State Theatre
107 W. State Street,
Ithaca,
NY
14850
107 W. State Street,
Ithaca,
NY
14850
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 34 of 34 comments
Here is a pic
http://www.roadsidenut.com/itht704.jpg
http://www.roadsidenut.com/itht2704.jpg
See in the photo print that it’s spelled Krause. It sure has an art deco facade and probably should have its own link/page as it’s the only Rothacker theatre not listed here.
TC: I totally agree and thanks for correcting my website error on the Tower link. Noticed that the Alvina Kraus Theatre is also Krause in the text so wonder which spelling is correct?
No problem; I have corrected your Tower link to the actual photo page. I think these paintings are quite beautiful; PS I have no connection to the artist whatsoever. Since the picture function has been disabled on this site, I thought it was appropriate to post some links to paintings.
TC: I posted the above website on the Tower Theatre page…hope that’s okay as I see that you have added this information for all the other Rothacker theatres listed on CT. Yet I couldn’t find a page for the Alvina Kraus Theatre though. I’m glad that these prints are being presented to the members of Cinema Treasures as I’m sure many will purchase a favorite(s).
You can buy a print of the theater at this link:
http://www.georgerothacker.com/ga1.detail.9.html
A pic of the raise-the-roof movie house is at
www.preservationdirectory.com/photodatabase_theaters.html
According to The Ithaca Journal, the State’s original Link organ console, removed from the theater in 1968, has just been returned to its former location. It had been stored in an unheated garage in Syracuse, where Historic Ithaca’s Preservation Services located it last Spring. Binghamton’s Link Organ Company (1916-1929) built it in 1925 with the services of master organist Charles Sharpe Minor (with a name like that, he was destined for such mastery). The State purchased it for $26,000, and used it regularly throughout the 1930s and 1940s, until it fell into disrepair sometime after World War II. It’s believed to be the first portable theater pipe organ and the only known Link organ still associated with its original installation. In 1968, Robert Engel, a Syracuse-based organ restorer, removed the console, blower motor, two tremolos, and four sets of pipes from the stage left chamber. They’ve remained in Syracuse since then, among a collection of historic theater and church organs. Other pipes were disassembled, but were kept in the chamber. Last June, Historic Ithaca’s volunteer staff successfully located and identified the console and its parts. Now in place, the console needs to acclimate to its heated environment, while the Historic Ithaca Society initiates a $165,000 fund-raising drive to restore the instrument to its 1928 condition.
The State was a beautiful theatre even in the late 1970’s which was the first ime I saw the theatre. Its Gothic or castle like motif was very impressive. I can’t remember who owned the theatre in the late 70’s but even then he was not a young man. I remember we talked about the movie theatre business as well as his theatre. Although I’ve forgotten his name, I’ll always remember a quote of his, “ I know of no other business where the supplier tries so hard to put his customers out of business.” Ithaca has at least two facilities in town that show art or non mainstream films. A worker
from Historic Ithaca Inc. to whom I talked in the fall of 2003 didn’t seem to think there was room for a third. It looks as if the State will be almost strictly a live venue facility.