Okla Theatre
18 E. Choctaw Avenue,
McAlester,
OK
74501
18 E. Choctaw Avenue,
McAlester,
OK
74501
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Robb & Rowley-United Inc., Rowley United Theatres Inc., United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Architects: W. Scott Dunne
Styles: Atmospheric, Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
The Okla Theatre was built within the walls of the Palace Theatre which was destroyed by fire in December 1930(it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). The Okla Theatre was opened July 10, 1931 with Robert Montgomery in “The Man in Possession”. The architect W. Scott Dunne designed a Moderne style partial Atmospheric style movie theatre, with $50,000. The side walls had stepped rectangular shapes and in between them were plant boxes containing imitation foliage. By 1957 it was operated by Rowley United Theatres Inc.
The Okla Theatre was sold to United Artists Theatres in December 1983 and it was closed by them on September 4, 1989. It is currently raising funds for renovations to be carried out to convert into a Community Arts Center. Renovations had begun in 2025 and it was proposed that a reopening would happen in 2026.
Contributed by
Graeme McBain
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Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
From 2010 a photo of the Okla Theatre in McAlester.
Chuck, thanks for clarifying the theatre’s previous names. CT doesn’t list the alternate name PALACE for this hall. The Wurlitzer pipe organ factory records indicate their opus 1338, a tiny 2 manual, 4 rank (Style B) organ was installed in the Palace Theatre, McAlester, OK, in 1926.
Pic of front of theater added to Photo Section
I recently photographed the OKLA Theatre. Check out some photographs and a blog post on the theater here
This theater isn’t open.
The Okla is not open yet as a theater however the gift shop is open 3 days a week with free tours.
Grand opening ad:
Okla theatre reopening 09 Jul 1931, Thu The M'Alester News-Capital (McAlester, Oklahoma) Newspapers.com
Renovating with an announced reopening in 2026.
The reason why it originally closed on September 4, 1989 is because of declining ticket sales. I was trying to find the last film that closed the Okla, but I cannot find it at all. Maybe Dallas will help me figure it out.
However, I can confirm is that in 1990, the Okla Theatre was bought by Kiamichi Actors Studio Theatre Incorporated, a local performing arts group. KAST intended to restore the theater, but was unable to raise the funds and surrendered the deed to the bank. It was then purchased from the bank by the Ardeneum of Oklahoma Charitable and Educational Foundation Incorporated.
I’ve managed to scrape together fragments of search results indicating that the Palace Theatre was built in 1910 by a Samuel O. Small, and opened as the Majestic Theatre. Although the pages the search results reference are infuriatingly unavailable, the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory does list the Majestic Theatre at 18-20 E. Choctaw Avenue in McAlester, so the place did exist.