The Plaza Theatre opened its doors to the public September 12, 1930 here in El Paso. The capacity crowd was 2,410 people total to the first movie which was “Follow Through.” The Plaza would play newscasts, cartoons, episodes and the movies. At the plaza they also preformed plays, musicals and performances. The Plaza was known as the largest theatre of its kind from Dallas to Los Angeles giving it the nickname of “The Showplace of the Southwest.” Bringing in people, entertainment and a large mark on todays history.
February of 1927 Mr. Louis L. Dent had purchased a piece of land on Pioneer Plaza in downtown El Paso. He had told the El Paso Times that he planned on doing something that would benefit El Paso. “El Paso has been good to me, and I am going to put something everybody will be proud of,” said Louis Dent. In 1929 the construction of the Plaza Theatre had begun.
The architecture of the plaza is a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival type style, which was built by H.T. Ponsford & Sons and designed by W. Scott Dunne. The Plaza Theatre includes many unique features and designs like its sophisticated painted ceilings, mosaic tile flooring, metal railings with elegant designs, antique furniture, and how the Plaza is based to look like a Spanish mission parapet. From this décor it got its nickname of “The Showplace of the Southwest.”
A sight to see and listen to at the Plaza is the $60,000 Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, which is one off the only six in the world. The organ plays before and after movies or plays to entertain you while in your seat or exiting the theatre. The organ can play sounds such as birds whistling, ocean waves, and clicking of horse hooves. They later started playing a live sort of projection show before every movie, which included animals from El Paso, storm clouds, stars, and sunsets while the organ would play.
In the 1970’s the Plaza Theatre was sold along with its organ and lots of the artwork. In 1972 they sold the organ to a collector in Dallas but luckily Karl O. Wyler bought it back and returned it to the Plaza. Later the Plaza was saved from demolition by the Dipp Family in 1973 bringing it back to show movies and more.
Sadly again in 1986 El Paso wanted to take down the Plaza Theatre to build a large parking lot but the El Paso Community Foundation decided to raise one million dollars under the deadline of six weeks to save it from being destroyed. They met the deadline and saved the Plaza from forever being gone. Rita Moreno a famous actress had also donated money to save the plaza a day before the deadline. Gathering enough money to save the Plaza was a big frontier for the El Paso Community Foundation but they overcame it and saved the Plaza.
Now the Plaza Theatre has the worldwide title of the “Worlds Largest Classic Film Festival.” In the late summer time in around august and september the Plaza has a film festival showing classic films that many people enjoy. I have gone every year for the past 7 years of my life. It has been a memorable thing to do that I enjoy doing with my family.
The Plaza Theatre has had a great impact on El Paso from bringing a landmark and title to El Paso, making it a must for tourists and overcoming all the frontiers that has made become what it is today.