State Theatre

I attended Western Kentucky University from 1980 to 1982 and this was the closest theatre to the campus: an easy 10 minute walk from the top of "the hill." The last film I remember seeing at the State was "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (the Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange version). My memory of the building is not sharp, but I recall it being in good condition, a long, sloped floor lobby, streamlined, curving walls and a dark, cool interior.

The only thing that really stands out is a ridiculous detail: the marquee was an asymetrical triangle, one long face and one short face. College street is/was one-way and the long side faced the wrong way. On-coming traffic only saw the short side and the somewhat abbreviated text.

The State does stand on Fountain Square which is one of the loveliest public squares around. The other theatre on Fountain Square, the art deco style Capitol, (q.v.) has been beautifully restored.

Will, a search of this address brings up the Fountain Square Church. Does anyone know if the church is located at the former theatre or in a new building?

I have the Diamond as the Fountain Square church. Perhaps the Diamond was an aka for the State at some point.

I believe that the theater and church are the same building. This building is for sale here. Seating is given as 485. Photo of church included.

LM, yes that is the place, even says so in the realestate listing. If I'm not mistaken, the vertical sign is visible in the photo all the way to the right. However, a capacity of 485 must be a typo. I'd expect it to be more in the neighborhood of 1000.

Will....The church might have removed some of the seats and that could also explain the 485 seat count. Plus, the 1949 build date tells us that the theater and church are the same building.

From What I've been able to gather, The State was called the Diamond. At 8 PM on Friday evening 28 July 1922, the Bowling Green Business University held commencement exercises there. I was told the Diamond was destroyed by fire (1955?) and rebuilt as the State opening in '61 closing in '75. It was then rented by the Fountain Square Church in '85. The State was run by Martin Theatres from '64 until its' end.

Mike, well, I know it was operating as a movie theatre at least in 1980, maybe a little bit later, so the 1975 date is suspect.

I'll defer to your knowledge. I got my info from a sheet where the open/close dates seemed to be in five year chunks. I personally don't know when it officially closed. I'm trying to get people I know to add their info (which is more first hand, like yours) about this place.

The Daimond belonged to the Crescent Amusement Co that
had its offices at 416 E. Main from about 1911-1960.

The church is also putting on concerts in the theater building:
http://tinyurl.com/2b79kk

For Sale sign is down now. Windows are papered over.

Windows still papered over. You can still see the filled in penetrations for the PK housings for the neon for the E of the State on the big vertical sign out front.

I can confirm that the State Theater was operating as a movie theater into the early 80's. The last movie that I remember seeing there was Friday the 13th. That was not released until late 1980 if I'm not mistaken.

The theater was converted into a Church in the mid-80's.

I remember thinking that if I had been able to choose which theater to remodel (State or Capitol) I would have chosen the State. I remember the State being a much more beautiful theater than the Capitol. That may just be my memory playing tricks on me though.

The Diamond Theatre had 1,053 seats, making it the largest of the Bowling Green cinemas listed in the 1955 Film Daily Year Book. The others were the Capitol, with 1,038 seats, and the Princess, with 726. Bowling Green's population at the time was reported as 18,347.

Paper has been off the windows for a bit now. No new signs up.

1980 photo of the State Theatre. It was operating as a theatre in 1980. "10" was playing.

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c17%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=4&ProductID=27668

Here is another 1980 photo.