Security Garage/State Theatre of Ithaca

State Theater, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (1996)

For previous building on this site see https://tompkins.historyforge.net/buildings/8021

Buildings at 107-119 W. State St.: 

 

1915-1928 Security Garage (107-119 W State St-1917 city directory) 

1928 State Theatre

"The State Theater’s large rectangular marquee, with its tall vertical sign trimmed with white lights and red neon, typifies the lavish American entertainment houses of the 1920s. The large second-story windows are a clue to the building’s original use – an automobile showroom. Designed by Henry N. Hinkley in 1915, the building underwent an elaborate conversion from the Bovard Brothers’ Security Garage in 1928 to a state-of-the-art theater. Redesigned by architect Victor A. Rigaumount, the new theater sat 1,818 patrons, boasted a magnificent $26,000 organ, eight dressing rooms, two projectors, and 32 drop sets for vaudeville acts. Its interior, perhaps Ithaca’s most unusual and significant, is an exuberant mix of Moorish, Gothic, and Renaissance motifs. The elaborate painted ceiling has tiny lights resembling stars. A cloud machine, now inoperable, heightened the sense of illusion. In 1971, the large balcony was enclosed to create two smaller cinemas. Outside, both the ticket booth and billboards feature ornate Renaissance detailing."

For more see: http://www.historicithaca.org/about/history/state-theatre