Tower Theatre (Salt Lake City)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tower Theatre, located in the 9th and 9th neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a historic film theater operated by the Salt Lake Film Society.[1][3]
Salt Lake City, Utah
United States
Tower Moving Pictures Theater, Tower Talkies | |
 Interactive map of Tower Theatre | |
| Address | 876 East 900 South Salt Lake City, Utah United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40.749809°N 111.865947°W |
| Owner | Salt Lake Film Society |
| Capacity | 340 |
| Type | cinema |
| Construction | |
| Opened | January 8[1] or 10,[2] 1928 |
Years active | 98 |
| Architect | Samuel Campbell |
| Website | |
| Website | |
The theater (with the Broadway Centre Cinemas, also owned by the society) screens classic and independent films, and hosts a movie-rental library.[4] The theater became a venue for the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.[5]
Since 2020, the theater has been closed and undergoing renovations.[6]
History
The theater was built by Samuel Campbell in late 1927[citation needed] and opened January 8[1] or 10,[2] 1928. The Tower Theater is the oldest movie theater in the Salt Lake Valley that still operates today, and was the first air-conditioned movie theater in the city.[4]
Its original façade resembled the Tower of London,[1] but this was removed in 1950.[2] It was equipped with a Kilgen organ during the silent film era.[2] The theater converted to sound films in 1930 and became known as "Tower Talkies."[1] It was the first to screen sound films in the state.[7]
The theater closed in 1988 and remained vacant until it reopened on July 26, 1991.[4] In 2001,[1] the Tower Theater was saved from demolition, and the nonprofit Salt Lake Film Society was established to manage the theater.[4][5]
The theater closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic[5] and in the aftermath of an earthquake the same month.[6] The Salt Lake Film Society purchased the Tower Theater building in December 2022.[3] In August 2023, they announced plans to renovate the building.[7] In March 2026, the Salt Lake Film Society filed paperwork to begin a "preliminary facade deconstruction," with the aim "to better understand what’s left of its original 1928 facade." [8]
_2.jpg){kind=small}
