State Theater
104 W. Pine Street,
Columbus,
KS
66725
104 W. Pine Street,
Columbus,
KS
66725
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We purchased the State Theatre 4 years ago. The building was about to be condemned. We are in the process of renovating. The old roof caused water damage to the whole interior of the building and that was a major expense to put on a whole new roof. We own the building next to the old State Theatre where I own Classic Portraits Photography Studio. We have completely renovated the apartment above my studio where Art Pugh and his wife lived when he owned the State Theatre. It’s been fun to collect old newspaper articles about it’s history but we only have one photo of the exterior of the building. If anyone has any photos of the outside or inside of the building we would love to see them.
The State Theatre burned in June, 1947. It was rebuilt on the same site, plus the site of an adjacent bowling alley which had also been destroyed in the fire, and reopened on Christmas Day, 1947. The January 3, 1948, issue of Boxoffice reported that Robert Boller was the architect for the rebuilding project.
Boxoffice magazine reported in January 1946 that the State recently celebrated its sixth anniversary, so it would have opened in late 1939 or very early in 1940.