Wilma Theatre, Missoula, MT (4)
**Wilma Theatre** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 79001407, date listed 19791231
104 S. Higgins Ave.
Missoula,MT (Missoula County)
Constructed in 1921 as the HANSON SIMONS BUILDING is of fireproof construction throughout. Built in the spirit of the Alder and Sullivan auditorium in Chicago the building is eight stories tall with a mezzanine and full basement below. The original design included the theatre, and enclosed swimming pool and gymnasium, restaurant, barber shop, two stores, fifty offices and twelve apartments.
Proclaimed tpr be the finest and most beautiful theatre, between the twin cities and the west coast, Wilma Theatre opened May 11, 1921 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and has continued this excellence by playing to numerous New York stage, and Metropolitan Opera shows and such notables as Will Rogers, John Phillip Sousa, Ethel Barrymore, Marian Anderson, Carlos Montoya, Mahalia Jackson, Jan Peerce, Ferrante and teicher and countless others.
The Wilma was built by William A. "Billy" Simons, an early western entrepreneur who once produced a wild west show, featuring hundreds of cowboys, indians, etc, built several theatres during the Alaskan gold rush days as well as theatres in Oregon and Idaho. He has employed such notables as A.G. Barnes, an early circus promoter and Alexander Pantages, founder of the famous Pantages vaudeville circuit. In Missoula, Simons built the first electric light plant, the original Missoula Drug Company, and with Major Smead, the town's most ambitious business block, the Smead-Simons building which contains the Wilma Theatre. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/79001407.pdf
Wilma Theatre, Missoula, MT (4)
**Wilma Theatre** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 79001407, date listed 19791231
104 S. Higgins Ave.
Missoula,MT (Missoula County)
Constructed in 1921 as the HANSON SIMONS BUILDING is of fireproof construction throughout. Built in the spirit of the Alder and Sullivan auditorium in Chicago the building is eight stories tall with a mezzanine and full basement below. The original design included the theatre, and enclosed swimming pool and gymnasium, restaurant, barber shop, two stores, fifty offices and twelve apartments.
Proclaimed tpr be the finest and most beautiful theatre, between the twin cities and the west coast, Wilma Theatre opened May 11, 1921 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and has continued this excellence by playing to numerous New York stage, and Metropolitan Opera shows and such notables as Will Rogers, John Phillip Sousa, Ethel Barrymore, Marian Anderson, Carlos Montoya, Mahalia Jackson, Jan Peerce, Ferrante and teicher and countless others.
The Wilma was built by William A. "Billy" Simons, an early western entrepreneur who once produced a wild west show, featuring hundreds of cowboys, indians, etc, built several theatres during the Alaskan gold rush days as well as theatres in Oregon and Idaho. He has employed such notables as A.G. Barnes, an early circus promoter and Alexander Pantages, founder of the famous Pantages vaudeville circuit. In Missoula, Simons built the first electric light plant, the original Missoula Drug Company, and with Major Smead, the town's most ambitious business block, the Smead-Simons building which contains the Wilma Theatre. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/79001407.pdf