‘It’s a beautiful theatre,’ Hundreds gather inside historic Vigo location

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Hundreds of people gathered inside the Historic Indiana Theatre Tuesday for a “time traveler’s tour” of the property.

The event was put on by the Vigo County History Center alongside the “Indiana Landmarks” organization. It included a presentation on the history of the building, as well as a look inside the auditorium and behind the screen into the stage area.

Suzy Quick, the curator at the history center, said the turnout Tuesday was a clear sign this was still a significant location to residents.

“A lot of folks are rallying around the revival of this historic location,” she said. “A lot of people remember the first movie they saw here or the last movie they saw here, or some event or special occasion that they came to at the Indiana Theatre. It’s a beautiful theatre with a lot of rich history and a lot of it means to much to the community.”

One of those community members is Amanda Kibler. Kibler grew up in Terre Haute, and recently moved back after decades away.

She said coming back into the theatre was a bucket list item, one that she’s happy to check off.

“I moved back to Terre Haute after being gone for over 40 years. I had attended this theatre as a child,” she said. “I always loved the architecture… I wanted to come back in the theatre since I moved back. It still has held up.”

Kibler said she hopes to see it open its doors again– not just for movies, but other programs for people of all ages to enjoy. And seeing the large crowd Tuesday helped bring her hopes up that would be sometime soon.

“Everyone always had the Indiana Theatre on their radar, but I don’t think they didn’t know if anything was going to happen to it,” she said. “Now that there is something happening to it and you see this many people turn out to hear a presentation, it’s a really good sign the community is on board.”
Quick said the history center is working on providing more time traveler tours this year– the social media page for the organization will have that information when available.

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