J. C. Hall began to build a new building with the Medford Brick Company on May 29, 1908. The new building was 50 by 75 feet in size. It had two 25 by 75-foot rooms in which one was occupied by a restaurant and the other half a movie theater named the Savoy. The Savoy theater was owned and managed by J.C. Hall and E. C. Hubbard who were also owners and managers of Medford’s first movie theater, the Bijou on West Seventh Street. Both of these theaters were in downtown Medford and near the train station which during its time, could have attracted a lot of people to attend. Hubbard had to step out of managing the Bijou theater with R. C. Sears to take over the Savoy in order to increase and accommodate Medford’s moviegoers.
According to the Medford Daily Tribune, the Savoy theater opened on October 1, 1908. There were two advertisement announcements to promote and lure people into Savoy’s first opening. On page two of Medford’s Daily Tribune, there is an informational article called the “New Playhouse is Completed”, which describes the Savoy features and the people who will be managing it with some background. It claimed that the Savoy was a small and luxurious theater to provide audiences with the best entertainment experience. The Savoy had a nicely laid-out interior of elegant seats for comfort and a sloping floor for better screen viewing. The number of seats is unknown and there is no mention in newspapers.
The Savoy ticket price was 10 cents for admission ($2.50 in today’s currency) and changed programs every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Digital Sanborn Maps, Medford, Oregon, 1911, Sheet 15.
On May 25, 1911, Hubbard sold the Savoy theater to W. O. Wilson. The community will miss Hubbard not only for running movie theaters for the past two years but for being one of the first to introduce moving pictures in Medford at the Bijou.
Then on August 21, 1911, the Savoy got purchased by R. E. Gordon and G. W. Slater. Gordon was experienced in the moving pictures business from being part owner of the Isis theater.
About two months later, the Savoy theater got sold to Seely Hall and G.A Hunt on October 11, 1911. From this sale, G. W. Slander retired from the motion picture business in Medford.
The Savoy theater under the management of Hall and Hunt, followed the nickelodeon trend from changing 10 cents to 5 cents on December 1, 1911, in the Medford Mail Tribune advertisement. A few weeks later, the Savoy theater lasted in Medford til January 5, 1912, and moved to Central Point.
