Mikadow

In the 1840s, Centerville WI’s first brewery was built by Simon Krause near the village limits of Cleveland, Wisconsin. The first brewery building for Centerville Brewery was destroyed by fire in the 1880s. In 1890, the brewery was rebuilt from the original one. The Gartzke Brothers took over the brewery in 1899 and operated it until 1914. After the brothers shut down the brewery, the building was torn down and the bricks were transported to Manitowoc where they were used in constructing the Mikadow Theatre. All that remains of the original brewery in Cleveland is a bit of the foundation on the property where wagons loaded with barrels of beer that once traveled slowly in Sheboygan and Manitowoc counties. 

In 1915, John Kadow began construction of the Mikadow Theatre.  The theatre was designed by Milwaukee architect, Stanley F. Kadow, who also designed Milwaukee’s Avenue Theater once standing at 2311 S. Howell Ave. in Milwaukee, WI. At that time Manitowoc’s only other theatre was the Vaudette which stood at 115 N. 8th Street.  (Manitowoc’s Crystal Theatre had burned down years previously. Years later, a second Crystal Theatre would be built over the roller rink, cutting out the floor and installing a sloping floor at the location of the Strand Theater.)

On March 4th, 1916, the Mikadow Theatre opened its doors for the first time with a seating capacity of 800. It was equipped with a manual Moller theatre pipe organ. John Kadow’s son, Francis Kadow, assumed management of the theatre in 1923. His passion for marketing led him to experiment with radio.  He became licensed and created WOMT radio (World’s Only Mikadow Theatre) and went live on air from the Mikadow as WOMT on November 8th, 1926. At this time, WOMT became only the third radio station in Wisconsin. In 1956, a fire destroyed the Mikadow theatre, so Francis Kadow contracted Two Rivers architect, Sylvester Schmidt, to rebuild the Mikadow Theatre, designed specifically for pictures with sound, RCA, Westinghouse, AT&T, and Western Electric were brought in to pioneer the sound engineering of a theatre – something that was never done before. The rebuilt Mikadow theatre reopened in January 1957 with a seating capacity of 640.

In the early 1990’s, the Mikadow Theater sold to Freshfire Ministries.  Freshfire closed the theater and operated it as a church until March 2002 when Get Reel Cinemas purchased the theater from the church with the intention of converting it back to a cinema. After extensive remodeling, which included adding a kitchen and theater tables, the Lakeshore Cinema opened in May 2002. Tables adjoin theatre seats, so you could enjoy homemade pizza, sandwiches, and appetizers, which could be ordered and would be brought to you while you enjoy the movie. It was closed in 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic and only operated intermittently until July 2022 when the owners closed permanently due to retirement.

In October 2022, the theatre was purchased by Mikadow LLC, a local entertainment business since 2016, with plans to strategically renovate the historic theatre and restore the original Mikadow name. 

The Mikadow Theatre is licensed as a classic cinema theater but will also host live theatrical shows and other live events. The Mikadow is conveniently located in downtown Manitowoc across from Washington Park. The biggest box office classics - as well as all-time favorites are now available on the big screen for your dinner entertainment. Relive those childhood memories - or - make new ones! We offer Sunday matinees and evening shows on Saturday and during the week. In addition to normal movie concessions, fresh homemade pizzas, hot sandwiches, and appetizers can be ordered and brought directly to your table while you enjoy the movie! Live-theatre shows will offer a different menu.

We welcome you to the historic Mikadow Theatre, Manitowoc’s oldest remaining original theater.