Orpheus Hall
Vernal, Utah
C. W. Showalter, and Andrew King opened the Orpheus Hall on Thanksgiving Day, 30 November 1911. The amusement hall had a spring dance floor, but was also used for roller skating, basketball, banquets, and movies. It was named after the Greek god of Mirth, “a famous musician who is reputed to have had power to entrance men, beasts, and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.” At 11:00 PM on New Years Eve, 1928, the hall was renamed Imperial Hall. In a ceremony on 20 April 1965, Governor Governor Calvin L. Rampton took a sledge hammer and delivered the first blow in the demolition of the hall as part of a community beautification campaign.
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Locals remember Helper's heyday
Deseret News, 4 December 1997, page B1
Article Summary:
The Strand Theater and Hillcrest Hotel are owned by Don Carlow, who
recently installed a new roof and who has plans to restore some of the
structure and open shops. Below the theater and hotel are an old card
room, a Southwestern-themed dance hall and a bar. The theater is used
mostly for storage. It cannot be used for entertainment because it no
longer meets codes. Baron Willison, caretaker of the theater, says it
would cost less to build a new theater on the site than to restore the
old one.