A Blast from the Past – State Street, Ithaca, New York

According to the History Center of Tompkins County, downtown Ithaca once boasted seventeen grand theaters, including the Lyceum, the Crescent, and the Strand. The State Theatre is the last remaining cinema and vaudeville palace in Ithaca. With its 1,609 seat capacity, it is also one of the area’s most significant arts venues. The building dates back to 1915. Designed by local architect Henry N. Hinckley, it was originally an auto garage and dealership. In 1926, Cornell Theatres, Inc. purchased the building and hired celebrated theatre architect Victor Rigaumont to design and oversee the transformation of the garage and showroom into an atmospheric cinema and vaudeville palace. Rigaumont incorporated elements of the Moorish and Renaissance Revival Styles and the Collegiate Gothic symbolism of Cornell University to create a magical haven for theatre and moviegoers. Opening night, December 6, 1928, was a memorable and entertaining spectacle featuring Paul Tremaine and his Aristocrats of Modern Music. The show promised "21 Peppy, Snappy Entertainers" and admission cost 50 cents.

The State Theatre flourished as a premier entertainment venue and was a source of great pride to Tompkins County residents for many decades. Beginning with vaudeville, the theater has evolved with the times. When movies became more popular in the early 1930s, the theater thrived primarily as a cinema house. After World War II, with the advent of television and suburban movie houses, downtown cinema palaces like the State struggled. To adapt, the owners added a second movie screen in 1976, dividing the balcony from the main house. If you look up from the front of the balcony, you can still see a visible line where this dividing wall met the ceiling.

Ultimately, the theater closed in the 1980s because of financial difficulties and the demands of long-deferred maintenance. Attempts to revive the theater over the next fifteen years failed, though the community succeeded in having the theater listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Finally, in 1997, the theater was condemned by the City of Ithaca because of serious roof damage, a failing heating and ventilation system, and the safety hazards caused by falling plaster and out-of-date electrical systems. The owners seriously, though reluctantly, considered demolition.

In the Spring of 1998, Historic Ithaca responded to the community’s distress signal. With community support, the organization purchased the failing structure and assumed the role of preservationist, developer and manager, establishing the State Theatre Restoration Project. Historic Ithaca staff and volunteers galvanized public support and accepted the daunting task of reversing the building’s condemnation. This included replacement or serious repair of the main roof, the dangerously disintegrated plaster walls, the outdated electrical systems, the fire detection system, and the heating and ventilation systems.