For a full century the Broadway Theater building at the corner of West College Street and South Broadway Avenue has been a local landmark.

Today, the place which once featured musical groups, plays, vaudeville performers, and especially both silent and sound films, has been converted to other uses.

To go back to the beginning for the Broadway Theater, the area’s prime entertainment center was owned and managed by two men during its first two decades of operation.

Those two men were Frank Gage and V. B. Valleau. Besides their involvement with the entertainment business, they had another factor in common. They evidently didn’t particularly care to use their first names.

For Gage, the first and middle names were William Franklin. He preferred to use Frank as his first name.

For Valleau, there was the matter of a rather unusual first name. It was Vinal. Thus, he preferred to use the initials of V. B. and the nickname of &uot;Val.&uot;

Not too much actual biographical information is available about Gage. During his years as an Albert Lea resident, he became involved in the mercantile business, the city’s first major packing house, and the creation of both an opera house and the Broadway Theater.

The Gage, Hayden & Co. firm, also known as the Big Four Store, was located in the 200 block of South Broadway Avenue. The upper floor of what was then a three-story building was also the location of the Gage-owned opera house. In April 1902 the business was sold to the new Skinner, Chamberlain firm.

Gage decided to terminate the opera house and have the new Broadway Theater constructed. The grand opening of what the Albert Lea Enterprise newspaper called a &uot;magnificent play house&uot; was held in January 1903. Minnesota Governor Van Sant was there to give a 15-minute speech. The first stage production was the play, &uot;The Daughter of Hamilcar.&uot;

Within a few years Gage owned and leased theaters in Owatonna, Rochester and La Crosse, Wis.

The versatile Gage also became involved in the organization of the Albert Lea Packing Co. in 1912 and was an executive of the firm for two years. (In 1914 the new plant on Albert Lea’s east side was sold to Sulzberger & Sons of Chicago, then became a part of Wilson & Co. in 1916.)

V. B. Valleau was born in Michigan. His family moved to Groten, S.D., in the 1880s. He went to college in Brookings, S.D., and came to Albert Lea in 1910.

Valleau started the Idle Hour Theater in the auditorium at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Water Street. He also operated a garage on South Newton Avenue and had the local sales agency for the Cutting and Dayton automobiles for a few years.

The May 12, 1912, issue of the Tribune has these comments about his new theater and its silent films:

&uot;V. B. Valleau and the Idle Hour are names well known to the amusement loving public of Albert Lea. Both stand for high class and refined entertainment; the name Valleau stands for the man who made possible such entertainment and the name Idle Hour for the place where such entertainment Is to be had.

&uot;There is one solid hour of amusement, entertainment and instruction to be had at this popular amusement place any evening except Sunday.

&uot;The Idle Hour does not cater to anything of a sensational order. The pictures shown are always such that will appeal particularly to the ladies and children, and of such the patronage of the house largely consists. Confining his entertainments strictly to motion pictures and Illustrated songs.

Mr. Valleau is able to give the patrons of the Idle Hour the best that is to be had.

&uot;Particular attention has always been paid to the musical part of the programs and the excellent music that has always characterized this house has been most favorably commended by Albert Lea music lovers. The musical features alone of this popular house merit the splendid patronage which the house receives.

&uot;Ever clean, refined

entertaining and amusing, the Idle Hour will continue to be one of the most popular spots of Albert Lea for those who can spare an Idle hour after a busy day. The relaxation secured from such entertainment is good for all, as is proven by the miles of smiles that emerge from the Idle Hour nightly.&uot;

About the time Gage became involved with the packing house venture, Valleau leased the Broadway Theater and became the manager. In 1920 Gage retired and sold the theater building to Valleau. By this time the man who promoted the slogan of &uot;Val Says so,&uot; also owned the New Palace Theater in Blue Earth and had a lease on the leading theater in Marshall, Minn.

Valleau’s connection with the local entertainment business ended about 1922 when he sold out to Ben and Isadore Friedman of Minneapolis. The Friedman brothers then organized the Albert Lea Amusement Co., remodeled the city’s &uot;play house&uot; in 1927 and renamed it as the New Broadway Theatre.

The Valleau family stayed in Albert Lea until 1926. After selling the theater business, he still had another venture to operate. It was the Valleau Poster Advertising Co.

After leaving Albert Lea the Valleaus moved to Hamilton, Mont., then to Pasadena, Calif. And that’s where Vinal B. &uot;Val&uot; Valleau on March 20, 1936.

The city’s first real showman, William Franklin &uot;Frank&uot; Gage, left Albert Lea and may have moved to Texas. Just when and where he died is not known. His widow died in Dallas during March 1937.