State Theatre

The Ludcke Theater and the State Theater were two separate Theaters. The Ludcke was opened in 1905 by Henry and William Ludcke as the St. Peter Opera House, it became the Ludcke Theater in 1940. It was located in the 100 Block of South Minnesota Avenue between Broadway Avenue and Park Row north of the Nicollet Hotel and the original Seitzer Ford Garage, the Garage and Theater were demolished in 1960-61. The Hotel is still standing.
The State Theater opened in 1939 and closed in 1975, I actually remember being in it, and it was still opened, probably about 1973-74. It was donated to Calvary Baptist Church and they sold it to a furniture dealer to raise money for their new church. It was torn down in 1986-87, the site is now a parking lot between Grace and Mulberry Streets. Just north of the theater was the Foss Photo Studio which closed abrubtly because of a Gas leak, about 1976, I remember the rubble. It probably did some structural damage to the theater as well. The furniture dealer used it as a warehouse, it usually smelled mildewy when I walked passed it. Sadly it is no more, I like a lot of St. Peter residents wished they could have saved it, even restored it, maybe not as a movie theater, maybe a live-action theater, like the Paramount Theater in Austin, MN.