A Grand Opening

Auburn State Theatre is a historic community treasure with a storied timeline of serving as a local and regional hub for live entertainment, films and cultural events dating back more than 90 years.

The Theatre was built in 1930 by T & D Jr. Enterprises, a San Francisco-based theatre management firm that, by the end of the 1930s, owned and operated roughly 60 theatres in Northern California, including AST. The original theatre, reported to have been built at a cost of roughly $100,000, was designed by J. Lloyd Conrich, a San Francisco-based architect who also designed the Cascade Theater in Redding, the Sierra Theatre in Grass Valley and many others. Originally, the Theatre offered seating for more than 1,300, including seats located on a balcony, reached by the two sets of stairs in the Theatre’s current foyer. With its lavish silver and black décor and plush seating the Theatre was considered one of the most beautiful of the T&D theatre enterprise.

The Theatre Goes Modern

The Theatre closed for several months in 1937 as modernization efforts got underway, including installation of an air-cooling system, new “luxurious” carpet and furnishings, a tile water fountain and large mirror in the foyer, new interior decoration, much of which was hand-painted and representative of the Neoclassic period, as well as construction of an eight-ton girder to support an expansion of the upstairs balcony. The theatre reopened months later with a new marquee and its iconic vertical “STATE” blade.

A Closure

Unfortunately, in the early 1970s, the girder supporting the expanded balcony failed, leading to its removal and that of the marquee. The building was divided into office and retail spaces under the establishment of “The Auburn State Theatre Mall,” and a 500-seat movie theater was carved from the remains of the Theatre’s original orchestra section.

Project Auburn

In the late 1990s, Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center (APPAC) was established as a non-profit organization. APPAC purchased the Theatre property in 2006. Two years later, Project Auburn, under APPAC and the members of the Theatre Restoration Committee, the Auburn Rotary Club, local contractors and generous community supporters, the Theatre’s façade was reconstructed to replicate the original and gifted with a new replica of the original “STATE” blade and marquee.

Tearing Down The Wall

In 2009 one of the two small movie theatres was transformed into a 130-seat performing arts venue. Three years later, a $200,000 roof was installed and APPAC launched the “Tear Down the Wall Bring Up the Arts” campaign. By 2014 the Theatre reopened as the single-room, 350-seat theatre you see today and in 2019 officially began operating as Auburn State Theatre.

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