Polk Theatre
903 South Garden Street,
Columbia,
TN
38401
903 South Garden Street,
Columbia,
TN
38401
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Functions: Retail
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Jan 18, 2011 — Efforts launched to acquire, renovate Polk Theatre in Columbia
- Jan 13, 2011 — Old Polk Theater Might Be Bought and Renovated
The Polk was distinguished as the first and only wide screen theatre in Maury County up until it was twinned in the early 1970s. Although the interior has been sliced and diced, most of the Polk’s distinctive features, such as it’s large stage and proscenium, tiled columns, and spacious balcony, appear intact. The Polk, with a little bit of work, could be a great performing arts faculty. Allegedly, director Quentin Tarantino was so taken by the Polk, he bought its marquee.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
The above site shows a theatre in Columbia GA not Columbia TN.
One of the photos in this set was mistaking tagged as Polk Columbia, GA. It has been corrected and retagged as Polk, Columbia, TN. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
The Polk theater was actually twinned around 1977/78. I assisted in the reconstruction while attending the local college. I also remember the new twin theater opening with Close Encounters and The Gauntlet. I watched Star Wars in 1977 on the old single screen. The owner’s name at the time was Vincent and he also owned the Sundown Drive-in theater in those days.
A friend of mine used to live in Columbia so I will ask about his Polk theatre memories though he may have arrived there after the theatre was, imo, sadly twinned!
Columbia is my home town. I also worked both at the Polk theater and the Sundown drive-in. The owners name was Vinson not Vincent. Thanks for remembering our hometown treasures that are cinema treasures! 1978 is right by the way.
My mistake, sorry! 1977 was the year it reopened with two screens. I was working there at the time.
Efforts have been launched by the local county arts council to acquire and then renovate the Polk as a downtown arts center: View link
I think Songbird broke my foot in the lobby of the Polk, oh, around 1978.
Picture above is from the archives of Columbia Neon, and this shot was taken in 1951, just a little bit after the theater opened. We are currently raising funds to purchase the building and renovate/restore.
You may view our website at www.polktheatrecolumbia.org. Help donate to our project!