Columbia Theatre

This huge theatre was designed by the Boller Brothers, and opened in 1917. It may have been built to take advantage of a huge influx of soldiers to Fort Riley after the establishment of Camp Funston. This part of the block had only a few tiny shops on the 1912 map.

Rather a rambling structure, the front was constructed of wood, with the theatre entrance in a two-story portion on the corner with 10th Street, and an arcade of shops running south along the front. The auditorium was a large, roughly square structure with a pent roof. The whole thing had a vaguely Mission appearance.

The auditorium had a very odd layout, with the stage running diagonally across the SE corner of the space.

Perhaps intended to be temporary, this theatre had disappeared by 1925, replaced by a gas station and a small storefront. By 2007, this entire block had been razed, and it is today a vacant lot.

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