Liberty Center for the Performing Arts
200 Park Avenue,
Eunice,
LA
70535
200 Park Avenue,
Eunice,
LA
70535
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Architects: Herman J. Duncan
Firms: Duncan & Barron
Functions: Performing Arts
Styles: Art Deco, Art Nouveau
Previous Names: New Liberty Theatre, Liberty Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
337.457.6577
Manager:
337.457.6577
Nearby Theaters
The Liberty Theatre originally opened on March 15, 1920 on 2nd Street, but moved to its current location four years later, as the New Liberty Theatre, opening on July 19, 1924 with a free children’s matinee at 09:30 and the official opening at 2pm with Corrine Griffith in “Lilies of the Field”. This theatre had 1,000 seats and cost $110,000 to construct. The exterior is sometimes described as Sullivanesque, while the interior is now mostly the result of a 1930’s Art Deco style remodel.
When it opened in 1924, the New Liberty Theatre was called “Southwest Louisiana’s Premier Temple of Amusement” and boasted running water and “typhoon-cooled” air as well as several dressing rooms for the live acts which would appear onstage in addition to movies in the Liberty’s early decades.
Among those to have appeared live at the theatre over the years were Fatty Arbuckle, the Bowery Boys, Lash LaRue and Tex Ritter. It was closed as a movie theatre in January 1982.
It was beautifully restored and renovated, and called the Liberty Center for the Performing Arts, the theatre hosted a variety of live performances, and was home to both the Eunice Community Concert Band and the Rendez-Vous de Cajun radio and television show. It was closed in early-2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It remains closed in summer of 2024 undergoing restoration.
The Liberty Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and is on the National Trust’s Guide to Great American Movie Houses.
Contributed by
Bryan
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 6 comments)
Great photos and history at this link:
http://atos.stirlingprop.com/liberty/index.htm
Here is another link:
http://www.eunice-la.com/historic.html
A 1986 photo of the Liberty in Eunice.
The old Liberty theatre opened on March 15th, 1920 and the new Liberty theatre opened on July 24th, 1924 and closed in January 1982 when the Queen twin cinemas reopened. Grand opening ad posted.
Herman John Duncan Sr. (1891-1056) was the senior architect of the firm of Duncan & Barron, and began practicing architecture in Lafayette around 1912. Later he would form the firm of Herman J. Duncan & Co., succeeded by the firm of Duncan & Duncan with his son Herman John Duncan Jr. I’ve been unable to find out anything about his first partner, Barron, or how long that partnership lasted.
This has been closed since COVID hit in 2020, but is currently under renovation.