Fox-Watson Theater Building

For other uses, see Fox Theatre.
Fox-Watson Theater Building

Watson-Stiefel Theatre.
Location 151 S Santa Fe Ave, Salina, Kansas
Coordinates 38°50′18″N 97°36′32″W / 38.83847°N 97.60876°W / 38.83847; -97.60876Coordinates: 38°50′18″N 97°36′32″W / 38.83847°N 97.60876°W / 38.83847; -97.60876
Built 1930 (1930)
Architect Boller Brothers
Architectural style Art Deco
NRHP Reference # 88001171[1]
Added to NRHP August 4, 1988

The Fox-Stiefel Theater in Salina, Kansas is an Art Deco theater built 1930-1931. It opened its doors to the public in February 1931.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 as the Fox-Watson Theater Building.[3]

History

The Fox-Watson Theatre, as it was then called, was opened in late February 1931. The theater was the brain-child of Winfield W. Watson, a local businessman and banker. He led the campaign to bring a movie house to Salina and donated the land for the theater. Fox West Coast Theatres built the art deco style movie house at a cost of $400,000. Boller Brothers, an architectural firm out of Kansas City, Missouri, designed the structure.[4]

The opening feature was Not Exactly Gentlemen featuring Fay Wray. The theater was closed in August 1987 by then owners Dickinson Theaters, as competition from Dickinson's mall theaters made the downtown location unprofitable.[3]

Marquee

Dickinson gave the theater to the city in 1989. It was restored by a non-profit group over several years and reopened as The Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts on March 8, 2003.[4][5] Since then, the theater has booked a variety of acts.[6]

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ https://abandonedkansas.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/stiefel-watson-theatre/
  3. 1 2 Martha Hagedorn-Krass (April 22, 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Fox-Watson Theater Building" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved February 9, 2016. Accompanying 31 photos from 1931, 1937, and 1988.
  4. 1 2 "The Historic Stiefel Theatre in Salina, Kansas". Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Committee, Salina History Book (2008). Salina, 1858-2008. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub. ISBN 9780738561813.
  6. ↑ Demuth, Demuth (1 March 2015). "Stiefel Theatre director strives to book diversity of musical acts for all ages". Salina Journa. Retrieved 9 February 2016.

External links


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