Barrymore, three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet Carl Sandburg.

The Avalon Theatre became the go-to venue for the Grand Valley and used for graduation ceremonies, civic club fundraisers and lectures of every type (including Captain Carl Akeley, the famous gorilla hunter!). In July 1923, Grand Junction High School performed The Bells of Beaujolais (with future Academy Award screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in the chorus!). In short, the Avalon Theatre became the very thing that Walter Walker had envisioned. However, the Roaring 20s abruptly ended with the infamous stock market crash of October 28, 1929, which ushered in a multi-year economic depression resulting in the failure of many banks and businesses, including the Avalon Theatre.

The market demand for live theatrical performances rapidly gave way to America’s love affair with motion pictures. The advent of “talkies" in 1927, combined with the fact that most people could barely afford a movie ticket costing a few cents, required the Avalon to pursue a different business model. Although the Avalon’s original investors were wiped out, the theatre itself survived intact and was leased to various companies, primarily to show films. From 1933 onward, it was leased to J.H. Cooper Co. and ultimately sold to the Cooper Foundation in 1943.

The Grand Valley’s philanthropic nature was very much on display at the Avalon Theatre during these years. In fact, the Soup Eaters Christmas was celebrated annually (1929 – 1939) at the Avalon Theatre and resulted in the Avalon’s stage being filled with piles of Christmas presents for the children of families struggling to survive the hard economic times.

The Cooper Years

The Avalon Theatre not only underwent a costly modernization, including the bricking-over of its original Romanesque Revival façade, but it reopened in 1947 under a new name, the Cooper Theater. The Cooper Theater fit the post-war period perfectly: sleek, modern and easily the hippest building on Main Street. For the next three decades, the Cooper became the place of first jobs, first dates, luxurious air-conditioning and where you would go to see the movie blockbusters of the day.

The five-phased Operation Foresight (1962-1963) was yet another bold vision realized by Grand Junction heroes, such as city manager Joe Lacy and businessmen Dale Hollingsworth, Jim Gormley and his son Pat Gormley. Operation Foresight played a critical role in the present-day Avalon Theatre. Grand Junction’s downtown was antiquated, dilapidated, flood-prone and shadeless. Operation Foresight transformed downtown Grand Junction into the gently-winding, tree-lined, beautiful Main Street that we know today. In 1965, famous radio broadcaster Paul Harvey put Grand Junction on the map by raving about its quaint, all-American Main Street. From that period onward, there was something endearing and deeply significant about Grand Junction’s downtown. The Cooper enjoyed its anchor position on Main Street for the next two decades, but by the 1980s, the Cooper’s one-theatre model was sadly rendered obsolete by the onset of multiplexes and shopping malls.

The Cooper tried valiantly to compete but eventually went dark in December 1989, just months after the Carmike 7 opened. By this time, the building that looked so sleek in 1947 had become an architectural eyesore on a Main Street struggling to compete against the Mesa Mall and numerous strip malls. The Cooper seemed destined for the wrecking ball.

The rooftop patio is a popular spot for live music and social gatherings.

The Avalon is Saved

Enter Pat Gormley (et al), who saw great potential in restoring the Avalon to its original glory. In 1991, Pat Gormley formed the Avalon Project, Inc., which later became the Avalon Theatre Foundation. The understandably reluctant City of GJ was cajoled into purchasing the Cooper in 1994. Numerous grassroots efforts funded by citizens, private businesses, the city and the Downtown Development Authority resulted in critical improvements — most importantly the restoration of the original Romanesque Revival façade and the reopening of the Avalon Theatre in 1996. The icing on the cake came in 1999, when the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra performed its first concert at the Avalon.

The Cornerstone Project, a $13.7 million undertaking completed in 2014, resulted in numerous upgrades.

While the Avalon Theatre continued to function admirably, there was no escaping the reality that it had no long-term future without a major, multi-million-dollar renovation. Enter the Cornerstone Project, a $13.7 million undertaking completed in 2014 that resulted in the beautiful Avalon Theatre that serves as the home of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra. It not only attracts big-named touring acts but also serves as the preferred venue for many local organizations and fundraisers. Our wonderful theatre is also the home of the biggest movie screen on the Western Slope and has recently hosted red carpet screenings of locally-filmed Dragon Soldiers and the award-winning documentary Buckin’ Bulls — the story of Ty Rinaldo.

What’s next for the Avalon Theatre? There were many key components of the Cornerstone Project that were “value-engineered” away due to limited funds: an expanded stage, an orchestra pit, dressing rooms, catering kitchen, freight elevator, etc. At the Avalon’s grand re-opening in 2014, Mayor Phyllis Norris recognized this and wrote, “This week’s grand re-opening is a celebration and presentation of the upgrades to date, but there is much more work to be done to complete the improvements to the theater and to work toward future expansion of the stage and additions to the back of the house.” During the past eight years, your Avalon Theatre Foundation, assisted by a generous matching program by the city of Grand Junction, has invested nearly $500,000 in capital improvements: the completion of the Encore Hall, the donor wall, a state-of-the art sound system, an outdoor digital marquee, portable spotlights, lighting monitors, shading sails for the rooftop terrace, LED lighting, improvements to backstage rigging, etc. 

Celebrating the Avalon’s First Hundred Years

The Avalon Theatre Foundation’s current focus is to take a pause in 2023 from funding capital improvements in order to celebrate the Avalon Theatre’s centennial and its cultural and historical role in the Grand Valley. And what a celebration it will be: two major to-be-named performances in January and November; a monthly film and lecture series featuring films that have played during each decade of the Avalon Theatre; collaborations with the GJSO and the Community Concerts of Western Colorado; the commissioning of a short film celebrating the Avalon Theatre and Halloween ghost tours of the Avalon. Whether it be from the stage, the seats or both, virtually everyone in the Grand Valley has special memories associated to the Avalon. While we celebrate its centennial, we should gratefully remember the thousands of people over the past 100 years who have supported, cared for, worked for, fought for, donated to and loved the Avalon Theatre. Its history is our history.

Originally published in the Winter 2022-23 issue of Spoke+Blossom.