Princess Theatre

Markus_Nornes on February 4, 2026 at 8:16 pm

According to a plaque on the side of the building from the Town, The building was first the Colorado Supply Store, basically a grocery and hardware store for the CF&I Mine. The current building was built around 1905. The one-story front gable roof building has a false front facade with a central pediment and a modesd cornice with dentils and brackets. There’s an arched hood above the second story windows which extends from the shopfront cornice; the hood has light bulbs on its underside. Angled walls with plate glass windows and paneled kickplates flank the entrance. The display windows were added later. The backside has a flat roof addition from the 80s. Before 1952, the gable roof was heightened on the east to relieve snow build-up between buildings.

There is a sandstone wall to the right from an earlier building; the public records say it was originally built in 1881, so that’s probably the foundation of the first iteration. It was purchased in 1918 to convert to a movie theater, adding a sloped floor for seating. They called it the Princess because it was part of a chain of Princess theaters on the Colorado Western Slope. The Snyder Brothers purchased it in 1922 and added a sound system in 1932. It also hosted live events from the high school in the 1920s. After they stopped showing films in 1988, it was used as a ballroom and then a wine bar.

In 2021, this was one of a slew of buildings on Elk Avenue purchased by billionaire Mark Walter and owner of the Dodgers. He seemed to do it quietly through limited liability companies, and when the townies found out people wondered what was going on. Walter refused to show his cards. Up to the time I write in 2026, no one is completely sure.

But they’ve applied with town to do some work on it, and the plans show it’ll be a restaurant.

MichaelKilgore on September 17, 2019 at 5:47 pm

Boxoffice, Jan. 1, 1949: “CRESTED BUTTE, COLO. – Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Verzuh have sold the Princess Theatre here to Rudy Sedmak and Martin Verzuh. The couple recently purchased the Columbine hotel in Gunnison and plan to move there soon.”