Historical Building: The Wilson Theatre

Every town has something historical to be proud of.  The Wilson Theatre is one of my hometown’s pride and joy. 

Photo provided by the author.

The Wilson Theatre was built in 1920 by Daniel Ward Wilson and Mennie Wilson.  They were urged to build it after owning two movie theaters on the town square.  It was open and running in the 1920’s during an era of silent movies. 

In 1925, the bank took possession of the theatre, and for the next 13 years it was leased to Mini-Cassia show-house owners: Harris and Vollumer.  In 1938, Harris purchased the theater and owned it until the 1980’s.

Dago Martinez bought the theater in 1990, and turned it into a church along with retail stores.  The main lobby at this time was used as a cafe.

Nine years later, in 1999, the city of Rupert bought the theater from Martinez. 

The Renaissance Arts Center INC leased the building from the city in 2000.  They leased it from them at ten dollars a year and began a three phase renovation.

In 2001, the theater was listed in the National Register of Historical Places.  A definitely wonderful honor. 

Image by 0ccamvia Flickr

There were three steps in reconstruction the theatre, which included:

• The exterior
• The Lobby
• The Theater

For the lobby they built a new glass staircase, and a convention center large enough to accommodate 300 people.  The lobby is not fully completed, as it only 3/4 of the way finished. 

The renovations add up to around $3.2 million for the exterior.   Reconstructing the theater itself will be around $1.8 million. 

All of the people in my hometown are proud that the Wilson Theatre is going through this reconstruction, so it can reopen once again. 

Readers, what is your towns pride and joy?   Feel free to share!