History
Rocky Mountain Fire Insurance Building and Pantages Theater
By Brian Russell
The Rocky Mountain Fire Insurance Company building opened for business in August of 1914, paid for by the insurance company of the same name. Paris Gibson, founder and esteemed resident of Great Falls, was on the Board of Directors at the time. The total cost of the land and the building amounted to just under $190,000, equivalent to just over $4.3 million dollars today. It was generally known to be one of the “finest [buildings] in the state” at the time of its construction, as was evidenced by the fact that nearly all of the rentable space in the building was occupied less than six months after its opening. It was designed by chief architect George H. Shanley, a widely recognized Great Falls architect, and built by A.W. Miller construction in just under a year.
The building also housed a Pantages vaudeville theater, an impressive feat for a city the size of Great Falls. Indeed, Great Falls was not only the smallest city to boast a Pantages theater, but the only city in Montana where one was ever constructed. The Pantages Theater Circuit was the premier Vaudeville touring company west of the Mississippi; at its peak, it comprised nearly a hundred theaters across the country. Vaudevillian troupes would travel from theater to theater bringing fresh, high-class entertainment to theatergoers with musical performers, gymnastics, comedic monologues, and skits. Founder Alexander Pantages prided himself on hand selecting each act for the circuit. When Vaudeville acts were not being shown, the theater would host the latest ‘moving pictures’ of the day.
Due to the high-class nature of the Pantages Circuit acts, the theater was built to be the finest theater in Montana and equal to that of the Pantages Theaters of much larger cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. The theater’s exterior was designed in the Beaux-Arts Eclectic style, with the entrance being clad in ornate terra cotta. From the entrance, a large marquee hung over the sidewalk, with a large vertical sign bearing the theater’s name. The interior was handsomely appointed with modeled plasterwork and plush furnishings in the French Renaissance style. The theater itself seated 1,200 patrons, being distributed over both the main theater floor and a large balcony. The ceiling of the theater and stage front were particularly beautiful, as can be seen in the photographs attached. These photographs appear to be the only surviving images of the interior of the theater. The stage itself was sizeable at 30x70 feet, and was adorned with an ornate gold velvet stage curtain. The entire building was purported to be finished to the highest degree at great expense.
After Vaudevillian acts waned in popularity, the focus of the theater shifted to movies, and in 1924 it was renamed the Rainbow Theater. It was then operated largely as a movie house until 1935, when it was closed. This was the same year that perhaps the RMFIC Building’s most famous and enduring tenant moved in, Public Drug Co. The theater remained closed only for a few years, and was open again for business circa 1941 until 1964 when its doors were shut for the last time. The interior was not maintained properly, and soon the large balcony collapsed; this prompted the interior of the theater to be razed to make way for a parking garage ramp leading to the basement. The last vestiges of the theater’s former glory were destroyed in the 2009 fire, which completely gutted the building. The area which was the theater is now an empty shell.
Additional historic articles from the Great Falls Tribune Daily and the Great Falls Leader Daily can be found at GFTD 5 Oct 1913, 19 Apr 1914, 21 Apr 1914, 2 Aug 1914, 11 Aug 1914, 30 Jun 1915; GFLD 1 Aug 1914; GFLD 1 Aug 1914.
See also, “Great Falls Downtown Fire at Public Drug & Set Free Ministry” on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzqoG5Rl8ps (Courtesy of Austindesignsmontana)
By Brian Russell
The Rocky Mountain Fire Insurance Company building opened for business in August of 1914, paid for by the insurance company of the same name. Paris Gibson, founder and esteemed resident of Great Falls, was on the Board of Directors at the time. The total cost of the land and the building amounted to just under $190,000, equivalent to just over $4.3 million dollars today. It was generally known to be one of the “finest [buildings] in the state” at the time of its construction, as was evidenced by the fact that nearly all of the rentable space in the building was occupied less than six months after its opening. It was designed by chief architect George H. Shanley, a widely recognized Great Falls architect, and built by A.W. Miller construction in just under a year.
The building also housed a Pantages vaudeville theater, an impressive feat for a city the size of Great Falls. Indeed, Great Falls was not only the smallest city to boast a Pantages theater, but the only city in Montana where one was ever constructed. The Pantages Theater Circuit was the premier Vaudeville touring company west of the Mississippi; at its peak, it comprised nearly a hundred theaters across the country. Vaudevillian troupes would travel from theater to theater bringing fresh, high-class entertainment to theatergoers with musical performers, gymnastics, comedic monologues, and skits. Founder Alexander Pantages prided himself on hand selecting each act for the circuit. When Vaudeville acts were not being shown, the theater would host the latest ‘moving pictures’ of the day.
Due to the high-class nature of the Pantages Circuit acts, the theater was built to be the finest theater in Montana and equal to that of the Pantages Theaters of much larger cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. The theater’s exterior was designed in the Beaux-Arts Eclectic style, with the entrance being clad in ornate terra cotta. From the entrance, a large marquee hung over the sidewalk, with a large vertical sign bearing the theater’s name. The interior was handsomely appointed with modeled plasterwork and plush furnishings in the French Renaissance style. The theater itself seated 1,200 patrons, being distributed over both the main theater floor and a large balcony. The ceiling of the theater and stage front were particularly beautiful, as can be seen in the photographs attached. These photographs appear to be the only surviving images of the interior of the theater. The stage itself was sizeable at 30x70 feet, and was adorned with an ornate gold velvet stage curtain. The entire building was purported to be finished to the highest degree at great expense.
After Vaudevillian acts waned in popularity, the focus of the theater shifted to movies, and in 1924 it was renamed the Rainbow Theater. It was then operated largely as a movie house until 1935, when it was closed. This was the same year that perhaps the RMFIC Building’s most famous and enduring tenant moved in, Public Drug Co. The theater remained closed only for a few years, and was open again for business circa 1941 until 1964 when its doors were shut for the last time. The interior was not maintained properly, and soon the large balcony collapsed; this prompted the interior of the theater to be razed to make way for a parking garage ramp leading to the basement. The last vestiges of the theater’s former glory were destroyed in the 2009 fire, which completely gutted the building. The area which was the theater is now an empty shell.
Additional historic articles from the Great Falls Tribune Daily and the Great Falls Leader Daily can be found at GFTD 5 Oct 1913, 19 Apr 1914, 21 Apr 1914, 2 Aug 1914, 11 Aug 1914, 30 Jun 1915; GFLD 1 Aug 1914; GFLD 1 Aug 1914.
See also, “Great Falls Downtown Fire at Public Drug & Set Free Ministry” on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzqoG5Rl8ps (Courtesy of Austindesignsmontana)