Ingersoll Theatre

3711 Ingersoll Avenue,
Des Moines, IA 50312

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Tri-State Theatres (TX)

Architects: Roland 'Tip' Goucher Harrison, Frank E. Wetherell

Firms: Wetherell & Harrison

Functions: Special Events

Styles: Streamline Moderne

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News About This Theater

Ingersoll Theatre

Opened October 1, 1939, it was designed in a Streamline-Moderne style. After closing as a movie theatre the Ingersoll Theatre was home to a dinner theatre which closed in 2004. It is now in use as a teenage party place.

Contributed by Bryan Krefft

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on February 5, 2010 at 4:26 pm

Here are some November 2009 articles about reuse of the Ingersoll:
http://tinyurl.com/y8m7tyo
http://tinyurl.com/ycb5327

beaslbob
beaslbob on March 29, 2013 at 10:44 am

I worked there in 1964 as a usher.

With the little suit, paper dickey, and flashlight.

Got to know every line of the longest day, a walt disney file tomensina(spelling), a full length yogy bear animation, how the west was won and probaly others I would rather forget.

They also had Cleopatra for a long run months before the glitzy hollywood premier. All reserved seating for that one.

With the attendance even then I think it is amazing it stayed open for so long.

But fun days never the less.

BillyOK
BillyOK on January 31, 2014 at 12:46 pm

I lived in Des Moines in 1980-1981.

I’ve been tooling around the city via Google Street Maps. Came upon the Ingersoll Theater. It appears that it has been turned into some teen/young adult Party Palace? They mention 2 parties coming up. One on a Friday and the other on a Saturday.

The theater itself appears to be in good shape, at least from the outside. The map with the actual photography is from 2012, so not to long ago.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 28, 2015 at 10:47 am

October 1st, 1939 grand opening ad in photo section.

uptownjen
uptownjen on January 23, 2016 at 6:47 pm

http://whotv.com/2015/10/12/former-ingersoll-dinner-theater-tops-list-of-des-moines-endangered-buildings/

bliddel
bliddel on February 3, 2016 at 9:46 am

Going through some really old papers, I found my mother’s Social Security card and pay stubs from the TriState theater, which apparently became the Ingersoll. She apparently worked at Tri-State for about 18 months, in 1940 and 1941, before WW2, and made a whopping $1.98 (after two cents of retirement taxes), per week!

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on February 26, 2016 at 8:23 am

Architected by Wetherell & Harrison and decorated by the interior design division of the locally famous Younkers Dept. Store, this was the second Ingersoll Theatre in Des Moines. The first was built at the turn of the 19th Century and was part of an amusement park called Ingersoll Park. The second Ingersoll theatre had love seats and talkies beginning in October of 1939.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on July 23, 2019 at 4:45 pm

October 2015 article about the Ingersoll with timeline & photos.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/development/2015/10/12/ingerolls-theatre-des-moines-most-endangered-buildings/73729362/?fbclid=IwAR2fsN13CmrWcBF8J9Y5Ds0Ht-5YvtloLPy6lU9P4CUEWZ6y35GN9G1XtjE

MSC77
MSC77 on October 24, 2022 at 4:12 pm

A chronology of 70mm presentation history in Des Moines has recently been published. Ingersoll is mentioned numerous times.

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