Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Simon Theatre


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was keep. - Krakatoa  Katie  08:34, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Simon Theatre

 * – (View AfD) (View log)

This article is about a defunct theater in Brenham, Texas. The article's claim to notability is that the building was designed by Alfred C. Finn, but there are no reliable sources cited (of the 4 sources listed, one does not mention the topic, one is self-published, and the other two are non-reliable. A Google search of "Simon Theatre" (and "Simon Theater") with Alfred C. Finn or A.C. Finn gives no useful information at all.  The contributor has previously asserted that it is important in Jewish Texan history, but it's only tie to that is that the theater was built by a Jewish family. Karanacs 02:21, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Strong Keep this article is relevant to Jewish Texan history. Bhaktivinode 02:38, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete. The fact that a theater's owner was Jewish does not prove that the theater is important to the history of Jews in Texas. --Metropolitan90 04:06, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment There are numerous historical recognitions that were not included in the article before. These have now been included under the section "Recognition." Thanks. Bhaktivinode 04:49, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I checked the citations. The League of Historic American theaters includes any theater in the US that is over 50 years old.    The Texas Historical Commission citation is only to a list of documents that the archives has concerning THC proceedings -- it does not indicate that this theater is actually considered a Texas Historical building, just that it was discussed as to whether it should be.  The Brenham revitalization project is of strict local interest, or at least no reliable sources have been presented to show that it is of broader impact. Karanacs 13:37, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep per additions demonstrating it is a historic site. -- M P er el 06:17, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment I have included a new section in the article concerning the "Save our Simon" organization and their recent fundraising. Thanks. Bhaktivinode 13:40, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Again, how is this of more than local interest? There are many organizations devoted to saving a particular old building which has sentimental value in a certain area, but that does not make the building notable.  Karanacs 13:58, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Judaism-related deletions.   IZAK 04:28, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep or Merge into History of the Brenham Jewish Community or James Simon (Businessman) or with Simon family, because this article is part of a group of articles relating to Jews and Judaism in Texas (the others being James Simon (Businessman), Henry Cohen Community House, Jimmy Kessler, Rosa Levin Toubin, Simon Theatre Simon family, Joe Levin (Businessman), Alex Simon, Sam H. Toubin) that have been nominated for deletion by User (and another, Temple Freda nominated by another user) yet taken as a whole these articles are a valuable set of records about a topic in a state with relatively few Jews and with an even scantier record of notable Jews, Judaism and Jewish history in it. There is indeed a great need for an article about History of the Jews in Texas and these articles would all be good starting points and resources for it. This article, like the others in this group, cite adequate sources and meet the minimal requirements to be kept. The nominator is requested to reconsider her nominations of these articles. Thank you, IZAK 05:02, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I would disagree with the above as a rationale for keeping this group of articles; there have been many Jews in Texas who were apparently more notable than the subjects of the above articles. (See this Handbook of Texas Online article, which ironically was written by the aforementioned Jimmy Kessler.) An article about the History of the Jews in Texas would be a good idea but it's not clear to me that most of these people would have leading roles in that history. --Metropolitan90 06:20, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Hi Metropolitan: The correct procedure would have been for the nominator to have (a) contacted the editor/s of the articles she had questions and doubts about and (b) to then to have tried to work on combining them into more unified topics, and only as a last resort, (c) request that they be merged into History of the Brenham Jewish Community or James Simon (Businessman) or with Simon family. Since these are non-controversial topics, and there are sources that need some sorting out, it should have been a fairly straightforward thing to do. Thanks, IZAK 20:14, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * What on earth does a theater have to do with the History of the Brenham Jewish Community? The article mentions only that a Jewish businessman built the theater; that doesn't automatically give it significance in the history of the community.   The other articles you suggest merging into are also nominated for deletion for not establishing notability.  Karanacs 20:22, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Merge any relevant info to History of the Brenham Jewish Community. --Eliyak T · C 11:07, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep. Per the Simon Theater FAQ, it says it's part of the Brenham Downtown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.  It appears to be a contributing property to this district, although the multiple property submission doesn't identify it specifically by name.  --Elkman (Elkspeak) 19:59, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
 * REQUEST: In order to reach a greater consensus about the related "Texas Jews articles" that have been nominated for deletion, please see and add your views at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Judaism. Thank you, IZAK 00:18, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Why is it that whenever a series of Jewish related articles is nominated for deletion, the intentions of the nominator are questioned? What happened to WP:AGF?  Jewish is not always notable.  Vegaswikian 21:44, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Weak Keep. The town of Brenham, Texas is big enough to have a local newspaper, the Brenham Banner, which has given it substantial coverage it, and this along with (relatively sparce) other sourcing meet the basics of WP:V and WP:N in terms of having independent sources assess its notability and verify basic information about it. Best, --Shirahadasha 01:57, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep. Article clearly shows notability. Vegaswikian 21:41, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment The article has been expanded concerning the Simon Theatre and its position as part of the Brenham Downtown Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Bhaktivinode 01:51, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep seems to at a bare minimum meet wikipedia notability standards. The sources could improve slightly though.  Yahel  Guhan  01:00, 30 October 2007 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.