RCA theater amps

[TC Chris]

Back in my home town, Bay City, they are getting ready to tear down the Empire Theater. When I was a kid, it was the city's biggest, newest, and best movie house. It was part of a complex that included a bowling alley, "show bar," and restaurant. Eventually, as we all know, big movie theaters were difficult to fill, and were replaced by the little mall multi-screen complexes. The Empire closed and sat empty until a local entrepreneur bought it and converted it into the "Prime Event Center." "Prime" as a name allowed him to rearrange the Empire marquee letters.

On Sunday as I was driving the Chevy back to the garage, top down in classic convertible-cruising style, I circled past the Empire to see if they had started demolition (just a token hole in a wall). Years ago, when I was maybe 17, so that was 60 years ago, Dad's next-door neighbor at his office was the projectionist at the Empire. One night he let us into the projection booth to see how it operated. It was very modern and large, unlike the cramped older ones I had been in. But what caught my attention was a large vertical rack of 6 or 8 big RCA tube audio amplifiers for the theater's fancy multi-channel sound system. I have always wondered if they were still sitting there, abandoned. Now the demolition required action: I'd hate to wonder forever whether they had been crushed in the demo and hauled to the landfill when a phone call might have rescued them. So today I called the demolition company. Yes, they are doing the destruction for the current owner. No, the projection booth holds no equipment; it had been emptied and converted to offices. So at least I know.

But now I wonder what happened to those big RCA amps when they cleared them out.

Chris Campbell

[William]

I hate to say it, Chris, but they probably went to the scrap metal yard along with everything else that was removable metal.

Bill

[TC Chris]

The company that first owned the place, post-theater, is not known for extravagance. So yeah, they may have been scrapped out along with the cool big arc projectors and their power supplies, or maybe they got stashed in one of the company's many local properties. The latter thought came to me after chatting with the demo guy, son of that owner. I have in mind calling again and asking if they've got 'em stashed.

Chris Campbell

[hermitcrab]

Last time I watched a movie there ... I was laughing through the exorcist , while women were being carried out from fainting at the graphic content...