Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
August 25, 2002
By Mary Rose Hemminghouse
Vigo County Historical Society
Indiana Theatre begins “grand” tradition 80 years ago
This year is the 80th anniversary of the Indiana Theatre’s grand opening and it was truly a spectacular “grand” opening for Terre Haute and the surrounding area. That is cause enough for us to give it some special attention, but it also has another unique distinction that may have been lost over the years.
The designer of the theatre was a renowned theater designer.
John Eberson was a theater architect based in Chicago, who was world famous for his movie palaces, constructing them all over the world. He is responsible for creating more than 200 movie theaters throughout the world and was an early proponent of the style known as the “atmospheric” theater. This style of design sought to transport the patron into another time and place and to give the impression of outdoor seating with lights in the ceiling and a garden-like setting.
Eberson was not the actual creator of the atmospheric style, but he was the one to popularize and market this idea on a wide scale. The Indiana Theatre is not an atmospheric theater, but he incorporated aspects of that style in the theater.
The Vigo County Historical Society has in its possession a fragile presentation booklet that was published for the Indiana’s grand opening in 1922. Eberson, who was present at the theater’s grand opening, saw theaters as a fantasy land and was quoted as saying the structure was truly one of the “land of make believe.”
Eberson went on to say that “he had put his very best efforts and endeavors in the art of designing a modern theater such as I have often pictured as what I would do were I given a free hand.” This is quite a compliment to the Indiana Theatre when you consider Eberson designed more than 200 motion picture theaters worldwide in a grand manner.
Eberson’s words rang true when the theater opened to the public for the first time on Jan. 28, 1922. He said he was inspired by coming across a picture in a book illustrating the life of the Spanish people in the province of Andalusia in the southern portion of Spain. This was clearly overall Spanish Baroque style of the theater.
Doormen dressed as Spanish bullfighters and hostesses dressed as Spanish senoritas greeted the patrons. Sconces on the walls provided soft lighting in the main lobby that reflected on the hanging chandeliers and provided an air of mystery and olden days.
Upon entering the main auditorium, the theatergoers were treated to the indirect cove lights in the ceiling that were controlled by a huge switchboard on the stage. Prior to this feature, there was total darkness in the theaters to full illumination when the movie as over and this feature was thought to be much more beneficial to the eyes.
The theater featured 20 permanent symphonic musicians as well as an organ that was advertised as a “Mammoth” $50,000 Hope-Jones Wurlitzer. No expense was spared to create a true wonderland for the people of Terre Haute. Only the best of materials was used to create an opulent display.
Historically, 80 years is not a long time ago. There are probably those in the Terre Haute area who remember the building and opening of the theater.
Many of the businesses who had ads in the program are still well known in the Terre Haute community and include the Hotel Deming, the Terre Haute House, Hartmann Sheet Metal, Deep Vein Coal Co., Ermisch Cleaners, Kadel’s Art Shop, John G. Heinl and Son Florist, to name a few.
To still have this theater operating in this community is a wonder since many of these types of theaters are a thing of the past, but due to present and previous owners’’ contributions to the building, it has managed to maintain a present at Seventh and Ohio streets. John Eberson would be proud to see it still standing and showing movies.
The Indiana Theatre is a truly unique building thanks to Eberson’s dedication and effort. It is not only a relic of a time past, but it also is a “gem” and needs to be preserved for posterity.
In 1988, it was designated as a Historic Landmark, a designation it has earned and truly deserved.
If you are not convinced that it is truly exceptional, you have only to go to a computer and put in the name John Eberson, and you will come up with the site of Major Collections of Architectural Archives, and when you click on his name, there are 1,260 separate sites that deal with his work in creating magnificent palace theaters.
We are lucky enough to have one of them here in Terre Haute. Stop and take a look or better yet go in and see a movie so we can look forward to having a 100th anniversary of the grand opening.
The photo showing the Indian Theatre is from the 1950s.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Web site: http://web.indstate.edu/community/vchs.