State Theatre Center for the Arts

lostmemory on March 28, 2007 at 10:41 pm

Here is a recent photo of the State Theater.

HowardBHaas on January 23, 2008 at 8:54 pm

2007 photo of lobby:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgervey/435056472/

edblank on March 31, 2009 at 4:04 am

Renewing link.

Chuck1231 on April 18, 2009 at 1:12 am

1986 photo of the State Theatre.
View link

kencmcintyre on July 13, 2009 at 5:37 am

This is from the Uniontown Evening Standard in February 1978:

The sale of the 56-year-old State Theater is now as concrete as the building in question with yesterday’s processing of the official deed of transfer. Located on East Main Street in the downtown section of Uniontown, the State Theater building was purchased last month by local auto dealer Clyde Tewell from Manos Enterprises, Inc.

The price tag on the old movie theater, which opened Oct. 30, 1922 and closed its doors June 19, 1973 was in the $75,000 neighborhood. Franklin A. John Real Estate Agency of Uniontown handled the transaction between the buying and selling parties. Stale Dept. of Labor and Industry granted its approval late last year, providing certain adjustments would be made prior to the theater’s actual opening and operations. A few of the renovations included the addition of steel doors in the corridors, outside frontal repairs and a new inside curtain along with lighting fixtures and closing off some interior portions of the building. Tewell said he would meet with Dept. of Labor and Industry officials Friday to determine exactly what has to be done to the theater.

He estimated that the necessary repairs would range anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000, bringing the entire cost to roughly $150,000. Tewell said his plans for the theater, speculating opening anywhere within three to four months, would be to import and promote the top Country and Western acts from Nashville. His plan is already into effect, as Bill Anderson, one of the top acts from Nashville has been booked to appear at the theater in July. Having shown his hand, Tewell said, “I have to get ready. The money has already been committed and I really don’t have any choice now.” He added that he had “three or four” other acts almost in the booked hopper so to speak, but declined to comment as to their respective identities. Tewell said that ticket prices for scheduled live performances would range anywhere from $5 to $10.

With renovations and repairs completed, Tewell said the seating capacity would in all likelihood be reduced from the current 1,800 to 1,500 seats, probably restricting the appearance of some performers due to financial considerations. Hypothetically speaking, an example of this would be with a popular performer such as Dolly Parton. Although a guaranteed draw, the initial investment could not possible justify the actual gate receipts.

However, not expecting to compete with the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tewell did say he hoped to promote something similar to the shows held in Wheeling, W. Va. Country and Western music buffs certainly hope this experiment doesn’t go the way of the dinosaur by failing to clear financial hurdles â€" the same hurdles which necessitated the closing of the State Theater five years ago
because of today’s dwindling film-going audiences.