Princess Theatre
330 N. Main Street,
Rushville,
IN
46173
330 N. Main Street,
Rushville,
IN
46173
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Affiliated Theaters Inc. (Indianapolis)
Architects: Herbert William Foltz
Functions: Movies (First Run), Office Space
Previous Names: Vaudet Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Vaudet Theatre was opened on August 27, 1907 it was used for live performances, including plays and later vaudeville. It was owned by the FreeMasons and in 1915 it was renamed Princess Theatre. In 1936, the theatre became a movie house. By 1950, the Princess Theatre was operated by Affiliated Theaters Inc, of Indianapolis, IN. It remained in operation into the late-1980’s but then sat vacant for several decades.
A group founded in 2002, Princess Theatre, Inc., with the intention of restoring the theatre to its 1930’s appearance to use the Princess Theatre to show movies and for community gatherings. The Masons owned the building until 2014 and it was sold to the City of Rushville who funded the restoration and the upsairs Lodge rooms were converted into City Hall. It was expected to cost nearly $200,000 to restore the theatre. Following restoration, it was reopened on December 1, 2018 screening first run movies.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Here’s an announcement about the Masonic Lodge building in Rushville, from the “Contracts Awarded” section of the May 23, 1914, issue of The American Contractor:
The architect “Herbert Faltz” was probably Herbert William Foltz, who practiced in Indianapolis from 1898 to 1933.Rushville councilman posts viral dance video to raise funds for city restoration project
Posted: Jul 09, 2015 11:19 AM EDT Updated: Jul 09, 2015 11:25 AM EDT By WTHR Channel 13 Connect RUSHVILLE, Ind. –
A Rushville city councilman is putting his dance moves to the test, hoping a viral video will help him raise funds for the restoration of downtown Rushville’s Princess Theater.
Councilman Brian Sheehan recorded a video of himself busting moves and it quickly went viral with more than one million views. So, he decided to use the video to help a cause close to his heart.
Watch the video here if it doesn’t display above.
“Brian is a wonderfully pleasant guy that works tirelessly donating his time and talents to improve his community,” said Shane Dunigan, one of Sheehan’s friends.
A city advisory board, which Sheehan is a part of, has been exploring options for the restoration of Rushville’s Princess Theater. They hope to restore it to its former glory and have asked the mayor to send out requests for architects to develop proposals for reuse of the space.
Sheehan is asking anyone who watches his video and who enjoys it to visit his GoFundMe page and donate money to the Heart of Rushville, which oversees fund disbursements for the project.
The Princess is now open for business on a limited basis. It has shown two movies and his preparing to show its third, Gone with the Wind on 26 Sept. The interior of the theatre has been demolished and the City is working to begin restoration of the interior and exterior. Follow the progress for the theatre on Facebook at princess theatre restoration
More good news for The Princess Theatre. A partnership has been reached with Wolf Theaters, a regional movie chain of Greensburg, Indiana to show first run movies along with classic films and live performances.
Restoration of The Princess Theatre will begin this fall with complete restoration to be completed by the end of 2017.
The Princess is in the middle of a $3 million dollar renovation. The top floor is being converted to a new City Hall, the former commercial area will be a branch of a community college and The Princess will be showing first run movies, classic movies, concerts and live performances begining later this year. If I can figure out how to post photos, I will.
The Princess Theatre Restoration Committee is proud to announce The Princess Theatre, after a multi million dollar renovation, will open the first week of December as a first run theater. We will be showing multiple first run movies daily. Come out and see a first run movie in a classic theater
The Vaudet Theatre opened its doors on August 27, 1907 and was first managed by J. Walter Wilson.
Website
Renovation story here. The building also serves as a city hall and college satellite campus.
The Vaudette Theatre that opened in 1907 was in a different building, at 303 N. Main Street. It was still listed at that address in the 1914-1915 AMPD, and appears there on the 1913 Sanborn map of Rushville. The Masonic Lodge building which holds the current theater was still under construction in May, 1914.
Another error in the description is that the Masons own the building. The Masons owned the building until 2014, when it was sold to the City of Rushville, who carried out the renovations and converted the upstairs lodge rooms into their new City Hall.