State Palace Theatre
1108 Canal Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
1108 Canal Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
14 people
favorited this theater
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Enlargeable 1955 photo in Flickr link below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/saintpo798/116369892/in/photostream/
Contrary to what is stated above, the Loews State was saved from the wrecking ball. And the New Orleans City Council rejected the plans proposed by a hotel developer to essentially gut the theater and make it the entrance to a new hotel. Hope remains that the theater will be saved. New Orleans is fortunate in that nearly all of its large downtown theaters survived and all except the Loews have been freshly restored. The Civic, the Joy, the Orpheum, and the Saenger, are open and thriving. The St. Charles Theater, the Strand, and the Liberty, long ago were razed.
Because Cinema Treasures lists all theatres as their current and/or last known names. “Loew’s State Theatre” is listed under Previous Names in the right hand column, beneath Previously Operated By, Architects and Styles.
Why is this theatre not listed under the correct name? It is the “LOEW’S STATE” theatre. Not the silly “State Palace” as was invented by the operators after Loew’s discontinued operating the theatre in the late 70’s or early 80’s.
August 5, 2014 article.
The Loew’s State (State Palace) is one of the 24 theaters in my new book, “After the Final Curtain: The Fall of the American Movie Theater,” which is available on Amazon or your local bookstore
1951 night shot added courtesy of Carl Schreiber.
Loew’s neon center right.
The sale to Gregor Fox dooms this theater to sit for years in its current state of damage and deterioration. Mr. Fox stated in a local news article that he plans to first renovate the commercial retail space within the building to then fund the renovation of the theater; a process that may take up to ten years. Personally, I do not believe him. I think his intention is to use the leases from the retail spaces on Canal to pay the annual taxes until he can flip the property to legitimate developers years from now at a tremendous profit. Mr. Fox has little experience in real estate development, nor does he have the resources, or experience, to renovate a 1920s movie palace to its former glory. He purchased the theater and the property it sits on for just $3 million. Mr. Fox believes that the theater can be fully renovated for $10 million, this when the renovation of the Saenger Theater located across from the Loew’s was recently performed at a cost exceeding $50 million. I hope I’m mistaken, but there is no evidence that the Loew’s is coming back anytime soon. Every indication is that it will remain a blight on Canal Street for years to come.
Here is a link verifying the information I have provided…
http://www.myroyalcoach.com/local-theater-venue-new-orleans-see-revival/
This building has been sold and, from what I hear, is going to be reopened as a theatre sort of like the Saenger across the street. NO MORE RAVES.
Loew’s state, it was a typo.
Loew’s was the theatre chain, Lowes is the home improvement chain.
Remember the Lowes still showed grindhouse/exploitation films in the late 1980s. I went to see Robocop in 1987 and the previews before the film had topless girls running around, in some slasher film. I used to go to the Lowes in the 80s and 90s, they had hamburgers and double features. I stopped going when it started showing adult movies. Does anyone remember when that change was made must have been early 90s?
The last time I was in NO was 2003 and the theater was open Labor Day weekend showing movies. I do remember they showed The Godfather, Cabaret and Lady Sings The Blues that weekend. Prior to that it was a club so I am not sure what they used for a screen
website
Another detailed article about the restoration, with a lot of interior photos:
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/loews_state_palace_developer_c.html
Latest news on the State Theatre:
http://www.neworleansdowntown.com/news/detail/56742/LOEWS-STATE-PALACE-THEATRE
The Theatre has been bought by Gregor Fox who plans to renovate both the interior and exterior and return the building to commercial use – and “contribute to the arts community”
I am so very happy for the people of NO that those beautiful downtown theaters are being saved and rennovated. I think there were several in the French Qtr too, not sure that status of those. I hope we will see pics of the rennovation status.
This is great news. When I was there at the end of January the entire downtown area, and that area of Canal Street, looked amazing compared to my previous visit to NOLA. The restoration of the State completes an incredible recovery for the theater district. By the way, the ongoing restoration of the Carver is rivaled only by that of the Saenger and the Joy. Hoping for great success for all of these theaters, as well as ongoing success of the Prytania.
Breaking news! Contracts have been signed to execute a full restoration of the Loews State Theater and its satellite properties. The New Orleans Downtown Development District and MCC Group, a local contractor, inked a deal on 2/5/14 to invest $32 million to return the facility to its former glory as a legitimate theater and entertainment venue.
This on the legs of the recent $52 mIllion restoration of the opulent Saenger Theater opposite the Loews, the city’s $47 million renovation of the Mahalia Jackson Theater soon after after Katrina, a recently announced $16 million restoration of the Orpheum, and $5 million restorations of both the Joy and Civic; all downtown. Just outside of downtown, several million are being invested in the restoration of a large 1940’s neighborhood theater that once served the black community, the Carver.
As such, ALL remaining New Orleans theaters once abandoned, or those severely damaged by Katrina, will, in effect, be new again… These are exciting times for theater lovers in New Orleans.
I recently photographed the State Palace Theatre. Check out the photos and a write up at After the Final Curtain
I’ve been hearing a lot of rurmors that more than one party is interested in buying the building. Rumor is that one of these suitors has the idea of converting the Loew’s into a bowling alley and music venue.
It appears that the New Orlens Downtown Development District, the quasi-public agency responsible for the the redevelopment of Canal Street, may be once again on the brink of dropping the ball (bowling ball?). One would think that with the situation involving the LaSalle Hotel, a property immediatly adjacent to the historic Saenger Theatre, the Development District would be working harder not to appear so very inept. The Saenger is undergoing a 50 million dollar historic restoration that is partially govenment funded. Along the way it was reported in the local paper that other developers have gotten partial govenment funding to turn the LaSalle Hotel into low income housing. What a debacle, low income housing immediatly adjacent to the crown jewel of New Orleans theatres. That ought to pack-em into the theatre!
Now we hear of the Loew’s State situation. Is a bowling alley really appropriate in a Thomas Lamb theater from 1926? This building is in very workable condition an should be returned to commerce as some type of theatrical venue. A bowling alley in this building would not only be disgraceful but an awful addition to the 1100 block of Canal Street – bowling alley, a low income housing development, and the historic Saenger Theatre. If the City is really commited to creating a theatre district utilizing the the existing historic theatres in this two block area they are certainly making a mess of it.
A March 2010 Photo I took of the State Palace (Loews) Theatre..
Randy A Carlisle — Historical Photographer
This reopened with 3 screens on March 5th, 1976. The ad is in the photo section.
Tisloews,some of those pictures are great!Suitable for a frame.The real theatre business that you and I got in on the tail end of.
Thanks for posting,Chuck one of my favorite theatres.