The E. M. Viquesney Doughboy Database
  • Welcome / Contact
  • Site Map
  • Introduction
  • "Our Mr. Wesley"
  • Earl D. Goldsmith
  • Les Kopel
  • "E. M. Viquesney, Sculptor"
  • "The Spirit of the American Doughboy"
    • The Sheet Bronze Doughboys
    • The Stone Doughboys
    • The Cast Zinc Doughboys
    • Walter Rylander Copies
    • Modern Replicas
  • Currently Known Viquesney Doughboy Locations
    • Alabama >
      • Anniston, Alabama
      • Bessemer, Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama
    • Arizona >
      • Kingman, Arizona
    • Arkansas >
      • Fort Smith, Arkansas
      • Helena, Arkansas
    • Colorado >
      • Colorado Springs, Colorado
    • Connecticut >
      • Bethel, Connecticut
      • North Canaan, Connecticut
    • Florida >
      • Clearwater, Florida
      • Palatka, Florida
      • Sarasota, Florida (1998 Copy)
    • Georgia >
      • Americus, Georgia
      • Griffin, Georgia
      • Madison, Georgia
      • Nashville, Georgia
      • Summerville, Georgia >
        • *Trion, Georgia
      • Waycross, Georgia
    • Idaho >
      • Payette, Idaho
    • Illinois >
      • Alton, Illinois
      • *Chicago (Lincoln Park), Illinois
      • Chicago (Soldier Field), Illinois
      • Columbia, Illinois
      • Herrin, Illinois
      • Naperville, Illinois
    • Indiana >
      • Attica, Indiana
      • Evansville, Indiana
      • Fort Wayne, Indiana
      • Greencastle, Indiana
      • Hartford City, Indiana
      • Hobart, Indiana
      • Muncie, Indiana
      • New Castle, Indiana
      • Peru, Indiana
      • Spencer, Indiana
      • Winchester, Indiana
    • Iowa >
      • Mason City, Iowa
      • Mechanicsville, Iowa
    • Kansas >
      • Axtell, Kansas
      • Oakley, Kansas
      • Parsons, Kansas
    • Kentucky >
      • Grayson, Kentucky
      • Harlan, Kentucky
      • Jamestown, Kentucky
      • Liberty, Kentucky
      • Monticello, Kentucky
      • Morehead, Kentucky
      • Pikeville, Kentucky
      • Winchester, Kentucky
    • Maine >
      • Lincoln, Maine
    • Maryland >
      • Crisfield, Maryland
      • Emmitsburg, Maryland
    • Massachusetts >
      • Winchendon, Massachusetts
    • Michigan >
      • Berkley, Michigan
      • St. Joseph, Michigan
    • Minnesota >
      • New Ulm, Minnesota (1995 Bronze Replica)
    • Mississippi >
      • Meridian, Mississippi
    • Missouri >
      • Bolivar, Missouri
      • Lexington, Missouri
      • Lexington, Missouri - Styrofoam Replica
      • Sedalia, Missouri
    • Montana >
      • Columbia Falls, Montana >
        • *Kalispell, Montana
      • Fort Benton, Montana
    • *Nebraska >
      • *Omaha, Nebraska
    • New Jersey >
      • Belmar, New Jersey
      • Dover, New Jersey
      • Fair Haven, New Jersey
      • Frenchtown, New Jersey
      • Matawan, New Jersey
      • Perth Amboy, New Jersey
      • Roselle Park, New Jersey
      • Secaucus, New Jersey
    • New York >
      • Castile, New York
      • Harrison, New York
      • *Vestal, New York
    • North Carolina >
      • Charlotte, North Carolina
      • Nashsville, North Carolina
    • Ohio >
      • Akron, Ohio
      • *Blue Ash (Cincinnati), Ohio
      • Crooksville, Ohio
      • Fostoria, Ohio
      • Gallipolis, Ohio
      • Marion, Ohio
      • Newark, Ohio
      • New Philadelphia, Ohio
      • St. Bernard (Cincinnati), Ohio
      • Swanton, Ohio
      • Warren, Ohio
      • Woodville, Ohio
      • Zanesville, Ohio
    • Oklahoma >
      • Cherokee, Oklahoma
      • Granite, Oklahoma
      • Henryetta, Oklahoma
      • Hobart, Oklahoma
      • Muskogee, Oklahoma
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
      • Egypt, Pennsylvania
      • Forest City, Pennsylvania
      • Indiana, Pennsylvania
      • Lancaster, Pennsylvania
      • Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
      • Oil City, Pennsylvania
      • Scottdale, Pennsylvania
      • Scranton, Pennsylvania (2018 Bronze Replica)
      • Scranton, Pennsylvania (Original)
      • Tatamy, Pennsylvania
      • Verona, Pennsylvania
    • South Carolina >
      • Anderson, South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina (2002 Copy)
      • Greenville, South Carolina (2004 Bronze Replica)
      • Greenville, South Carolina (Original)
      • Olympia (Columbia), South Carolina
    • South Dakota >
      • Bullhead, South Dakota
    • Tennessee >
      • Johnson City, Tennessee
    • Texas >
      • Canyon, Texas
      • Crowell, Texas
      • Fort Worth, Texas
      • Groesbeck, Texas
      • Lufkin, Texas
      • New Braunfels, Texas
      • Sinton, Texas
      • Vernon, Texas
      • Wichita Falls, Texas
    • Utah >
      • Beaver, Utah
      • Mount Pleasant, Utah
      • Price, Utah >
        • *Hiawatha, Utah
      • Vernal, Utah
    • Vermont >
      • Enosburg Falls, Vermont
      • St. Albans, Vermont
    • Virginia >
      • Petersburg, Virginia
    • Washington >
      • Aberdeen, Washington
    • West Virginia >
      • Logan, West Virginia
      • Madison, West Virginia
      • Philippi, West Virginia
      • Wheeling, West Virginia
    • Wisconsin >
      • Appleton, Wisconsin (2017 Bronze Replica)
      • Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
      • Janesville, Wisconsin
      • Markesan, Wisconsin
      • Peshtigo, Wisconsin
      • West Bend, Wisconsin
    • Wyoming >
      • Rock Springs, Wyoming
    • Other States
  • Repair, Restoration, and Conservation (Outdoor Monuments)
  • The Miniature Doughboys
    • The "American Doughboy Art Lamp"
    • Miniature Doughboy FAQs
    • Repair, Restoration, and Conservation (Miniatures)
  • Other Works by E. M. Viquesney
    • 1904: The Early Years
    • 1905-1915: Civil War Memorials
    • 1916: Booklet Illustrations
    • 1920: Burial Vault Patent
    • 1921: The Rylander Theatre
    • 1922: The "Imp-O-Luck"
    • 1922: The United States Infantry Association Trophy
    • 1923: The Klan-Lite
    • 1923 (est.) - "GOB" - "The Spirit of the American Sailor"
    • 1925: The Viquesney Block
    • 1926: "The Spirit of the American Navy"
    • 1927: "The Spirit of the Skies"
    • 1928: The Tivoli Theatre
    • 1928: Plaque at Malvern, Pennsylvania
    • 1929: "Mother" (Madonna and Child)
    • 1930: "Zero Hour"
    • 1930: Flanders Cross Memorial
    • 1930s (est.) - Joan of Arc
    • 1930s (est): Service Plaque
    • 1931: Knute Rockne Bust
    • 1933-1934: "The Unveiling"
    • 1935: Viquesney's Version of "Over the Top"
    • 1935 (est.): Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy
    • 1936: "Resting Doughboy"
    • 1936 (est.): Alf Landon Bust
    • 1936, 1937: "The Spirit of America" / "The Spirit of the Flag",
    • 1938: "Lincoln as an Indiana Boy" >
      • Guido Rebechini's Lincoln Lookalike
    • 1939: Soldiers Memorial Pavilion
    • 1940: "Creation"
    • 1942: "The Yanks Again", "Eagle's Watch", and "Remember Pearl Harbor"
    • 1943: "The Spirit of the Fighting Yank" >
      • Chicago, Illinois
      • Bloomington, Indiana
      • Port Huron, Michigan
      • Belmont, North Carolina
      • Oil City, Pennsylvania
    • 1946: "Comrades", Viquesney's Last Piece
    • Career-long Output: Plaques, Grave Markers
  • "And So the Scene Closes"
  • Carrying On: Frederic L. Hollis
  • E. M. Viquesney vs. John Paulding
    • Paulding's Model 2043-A
    • Paulding's Model 2043-B
    • Paulding's Model 2043-C
    • Paulding's Model 2043-D
  • Viquesney Doughboy Lookalikes and Derivatives
    • Greenville, Alabama (Engraved Panel)
    • Montgomery, Alabama
    • Tampa, Florida
    • New Orleans, Louisiana
    • Union City (West Hoboken), New Jersey
    • Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
    • Franklin, Pennsylvania
    • Arcadia, Wisconsin
    • The McNeel Marble Co. Doughboys >
      • Eufaula, Alabama
      • Headland, Alabama
      • Troy, North Carolina
      • Clarksville, Tennessee
      • Texarkana, Texas
    • Eagle Bronze Works, Fiske Iron Works Doughboys
    • Walter A. Sinz Doughboys
    • Other Viquesney-Inspired Lookalikes
  • Viquesney Doughboy Myths
  • Viquesney Document Archive
  • Epilogue
Picture
Spencer Evening World headline, December 31, 1928 opening night announcement. Photo: Stan Griffith, Ellettsville, IN.
Picture
Photos supplied by Stan Griffith, Ellettsville, Indiana. Click on the images to enlarge.
Picture
The interior of the Tivoli in its early days. Two statues by Viquesney in the forward niches can be seen in greater detail at Photo.net. Use the links at the bottom of this page.

1928: THE TIVOLI THEATRE

In 1908 Viquesney was the manager of the Majestic Theatre in Americus, Georgia, and must have also been impressed when his friend Walter Rylander built his own movie house there in 1921. Viquesney apparently never forgot these experiences, for after he had moved back to his birthplace of Spencer, Indiana, he realized a twenty-year dream when he financed the building of his own movie venue, the Tivoli Theatre, which he jokingly insisted stood for "This Is Viquesney's Own Little Idea". It opened on New Year's Eve, 1928 and was an instant success, putting Spencer "on the map", according to its creator. People drove in from miles away to attend its showings. The interior walls had niches originally containing statues by Viquesney of two children playing musical instruments. Temporarily displayed at Carnegie Heritage House in Spencer, they were refurbished and returned to the theatre when the restoration described below was completed. One of the restored statues can be seen on the cover of the grand reopening program at the bottom of this page.

Due to competition with another theatre already in town and for payment still owed on the roof tiles, Viquesney lost the Tivoli to the Bloomfield Tile Company in 1932. The theatre was run for a time by Viquesney's competitor, Harley Campbell, but because of the Great Depression it was closed until 1938. It was then taken over by Claude Flater, who ran it until the 1950s. Damaged by fire in 1981 and again in 1985, it managed to re-open each time, but in 1998 finally closed its doors and was left to deteriorate. By 2001 it had become a deserted derelict. Scheduled for demolition in December of 2005, it was bought at the last moment and fully restored to its former grandeur in March of 2013 through the sponsorship of Cook Group Incorporated. The grand reopening occurred on April 11, 2013.

The theatre, an endangered property under the protection of Indiana Landmarks, is owned by Owen County Preservations. This restoration is the latest in a series of partnerships between Cook Group and Indiana Landmarks that includes the French Lick Springs Hotel, West Baden Springs Hotel and the new headquarters of Indiana Landmarks, Old Centrum Church in Indianapolis. Carl Cook, CEO of Cook Group Inc., is on the board of directors for Indiana Landmarks and was heavily involved in the management of the project.
Picture
Above: The derelict Tivoli in 2001. Viquesney researcher T. Perry Wesley stands in front. Photo: Earl Goldsmith. Right: The Tivoli in May, 2012, after restoration had begun. Photo: Stan Griffith. Click on the images to enlarge.
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The restored Tivoli Theatre on re-opening night, April 11, 2013.

Picture
Picture
Photo: Les Kopel.
At left, an opening night program cover features one of the two cherub carvings done by Viquesney for the interior facades. The sculptor also fashioned eight vases, four on each side of the interior, near the ceiling, and partly visible in the photo above (click to enlarge). At the time of restoration, only three remained intact. The other five were recreated using the remaining originals as models.

I (Les Kopel) was fortunate enough to attend the grand reopening at the invitation of Tivoli Theatre Board of Directors member Kathy Cook.
Picture
Links:
photo.net/15183912
photo.net/15183913
spencertivoli.org
cinematreasures.org
googleMaps.com
in.gov/dnr/historic/3853.htm

waymarking.com/waymarks/WMHJB0
open.salon.com/
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