Varsity Theater

This is not demolished. The ugly sheet metal facade for the theater has been removed. The building first appears on the 1923 map, although it might be older since the south side of the street does not appear on the 1912 map. It was auto repair at least through 1947. It’s now the offices of a chamber of commerce type organization for Aggieville.

I was the projectionist at the Varsity during the mid-late 70’s. The theater was known for showing some “artsy” films of the era. I remember running the X-rated, full-length movie of Fritz the Cat. I left Manhattan in 1978 and I believe we were showing Saturday Night Fever at the time. The Exorcist played at the Varsity and caused a bit of a stir in Manhattan. During the late 60’s and up until I left Manhattan, I was a projectionist at various times at all the Manhattan Theaters (Wareham, Campus, Sky-Vue, Varsity, and Westloop twin.

This theater was not demolished, merely dismantled. 1125 Moro Street is currently occupied by offices for Powercat Illustrated, a magazine about Kansas State athletics.

The aluminum false front seen in the vintage photo uploaded by aggieville_archives has been stripped off, but the building to the left with its distinctive transom consisting of of five rows of translucent glass blocks is still there, though the bottom two rows of blocks are covered by an awning reading “The Goose Aggieville” in the current Google street view.

Reopening ad from February 26th, 1969

The Varsity opened on February 26, 1969, according to the March 17 issue of Boxoffice. The opening feature was “Romeo and Juliet.” Like most Commonwealth circuit theaters of the period, it was designed by Milton Costlow & Associates of Overland Park, Kansas.