Plains Theater
1306 Maine Street,
Eads,
CO
81036
1306 Maine Street,
Eads,
CO
81036
1 person
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Plains Theater (Official)
Additional Info
Architects: Carl Boller, Robert O. Boller
Firms: Boller Brothers
Functions: Concerts, Live Theater, Movies (Classic), Movies (Family)
Phone Numbers:
Manager:
719.940.0799
Nearby Theaters
Opened in August 1947 in the small southeastern Colorado town of Eads, the theater was originally a commercial garage built in 1916 called the Star Garage. The Boller Brothers, well-known theater architects throughout the Midwest designed the Plains Theater. The doors were opened on August 1, 1947 playing the movie “Vigilantes' Return”. The owner was Woody Williams who brought in an array of great movies and even movie stars (Ken Curtis of “Gunsmoke” fame visited the Plains Theater in September 1947). The Plains Theater was sold to the Crow Family in June 1961 and was opened every day of the week until the doors closed in 1982.
The doors were opened only once per year from 1983 to 1998 when the Jamboree would be presented which was a talent event held in conjunction with the Kiowa County Fair. A group of high school students came up with a plan to save the theater in 2006 when they came up with a plan to stop the severe deterioration of the Plains Theater. The plan involved the community coming together to ‘Save the Plains’ including the formation of a non-profit group named the Crow-Luther Cultural Events Center. This group has worked tirelessly for the past seven years putting the roofs back on the building, rebuilding and revamping the auditorium, bathrooms, and lobby.
The doors were reopened to show movies in June 2011 when they started showing newly released DVDs because their projection equipment would not allow for anything else. Currently, the Plains Theater has been accepted into the Save our Screens (SOS) Project in Colorado and they are trying to raise enough funds to buy digital projection so they can show first run movies for the first time in the history of the theater. The group also has formed a drama performance company that has started to present plays in the theater on the stage built for the Jamboree in the early-1980’s. The original 1947 projector is displayed proudly in the auditorium with movie posters and information bringing back memories to the hey days of the theater.
Contributed by
Betsy Barnett
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Judging by the marquee, looks like the Plains got its new projector and is now a first run house. New picture in the Photo section.
April 5, 1952 Boxoffice: “ARRIBA, COLO. – Woodrow Williams, owner of the Plains Theatre at Eads, Colo., died here recently from a heart attack. He was in his early 40s and operated the theatre himself.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 9, 1947: “W. W. Williams has completed his new $65,000, 445-seat theatre, the Plains, Eads, Colo., and has opened it. The old theatre is being closed.”
Boxoffice, June 19, 1961: “Betty and Charles Crow have purchased the Plains Theatre at Eads from Dorothy and Alvin Johnson”