State Theatre
929 College Street,
Bowling Green,
KY
42101
929 College Street,
Bowling Green,
KY
42101
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From What I’ve been able to gather, The State was called the Diamond. At 8 PM on Friday evening 28 July 1922, the Bowling Green Business University held commencement exercises there. I was told the Diamond was destroyed by fire (1955?) and rebuilt as the State opening in ‘61 closing in '75. It was then rented by the Fountain Square Church in '85. The State was run by Martin Theatres from '64 until its’ end.
LM, yes that is the place, even says so in the realestate listing. If I’m not mistaken, the vertical sign is visible in the photo all the way to the right. However, a capacity of 485 must be a typo. I’d expect it to be more in the neighborhood of 1000.
I have the Diamond as the Fountain Square church. Perhaps the Diamond was an aka for the State at some point.
I attended Western Kentucky University from 1980 to 1982 and this was the closest theatre to the campus: an easy 10 minute walk from the top of “the hill.” The last film I remember seeing at the State was “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (the Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange version). My memory of the building is not sharp, but I recall it being in good condition, a long, sloped floor lobby, streamlined, curving walls and a dark, cool interior.
The only thing that really stands out is a ridiculous detail: the marquee was an asymetrical triangle, one long face and one short face. College street is/was one-way and the long side faced the wrong way. On-coming traffic only saw the short side and the somewhat abbreviated text.
The State does stand on Fountain Square which is one of the loveliest public squares around. The other theatre on Fountain Square, the art deco style Capitol, (q.v.) has been beautifully restored.