Artcraft Theatre

The Artcraft Theatre was opened on November 1, 1922 as a vaudeville house, seating 879. They later began showing movies. It was the center of the small town of Franklin. The Artcraft Theatre holds one of the first “air conditioners”: cool water from a well in the basement would be pumped past a large fan which would extract the cold from the water and blow it through the theatre.

The Artcarft Theatre was remodeled in 1948, to the plans of architect Alden Meranda. Franklin Heritage bought the theatre in April of 2004 and is working to restore this Art Deco style theatre back to its original glory.

Recent comments (view all 18 comments)

lostmemory on February 26, 2009 at 4:09 am

A new link to the photo posted on Nov 2, 2005 is here. The photo is circa 1980.

lostmemory on April 22, 2009 at 8:41 pm

Here are some 1985 photos:

Photo1

Photo2

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Photo6

Mike Richardson on August 14, 2009 at 8:02 am

Drove by yesterday. Marquee says they’re open during renovation. Huge scaffolding covers front above canopy.

lostmemory on September 26, 2009 at 6:23 pm

This is a photo of the Artcraft Theater.

Mike Richardson on September 26, 2009 at 11:15 pm

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RubyTrio on November 6, 2009 at 10:09 pm

Just attended a showing of “It Happened One Night” at the Artcraft. Still undergoing renovation. I was glad that it is still alive and kicking.

Chuck1231 on March 15, 2010 at 8:44 pm

2006 photo of the Artcraft Theatre.
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TLSLOEWS on March 16, 2010 at 12:29 am

Nice photos.

Chuck1231 on April 16, 2010 at 9:09 pm

2009 photo of the Art Craft box office and entrance.
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CSWalczak on September 26, 2012 at 6:11 am

The theater celebrates its 90th birthday: View article