State Theatre
1303 Meridian Street,
Anderson,
IN
46016
1303 Meridian Street,
Anderson,
IN
46016
8 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Alliance Theater Corp., Publix Theaters Corporation
Architects: Donald Graham
Styles: Beaux-Arts, Mission Revival
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Sep 24, 2004 — Owners of the State Theatre Actively Seeking New Owner
The State Theatre in Anderson, IN is a classic movie palace that opened by Publix Theaters Corporation on May 30, 1930 with Claudette Colbert in “Young Man of Manhattan”. It was still showing movies until it closed in 2008.
In 2000, it was undergoing renovations and in 2007, there were plans to reopen as a live venue, but in 2013, the building remains closed. Renovations continued in 2017 to convert into an entertainment center/conference center, but these plans have been aborted.
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Recent comments (view all 26 comments)
ChrisNealis, I respectfully submit the following rebuttal: The 5 local partners owned the building for 5 years but did not put money into its upkeep, per their own admission. Their only outlay was an emergency electrical repair that was needed to present their first concert. When they sold the building (for 6 times what it was worth) it was because they admitted they had no experience and had run out of money. The California group had experience and a solid plan. That was thwarted by issues detailed below.
As for the theater you claim was in “perfect working order”, it was not. The buyers would have loved to be able to present events immediately (as they were misled to believe they could), but the building was a broken relic and not in useable condition. The roof had massive leaks that left huge holes in the plaster ceiling and black mold covering the rotting upstairs dressing rooms. The projector needed repair, the screen was ripped, the curtain was in shreds, the hvac system was barely functioning, the plumbing and electrical systems were illegal and inadequate, the reworked fly system was jerry rigged and unsafe, the non-original seats (which were from a 3rd re-seating in 1960) were in bad shape and were donated to the Mainstage Theater in Anderson. Their removal had been planned and approved all along by the Sellers as part of a new dinner theater style seating arrangement for food and drink service.
You fail to mention the new owners completely replaced the roof down to the rafters, repaired the plaster ceiling and walls, restored the paint to original colors and repaired the hvac system. Nothing original was removed from the theater. Also, per the Purchase Contract, all work was done with the written approval of the Sellers, who occasionally came in to see the progress and commended the new owners on the great job they were doing. By the way, that too is on video.
While all the work was not fully completed, as detailed in the posts below, the primary objective was always to immediately secure the physical structure and restore it to its 1930 glory. That was accomplished. When your band performed there you played in a white-washed, leaking, non-original venue with amateur repairs to the plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems and an ugly wooden extension added to the stage and covering the orchestra pit. There are photographs, inspection reports, architectural studies and contractors bids to support all of this. One last thing, the new owners have a 30 year history in historic preservation of theaters. They did work with the City to insure the building’s protection by having it added to the National Register as a contributing structure to a historic district.
Thanks for that detailed post State.
Dear state46016: I hope that you are still available. You had very interesting information regarding the State Theater. Please contact me at . Thank you. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
There may be hope
See the new facebook page for updated progress and some amazing pictures of the interior.
Maybe this status should be updated. Beautiful pictures taken last night.
Resteration efforts have stalled, the website is down, Its Facebook page has been scrubbed.
City of Anderson buys State Theatre from www.heraldbulletin.com Jul 30, 2019 — The theater has been tied up in a lawsuit filed by the former owners against the city, dating back to the first administration of former Mayor…
2014 YouTube video:
Grand opening ad:
Renovations still stalled. Link
A weblog post by Ted Shidler dated April 14 this year includes a few photos of the State from January this year. There is still no restoration work being done on the theater, though it is still owned by the City of Anderson. It is just sitting vacant and deteriorating. One of the photos shows boards that appear to be propping up the back of the marquee, suggesting that it might be coming detached from the building’s façade, which would be a very bad thing.
The post has a 1950 Sanborn map image showing that the State’s next door neighbor is the 1927 Eagles lodge, another historic building. The lodge is very much active, and sports a bar with weekly music and live entertainment. It seems the Lodge and theater together might complement one another, but perhaps the operator of the Eagle’s venue would rather not have any competition nearby, and perhaps might prefer a new parking lot next door. It would be very sad if that was what has been thwarting the renovation of this splendid old theater, and promoting its destruction.