State Theatre
124 S. Main Street,
Holstein,
IA
51025
124 S. Main Street,
Holstein,
IA
51025
No one has favorited this theater yet
Related Websites
State Theatre - Holstein (Official)
Additional Info
Firms: Peacock & Belongia
Functions: Movies (Classic), Movies (Revival), Movies (Second Run)
Styles: Quonset Hut
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
712.368.6226
Nearby Theaters
Not to be confused with an earlier Scenic/State Theatre which has its own page on Cinema Treasures. The State Theatre was built in a Quonset Hut style in 1948, opening on September 2, 1948. The architects were Peacock & Belongia of Milwaukee, WI. Seating in the new theatre was provided for 450, all on a single floor. The State Theatre was owned and operated by Mr & Mrs E.W. Kugel. Renovations began in September 2016 and it reopened November 4, 2016.
Contributed by
Lost Memory, Ken Roe
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Ed Kugel,my grandfather and my grandather’s wife were co-owners of the theatre. My grandfather was Vern Bruning. His wife was Jo Bruning. All lived in Holstein. I saw The Creature From the Black Lagoon as a first run there. My grandfather ran the projectors and I got to watch it from the booth. His, wife, Jo, sold tickets and ran the concession stand. Holstein was such a great place… Lots of nice folks! I remember Ed Kugel because he walked with a bad limp due to a childhood broken leg.
The Kugels also owned the Orpheum/Maple theatres in Mapleton, Iowa. Mr. Kugel sold the new Maple to Doc Naulteus in 1952. See the Mapleton entries on Cinema Treasures.
Holstein Development Authority is in the process of refurbishing Holstein’s State Theatre.
THEATRE BEING RENOVATED
OPENED 1927 AS SCENIC THEATRE
RENAMED STATE THEATRE IN 1929
http://www.holsteinstatetheatre.com/
Granola’s link is the official web site of the State Theatre. This page of the web site says the house was rebuilt as a quonset hut in 1948, which I would take to mean that the new State Theatre that was opened that year was on the same site as the old house that opened in 1927 as the Scenic.
Theatre is being renovated to open in the fall of 2016. Leather recliner seating has been installed, reducing the seating capacity to 150.
So wonderful to see a Quonset theatre being restored! There were legions of these built after World War II. Trade magazines heralded them as a wave of the future for people wanting to establish new theatres without spending a lot of money. And indeed, for a time the Quonset theatres were a big success, nationwide. Today, there are a scant few remaining, and ever fewer in operation. In California, I only know of the Rio, in Monte Rio, that is operating as a movie theatre.
Here is the State Theatre’s official web site. The grand reopening took place on November 4. So far they are running quite a mixture of older movies and recent releases (Fantastic Beasts is upcoming in December.)
The history on that website is wrong, or at least confusing. The 1933 map shows a vacant lot where the State is today. The Scenic/State is not dome shaped, and is still there. It was one block north. 1933 oddly seems to be the first year that a map was made, so I can’t say where the 1914 Scenic was.
Since we know that the website history is complete nonsense, I wonder if the ‘dome shaped theater’ referenced isn’t actually someone being confused about what an airdome was?