Fox–Watson Theater Building facts for kids
Side view of the Stiefel Theatre, around 2015
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| Full name | Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts |
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| Former names | Fox–Watson Theater (1931–1987) |
| Address | 151 S Santa Fe Ave Salina, KS 67401-2809 |
| Location | Downtown Salina |
| Coordinates | 38°50′19″N 97°36′32″W / 38.838677°N 97.608928°W |
| Owner | City of Salina |
| Capacity | 1,265 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | February 23, 1931 |
| Renovated | 1997–2003 |
| Construction cost | US$400,000 |
| Architect | Boller Brothers |
| Builder | Fox West Coast Theatres |
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Fox–Watson Theater Building
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| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| NRHP reference No. | 88001171 |
| Added to NRHP | August 4, 1988 |
The Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts is a historic theater in Salina, Kansas, where people can see live shows like concerts and plays. It first opened in 1931 as a movie theater called the Fox–Watson Theater.
Because of its special history and design, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. After being restored, it reopened in 2003 as a center for the performing arts.
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History of the Theatre
The theater has a long and interesting past, from its grand opening as a movie palace to its new life as a modern stage for live entertainment.
A Grand Movie Palace
The Fox–Watson Theater opened on February 23, 1931. A local businessman named Winfield W. Watson gave the land for the theater because he wanted Salina to have a beautiful movie house. The company Fox West Coast Theatres built it for $400,000, which was a lot of money back then.
The building was designed by the Boller Brothers, an architecture firm from Kansas City, Missouri. They created it in the popular Art Deco style of the time. The outside features special clay tiles, and the inside has detailed plaster designs, giving it a fancy look. On its opening night, the theater showed the Western movie Not Exactly Gentlemen.
From New Movies to Closing Down
For many years, the Fox–Watson Theater was the place to see brand-new movies. By the 1980s, the owners, Dickinson Theatres, used it to show older movies at a lower price.
However, it became hard to compete with newer movie theaters at the local mall. The theater closed in August 1987. A few years later, in 1989, the owners gave the building to the city of Salina.
A New Beginning as the Stiefel Theatre
A local non-profit group decided to save the old theater. They spent several years and $3.2 million to fix it up. On March 8, 2003, the theater reopened with a new name: the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Its new mission is to provide the community with great entertainment. The goal is to offer many different kinds of shows, like music, comedy, and plays, so there is something for everyone to enjoy.
The Theatre Today
Today, the Stiefel Theatre is a busy venue with 1,265 seats. It is also the official home of the Salina Symphony, a professional orchestra that performs its main concert series there. The theater continues to bring a wide variety of performances to the people of Salina and central Kansas.
