Sherburn Theatre

Joe Vogel on October 13, 2023 at 12:04 am

The Sherburn Community Building, which includes the Sherburn Theatre on its ground floor, was built by the municipal government with assistance from the Federal Works Progress Administration. This PDF file contains the Registration Form for the building’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Construction on the long-anticipated project began in 1936, with plans prepared by New Ulm, Minnesota architect Albert G. Plagens, but the building was not ready for occupancy until 1940.

In addition to the theater, the building contains a basement community banquet hall with kitchen facilities, and the upper floor includes a good-sized meeting room that was originally used as the council chamber.

There was an earlier Sherburn Theatre, though the December 3, 1937 issue of Film Daily misspelled both town and theater name in this item: “Sherburne, Minn.—George Ehlers has bought the Sherburne Theater here.” The Sherburn Theatre actually appears (correctly spelled) in the 1938 FDY, with 250 seats. Though the town had not been listed in the FDY for many years previous, it is likely that this theater was the same house that was listed in FDYs in the late 1920s as the Star Theatre, listed with 350 seats. A 1928 Sanborn map shows “Moving Pictures” with a lodge hall above in the building immediately north of the Community Building’s site, at 118 N. Main Street. The I.O.O.F. building is still standing on this lot.