All summer long, workers at the historic State Theater uncovered mosaics and detailed moldings as they labored to restore the grand old movie house to its former glory.
Artist David Blodgett stretched out on his scaffolding, painting portraits of John Wayne, the Marx Brothers, Bogie and Bacall, and other screen luminaries on the lobby ceiling.
Much of the theater, which opened in 1920, underwent a redecorating effort in the 1950s that covered much of the original artistry.
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But despite lingering questions about his ability to pay for the work, owner Ken Allen’s team of artisans has turned back the years, uncovering a number of pleasant surprises along the way.
A mosaic floor in the lobby once hidden by carpet has been revealed. A drop ceiling that hid the original plaster moldings was removed, exposing elaborate patterns of rosettes and leaves that meet in a large diamond over the theater’s foyer.
The walls themselves have been repainted in deep green and plum, but much remains to be done if the theater is to open on schedule in November.
Water damage and mildew still stain some of the massive theater’s walls.
The 2,200 seats await recovering, and a fire escape and handicapped-accessible bathrooms still need to be installed.
Once it’s fixed up, can a theater this cavernous ever recoup its costs?
“There are several appeals here,” says Carter Wolf, director of Center City Associates. “We have a whole generation that’s never even experienced this.”
Wolf says that tickets for the second-run movies the theater plans to show should cost less than $3, and the ambience itself should attract visitors.
The theater also will be available for concerts, lectures and meetings, and will be operated by the Watseka Corp.
The State Theater closed in 1976, and was bought by the City of South Bend in 1984 for $80,000. After an initial offer of $1, the Watseka Corp. purchased the State Theater for $20,000. Watseka received a loan of $60,000 for the project from Center City Associates and Society Bank.
“The city’s owned it nine years,” Wolf said. “I wouldn’t call it a white elephant, but it’s close.”
Although restoration work continues on the theater, allegations of financial difficulties continue to dog the Watseka Corp.
Creditors and business associates in Cheyenne, Wyo., where Watseka partners Ken Allen and Jerry Jager previously bought and restored a movie house, have accused Allen of racking up debts and walking away from the project after fire department officials required major renovations.
Allen says, however, that the Wyoming problems have no relevance to the State Theater. “That Wyoming stuff, it’s just so aggravating, you can’t believe,” he said.
Cheyenne fire inspectors closed the Lincoln Movie Palace in November 1992 after Watseka failed to install a sprinkler system.
The sprinkler issue is important in South Bend, as well.
According to the Indiana fire code, an existing building must retain its original fire prevention methods. Because the downtown theater had basement and stage sprinklers, so must its reincarnation under Allen.
“It was that way before, so we’re going to require it that way this time,” said Bert Prawat, assistant fire chief of South Bend.
Allen has yet to apply for a building permit and cannot legally install sprinklers or begin other non-cosmetic work until it is approved, according to Jim Markle, assistant building commissioner for the city.
Allen has a second problem in Cheyenne. In July, the building’s prior owner instigated proceedings to nullify the sale, claiming Watseka failed to make the final payment.
Allen, a Knox resident, and Jager, who is from California, bought the Cheyenne theater in 1989 from the University of Wyoming Foundation, which had received it as a gift. But the foundation’s treasurer, Paul Joy, said Watseka never has paid off the $35,000 balance, which was due last November.
In December, 1991, Wolf and Cleo Hickey, representing South Bend’s Department of Economic Development, traveled to Cheyenne and the corporation’s other theater, in Watseka, Ill., where they heard only good news.
They didn’t speak to people at the University of Wyoming Foundation or the Cheyenne city fire department.
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Instead, they met with the Cheyenne theater’s manager, the city’s director of planning, the mayor, a representative from the historical preservation society, and the director of the local merchants association.
“I went and looked at the theater, and it was gorgeous,” Wolf said.
Despite the continuing questions about his finances, Allen says he plans to open the theater this month, but he said he has until March to actually open its doors.
“This theater will be the jewel of South Bend,” he said.