A VIBRANT PLACE IN ST. GEORGE HISTORY

Originally, above the Lobby of the theater was a large open air studio that was outfitted with 2,500 square feet of high quality solid maple wood flooring. Several St. George matriarchs have described the dance lessons they experienced back in the late 20’s and early 30’s when they were just six or seven years old. At this time the trusses and ceiling joists were left unfinished and the roof was not insulated. It appears that two pot belly stoves were used on each side to heat the dance studio.

The building originally stood alone in the middle of the block and there was access to both the basement and upper levels from both sides. There were apartments in the basement and eventually the dance studio upstairs was converted into apartments. These were used through the 1960’s and likely part of the 1970’s. There are many stories that still circulate about St George families that lived in the theater. In the latter decades it was a popular place for Dixie College students to live.

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Under the stage was a large coal fired boiler that was used for heating the entire building. There was also a small apartment located under the stage that housed the boiler keeper who stoked the furnace. In the 1970’s and 1980’s many a St George teenager - on a dare - would sneak into the building under the stage, and then following the boiler pipes, crawl up the dark and eerie earthen tunnel under the theater until they reached the abandoned basement apartments. At the small entrance to the apartments the trespasser would be startled by a mummified cat with a face frozen in a horrifying howl.

The theater was later renamed “The Dixie Theater” and created many fond memories for young St. George couples that experienced their first handholding or kiss in the large balcony while watching a movie.

In 2001, the building was again introduced to the St. George community as The Main Street Theater & Ballroom. Having just completed a major remodel of the front half of the building, the new owners restored the original curved ceilings above the lobby and rescued the “Ballroom” from the abandoned apartments above. The building was decorated in a style of the Victorian 1890’s and was upgraded to meet modern building codes for public access. 

From early 2005 – April 2011, the rear half of the building – the theater – has been under seismic retrofitting, restoration and remodeling. The theater area has been modified into urban themed office space, and a basement was dug under the theater to create work areas and storage space including the old boiler room. Several original decoration elements from the historical theater including wall sconces and stain glass window panels have been refurbished and again included in the new office space motif.

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