Newport Refuses a Firetrap Home for the Movies
A corrugated-iron picture show proposed beside the Antler Hotel is turned down inside the fire limits, while tent shows draw the council's ire.
E. W. Moore, of Colfax, presented a petition asking for a permit to erect a corrugated-iron building, 20x50 feet, on the lots adjoining the Antler Hotel on Washington Avenue, the building to be used for a moving picture show. As the proposed location is within the fire limits and the council deemed the structure a fire menace, the application was refused.
In the discussion on granting the permit it was brought out that there is considerable objection to the further licensing of tent stands for shooting galleries, photographers, etc., on the ground that they are unsightly and are fire traps. The matter was continued for further consideration.
“As the proposed location is within the fire limits and the council deemed the structure a fire menace, the application was refused.”
Newport's council was doing what small-town governments still do: deciding where a business may open and what fire risk the rest of the block will tolerate. The Antler Hotel and Washington Avenue are a reminder that Main Street's commercial life was shaped by permit fights long before modern zoning codes.
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