An apparent dust devil Saturday blew off the remnants of a metal roof off the historic but long-closed Needles Theatre in downtown Needles, California.
The wreckage of the roof blocked the westbound lanes of Broadway (aka Route 66) in Needles. The Needles Desert Star reported:
Needles resident Michael Wright was on the second floor of the theater at the time, adding restraints to what remained of the roof to keep that very scenario from occurring. His truck was parked in front of the building, between the curb and the spot where the roof came to rest. The large piece of metal roof missed the truck by inches.
Needles-based ZachNews, which initially broke the story, reported:
ZachNews Photojournalist Zachary A. Lopez was along Lillyhill Drive in Needles, California trying to record a dust devil moving in the distance towards Downtown Needles, California when George DeLeon from Vincent de Paul Thrift Store called ZachNews reporting that the roof at the old movie theater blow off and landed along West Broadway near the intersection of F Street.
At this moment, nobody reportedly injured during the incident.
The Desert Star said part of the theater’s roof also blew off during a storm in 2012. It is at 823 W. Broadway.
According to Cinema Treasures, the 700-seat, one-screen Needles Theatre was built in 1929 and opened March 1, 1930. The theater, also formerly known as the Masonic Temple Theatre, closed in the 1990s after a fire.
The Needles Area Chamber of Commerce, which purchased the building from the Masons in November 1997, commenced a $4 million renovation and restoration effort in 2002.
The first project was to repaint and refinish the theatre’s facade.
The NACC is currently looking for any historical records, documents, photographs, etc. which could help in their bid to place the theatre on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Looking over the Desert Star archives, there seems to be little activity with the theater since 2008.
Some may scoff at a dust devil blowing off a roof. But in the desert, they can reach wind speeds of 60 mph. According to this entry from the American Meteorological Society, a rare one can reach wind speeds of 90.
(Screen-capture image from ZachNews video of damage at the Needles Theatre in Needles, California)