The New Arion Theater opened on Central Avenue near 23rd strteet in 1914. The venue made headlines in 1915 when the owners, Kaplan , Rubenstien and Goldman entered into a temporary business contract with a couple teachers of the younger grades at the Prescott School. The Arion began a series of children’s matinees . Teachers picked out educational films like Hiawatha, The Birth of the Star Spangled Banner and From Railsplitter to President. The house was filled to capacity for these events, but a controversy started when children began showing up for Sunday matinees. Parents objected to the Sunday films and a committee of mothers and fathers took over the selection of films for Wednesday matinees. Mothers began attending films with their children carefully watching for vulgar incidents and mushy love scenes. In 1923, the storied Liebenberg and Kaplan architectural firm the first entered the movie theater design business by remodeling the Arion. In 1936 a new sign and canopy were installed. Another major remodel occurred in 1953. The theater closed during the spring and summer of that year, after Paramount dropped the them, but the Arion was quickly picked up by the operator of the Hollywood Theatre and reopened in August. The old place finally shut down April 1958. After the building was demolished, Anchor Laundry opened a drive-thru in the space formally occupied by the the old movie house.
