Family Movies at Family Prices
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Family Movies at Family Prices |
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| The Strand | Larry "Mr. Odeum" Purvis | Other Owners | Jerry and Cheryl | Frequently Asked Questions |
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This is an unofficial history of the our movie theater. It is based on
personal accounts and stories that we have collected. Please
e-mail us if you know of any inaccuracies, have pictures that you would like
to share, or if you have a story of your own.
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| The Strand Movie Theater | ||
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The original movie theater in Mount Vernon, called "The Strand" was
on 1st Street where the Fire Station is now located. It was destroyed in April, 1975 by a fire that started in an adjoining building. Several buildings were destroyed in addition to The Strand. |
Please e-mail a picture of The Strand that we put here. |
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| Larry "Mr. Odeum" Purvis | ||
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After The Strand was gone, Larry Purvis began efforts to build a
smaller movie theater. He purchased a house on the corner of 2nd Street and
2nd Avenue for his new theater. After demolishing the old home, Schoff
Construction Company of Lisbon began construction of the new movie theater. During construction, Larry wanted a new, unique name for the theater. As the building neared completion, the structural columns reminded him of Greek temples and gave him the inspiration for the new name: The Odeum. As a result, the building was painted grey with white columns to reflect the new name. The theater opened its doors on December 5, 1975 with The Towering Inferno. Larry owned and operated The Odeum over the next 20 years and became known as "Mr. Odeum". The theater originally had a center isle and an enclosed "Mini Odi" for older, noisy teens to congregate in. Larry installed a door in the projection room so that he could sit on top of the Mini Odi and watch the movie. This was later named "The Director's Chair". Larry was forced to sell the theater when his knees made it difficult to get up and down the projection room stairs. The projector required two or three trips up and down the stairs for every show to thread the projector, start the projector, and stop the projector. Larry still lives in Mount Vernon and visits us several times per year.
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| Other Owners | ||
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The movie theater was owned and operated by several individuals during the
next six years. Valerie LeMasters held a contest and renamed the theater
The Bijou. It was closed for about one year in 1998 until Dr. Deb George purchased and reopened it in 1999. During the next two years, she leased the theater to Chris Helgens, then Tony Pirani who continued to work on improving the theater and keep it open. Tony, a student at Cornell College, graduated in 2002 and left to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Iowa.
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Please e-mail us if you have a picture previous owners that you want to share. |
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| Jerry and Cheryl Sheehy | ||
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Jerry and Cheryl learned that Tony was leaving and approached Dr. George
about running the movie theater. Dr. George approved of our plans and gave
us a one-year lease. During the summer of 2002, we stripped the peeling grey
and white paint from most of the building and painted it a brick-like terra
cotta color to make it stand out more. Tony patiently trained us during the
six weeks leading up to his departure. During this time, we also signed
contracts with the 8 largest movie studios and set up accounts with vendors
such as The Sun Newspaper, Pepsi, and Alliant Energy.
On the evening of Thursday, August 1, 2002, we met Tony after his final show, Star Wars II-Attack of the Clones. He gave us the keys and a hearty "Good Luck". Our first official show was Men in Black II on August 2, 2002 at 7 p.m. During the next several weeks, we continued to learn how to run a movie theater. During our second week of running the theater, the projector lamp would not light due to an electrical component failure. Unfortunately, this component, known as an exciter, cost nearly $1,000 to replace. Fortunately our new friends at Midwest Cinema Supply in Des Moines were able to locate and ship one to us before our next show. In addition to an exciter, we have also had to unexpectedly purchase a new projector lamp ($500) and a new furnace ($1,500). We have also made several upgrades to the theater including adding cup holders to the chairs, hanging curtains in the auditorium, painting the auditorium floor, and installing a new back counter in the lobby. In the future, we hope to complete our lobby and auditorium renovation. We also hope to build a facade and install a marquee on the front of the building to help The Bijou look more like a movie theater.
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| Frequently Asked Questions | ||
| How do you pick which movies to show? |
We look at trade publications like Boxoffice Magazine and studio web sites.
Cheryl then picks which movies that she feels that our loyal customers want
to see or asked about.
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| How do you get the movies delivered? |
We have contracts with 10 movie studios or their distributors. We contact
each individually and negotiate for show dates and terms. We usually have to
forward a cash advance before they ship the movie to us. Movies still arrive
on 20-minute reels. Movies are usually shipped from a depot in Des Moines or
we pick the movie up from another theater.
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| How much does it cost to show a movie? |
We have to pay shipping to and from the depot, movie posters, newspaper
advertising, and a percentage of the box office tickets. The percentage
usually runs between 35% to 80% depending on the movie.
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| When are you going digital? |
Probably within the next five to ten years. This depends a lot on how
quickly the cost of the equipment decreases. The current conversion cost is
approximately $100,000. Our current projection equipment is running fine
(knock on wood) and should last at least 10 more years.
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