The Park Theatre Civic Centre: A Gem from the Past, a Showcase of the Future

On  October 4, 1916 the brand new Jennings Theatre burst upon the scene. With 560 brand new opera chairs, forced and natural ventilation changing the air every eight minutes, and telephone installed in the ticket booth, a restroom for women and children, Jennings County citizens had hit the bit time.

The theatre opened with the North Vernon Follies of 1916. It was an all-home folks cast. The regular picture service started October 6. The theatre had two new Powers 6B picture machines. The Gold Fiber screen brought every detail of the picture.

On September 20, 1938, Albert Thompson, leased the theater from the North Vernon Amusement Company. It became the Park Theatre at this time. Thompson replaced the seats with good, new, comfortable ones.  Additional restrooms plus a drinking fountain were installed.

People who were hard of hearing could sit in the last row, and listen to the movie’s dialogue over earphones that plugged into outlets behind a small handful of seats.

The last picture show at the Park Theatre was on March 25, 1962.  The film shown that evening was “the Hustler” starring Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman.

In 1987 the Jennings County Players decided the Park Theatre would be the ideal place to serve as its home. Max Wiley owned the Park at the time, renting out the front to small business owners and utilizing the rear for storage.  After the roof fell in, he dropped the purchase price from $45,000 to $35,000.

In the spring of 1996 the Historic Landmarks Foundation and a matching pledge from the Players funded a feasibility study on the future of the old Park Theatre.  One year later the Cinergy Foundation and Build Indiana Funds were received to replace the roof. By  the end of 2000, the project received over $450,000 in government and corporate grants and $131,166.32 in contributions from private individuals and businesses.  In November 2002, an anonymous donor presented the Park Theatre board with property valued at $500,000. The sale of the real estate was enough to fund the remaining restoration. 

 On October 4, 2003 the newly renovated Park Theatre Civic Centre re-opened with 332 plush seats and all new sound and lighting equipment. It has now become an historic venue for the arts, ecompassing nearly every genre of music and theatre.

www.Park-Theatre.com provides information about upcoming events and happenings.

Exciting things are being planned every day. Whether you grew up with the original Park Theatre throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s or this is your first time, you'll be blown away at what we've done.

Jeff Kuehl, Regional Coordinator