The State Theatre is a single-screen movie theater located in
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...
. Built in 1908 during the booming lumbering era in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, the State Theatre was originally known as the Bijou, and was one of the many
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
and
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. houses in Bay City. In 1930 the theater was renovated and reopened as the "Bay". The ownership and the name of the theater changed over the years until July 2000, when the theater was purchased by the Bay City Downtown Development Authority who restored the Mayan motif marquee.
History
In September 1908, the Bijou vaudeville theatre opened on Washington Avenue in Downtown Bay City. In August 1920 the theatre's name was changed to the "Orpheum".
The theater was renovated in 1930 to resemble a
Mayan
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
pyramid by renowned architect
C. Howard Crane whose impressive body of work includes the twin
Fox Theatres
Fox Theatres was a large chain of movie theaters in the United States dating from the 1920s either built by Fox Film studio owner William Fox, or subsequently merged in 1929 by Fox with the West Coast Theatres chain, to form the Fox West Co ...
in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
.
[The Bay City Times, Volume 134, Number 256]
Among the theater owners over the years were the Butterfield family who also owned theaters throughout the Flint/Great Lakes Bay region and the Ashman Brothers.
Restoration
Renovations to the theater began in 2000 with the replacement of the roof, carpet, and stage curtains, and seating. The hardwood floors were refinished, and the lighting and sound systems were updated. A new stage was created in front of the existing screen which enabled the theatre to be used for small productions. The elaborate internal paint theme was restored in 2005.
Digital projector
In August 2008, The State Theatre became the first single-screen theater with a digital projection system in the United States.
New marquee
On September 11, 2008 a new marquee was unveiled. The new design was created and built by Eric E. Larsen in the spirit of the theater from the time of the Mayan redesign of 1930. The $220,000 marquee, with its retro Mayan Indian headdress, digital display, and colorful lighting, is part of a multi-phase project to renovate the theater.
References
External links
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{{Coord, 43.5997, -83.8877, type:landmark_region:US-MI, display=title
Cinemas and movie theaters in Michigan
Buildings and structures in Bay County, Michigan
Bay City, Michigan
Event venues established in 1908
1908 establishments in Michigan