State Theater

State Theater. . , According to a newspaper article of October 25, 1928, the $88,000 contract for the building of a new movie theater on Main Street had been awarded. The projected seating capacity was to be 700 seats, 600 on the ground floor and 100 in the balcony. “There will be a spacious lobby with Main Street entrances and a completely equipped stage with scenery for road shows as well as movie presentations., From the foyer, stairways will lead to the mezzanine floor where retiring, smoking and lounging rooms will be provided. These rooms will have plate glass enclosures so that the vision toward the stage will not be obstructed. The building will be the most complete and finest in Kansas west of Wichita according to the architect…”, The theater opened for business in 1929, showing silent pictures. It wasn’t many months before it made the conversion to sound and presented Al Jolsen’s “The Jazz Singer.” Air conditioning was added in 1934. In 1967 the theater was extensively remodeled and had a grand reopening gala complete with two showings of the John Wayne movie “El Dorado.”, The State Theater closed in 1999, due to declining ticket sales and the condition of the building. The State Theater building and equipment was given to the City of Garden City with the only stipulation being that it could not be used as a movie house.