Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center
925 Fourth Avenue,
Huntington,
WV
25701
925 Fourth Avenue,
Huntington,
WV
25701
13 people
favorited this theater
When it opened on May 8, 1928, the Keith-Albee building had cost $2 million to erect, and the theater seated 2,720. The theater’s main floor held 1,520 people, and its massive balcony held 1,200.
In the 1960’s two screens were added inside the auditorium and in the 1970’s a fourth screen was added in former retail space. A fire was just one of many challenges the movie palace has faced over the years, including a flood in 1937, mounting financial problems, and the wear and tear of time.
One of the last Keith-Albee Theatre’s in the country, this palatial theater reopened in May 2001, after a three-month restoration of the main auditorium to repair damage from a fire that broke out next door to the theater. It was closed as a movie theatre in January 2006, due to competition from a newly opened multiplex cinema.
Now that the $400,000 restoration of 2006 is completed, the Keith-Albee is back in business and better than ever as a performing arts center. Recently in September 2008, work began to remove the two mini-theatres inside the original auditorium.
Contributed by
Tony Rutherford
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Recent comments (view all 59 comments)
You have to scroll about ¾ths of the way down to get to the picture. You can enlarge it by clicking on it.
A tank in front of theatre. From Boxoffice magazine, August 18, 1969:
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One of the projects of the Huntington Theater Organ Project, Inc., is to restore the original Keith Albee Theater Organ in the Theater. Maybe this will happen. We hope so!
There are a few inaccuracies in Tony Rutherford’s description of the Keith Albee. The Theater opened May 8, 1928. The original architects plans, confirmed by the Hyman family, call for 2660 seats. The Theater was divided into a multiplex in the late 1970s. It served as a 4-plex until January 2006 when the theater was donated to Marshall University Foundation. The Mini-theaters in the main auditorium were removed in September 2006.
The Huntington Theater Organ Project, Inc., has been able to secure the original Keith Albee Theater Wurlitzer (opus 1780) and has plans to reinstall it in the Keith. The current Style E will remain there, sans console as the original organ will be installed with that in mind. The Solo Chamber will be completed with mostly original Keith equipment and as much as the main division will be reinstalled as space and funds become available. It will be great to hear the magnificient sounds of the original instrument within the walls of the auditorium.
The website listed above appears to be down. There is a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keith-Albee-Performing-Arts-Center/108288042564817 but it doesn’t really have any info.
There is also a nice photo gallery at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/multimedia/galleries/news/x352191295/Gallery-Keith-Albee-Performing-Arts-Center.
From those photos (and a seating diagram at another website) we can see that the partitions have been removed and the multiplexing is all done. It looks in excellent shape, all restored.
The website is indeed down. There is a facebook page for the theater organ. The name is Keith Albee Theater Organ. The partitions have been removed and the theater is once again similar to what it was in the early 1970s. The theater is undergoing some upgrading. In 2006 the theater was gifted from the Marshall University Foundation to the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc. A not-for-profit private 501c3 corporation. The picture included at the top of this page was taken in July 2011 or after. The vertical sign was damaged in a windstorm in June, 2011 and was removed in early July. There are plans to restore the sign. The grand vestibule and foyer have received a facelift with the 1970s concession stand being removed. There are a number of other enhancements which need to be done before the theater will be restored to its former glory. The theater has not been completely restored, but with the removal of the 2 mini-theaters under the right and left portions of the balcony significant steps have been taken to return the auditorium to its former size.
By the way, there are few pictures of the interior of the auditorium on the Keith Albee Theater Organ facebook page.
The theater closed in 2006. It was used during the filming of Warner Bros. “We Are Marshall” and hosted the premiere. The theater has been partially restored and operates as a performing arts center. Movies are shown only for the Marshall Artists Series International Festival and for the Appalachian Film Festival. The smaller auditoriums have been removed. The main is back the way it was supposed to be. But, the splitting of the auditorium kept the grand ole lady operating. The Hyman family deserves thousands of kudos for maintaining this jewel.
Tony: The cinema owned and operated by the Greater Huntington Theater Corp. did indeed close its tenure with the building in January 2006. Films and live theater are part of the rechristened Keith Albee Performing Arts Center now. As one of only a few remaining grand theaters from the first third of the 20th century, the Keith Albee is truly a jewel in the crown of Huntington, WV. Let’s keep it that way.