#TBT: Ayers Theater entertained Corpus Christi moviegoers for 40 years
For many, movie theaters hold a lot of nostalgia. Sitting in the darkened room, box of popcorn in one hand, lights flickering across the screen as you are transported to a different world for about 90 minutes.
Reader Hector Torres contacted me recently to share his memories of Ayers Theater, one of the many United Artists theaters in the city.
“I feel that the Ayers Theater should have been institutionalized because of how special it was for the youth of the time,” Torres wrote. “It was the only theater that showed mostly Walt Disney movies. But it wasn't just the movie-watching experience that made the Ayers special, it was the fun-filled Saturdays.
“For the price of 35 cents, a kid would receive a full entertainment package. First, they were treated to a showing of some sort of series. Like the Space Cadet, the Lone Ranger, or Roy Rogers. Then there would be some sort of contest competition, bubble gum blowing, Hula-Hoop, and dancing to the Twist, Loco-motion, or the Mashed Potato. This was followed by a full-length color cartoon and then the main attraction.
“And on holidays, like say Halloween, there was a showing of some scary movie and in the process a live scary event in the theater that would scare not only the kids but the adults too. Just so much fun!”
Ayers Theater, known as Ayers Theatre when it first opened, was part of the United Artists chain of theaters operated by Bruce Collins Sr. of Corpus Christi Theatres Inc. The company also operated the Ritz, Centre, Palace, Beach, Grande, Melba, Port, Tower and Amusu theaters around the city.
Ayers, called a suburban theater because it was nestled in a neighborhood shopping center surrounded by “acres of parking space,” opened Sept. 1, 1947, with a showing of “Miracle on 34th Street.” The 900-seat theater boasted of its top-quality sound system, luxurious seating and the most modern Westinghouse Refrigeration and Heating system.
The theater was a hub of community activities, not just showing movies but also hosting events like cooking schools and “Tom Thumb” pet parades.
“There are so many wonderful memories about the Ayers that makes it priceless. A gem in time,” said Torres. Torres went from theater patron to employee in 1968.
The theater eventually went the way of many other small movie houses. United Artists closed two theaters, Ayers Theater and Centre Theatre downtown, in the fall of 1988. Cine West on Leopard Street also closed two weeks before Centre and Ayers. All three theaters operated as “dollar cinemas,” showing second-run films. Cine West had two screens, and Centre and Ayers only had one screen apiece; smaller theaters couldn’t survive as the large multiplexes began popping up. Ayers Theater closed Sept. 5, 1988, with one final showing of “Willow.”
At the time of the closing, employees and nearby residents lamented the loss of the small theaters. They attracted mainly older residents who lived nearby.
"A lot of these people have been riding buses in from the Westside for years," Westside Business Association President Oscar Flores told the Caller-Times in an Aug. 23, 1988, interview. "A lot of people are just going to suffer and not go to the theater anymore."
But Ayers Theater didn’t sit empty for many years. In 1990, the congregation of Solid Rock Worship Center and Rev. Steve Coronado Sr. purchased the empty theater along with a defunct plasma donation center and bingo hall at Ayers and Tarlton streets. The congregation still uses the original location along with an expanded campus on Yorktown Boulevard, but old-timers will always remember Ayers Theater.
“For me, the Ayers was extra special,” Torres reminisced. “Because I not only got to experience it as a paid spectator, but as a worker too.”
Allison Ehrlich writes about things to do in South Texas and has a weekly Throwback Thursday column on local history.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: #TBT: Ayers Theater entertained Corpus Christi moviegoers for 40 years
