Centre Theater
299 S. State Street,
Salt Lake City,
UT
84111
299 S. State Street,
Salt Lake City,
UT
84111
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cineplex Odeon, Intermountain Theatres, Paramount Pictures Inc.
Architects: Percy A. Eisen, A. R. Walker
Firms: Ashton & Evans, Walker & Eisen
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- May 23, 2012 — Celebrating the Original STAR WARS on its 35th Anniversary
- Oct 6, 2010 — Happy 50th, "Spartacus"
- May 21, 2010 — Happy 30th, "Empire"
- Nov 18, 2009 — Happy 50th, "Ben-Hur"
- Aug 21, 2009 — "Alien" 30th Anniversary
- May 25, 2007 — Happy 30th, Star Wars!
The Centre Theater was opened December 24, 1937 with Carole Lombard & Fred MacMurray in “True Confession”. It was considered one of Salt Lake’s finest examples of Art Deco style architecture. One of its most unique features was the 90-foot tower located above the theater. It was built by Paramount Pictures Inc. and Intermountain Theatres. By 1941 it was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary Tracy Barham.
When the Centre Theater opened it had 1,623 seats, but installation of a 56-foot wide screen in 1959 reduced seating to 1,174.
In 1989, Cineplex Odeon let its lease run out so the owners could demolish the building. A new office tower was built on the site, along with a bland six-screen multiplex.
Contributed by
Grant Smith
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Recent comments (view all 20 comments)
Grand opening article and ads from December 23rd, 1937 is at View link
Cool photos.
Here is a 1989 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y2yq9bd
I remember playing “WAIT UNTIL DARK” for a week as a filler back in the late seventies,the trailer seemed as scary as the film.
Marquees were done by someone who cared,Great pictures,All.
SSmyth, I have a question for you. I have two of the seats from the theatre before it was torn down! They are two of the end seats, do you remember the colors of the paint of the sides? I want to restore them back to original condition!
I saw Star Wars for the 1st time here. 1977. Stood in line with my friends. I still remember sitting inside and after a few minutes, the image of that huge battle cruiser making it’s screen debut chasing after the smaller ship. It was AWESOME!!! Also remember seeing the remastered Beatles Hard Days Night with my friends here too. Good memories :)
1958 photo added via Bill Kelder.
40 years ago today (June 3, 1983), the 70mm print of “Return of the Jedi” was temporarily moved from the Centre to the Regency Theater after historic flood waters inundated State Street. “Jedi” returned to the Centre on June 17th. For the complete story, visit Starwarsatthemovies.com.
Flix70: In the future, please make the article link clickable!