students study State Theatre for possible reuse
Former movie house was sold in December
By MARGARET FOSMOE
and HEIDI PRESCOTT
South Bend Tribune
SOUTH BEND — Some Chicago college students took careful measurements Friday in the chilly interior of the State Theatre, which recently was sold to a local investment and management company.
Banko Capital completed purchase of the building out of foreclosure on Dec. 22. The purchase price was not disclosed.
The firm is led by Assaf Dagan. He hopes to adapt the building for reuse, although no specific reuse has yet been decided.
“We don’t know yet. We’re open to suggestions,” Banko property manager Tricia Greaney said.
“We need to figure out what the highest and best use of the theater will be, and we are open to everything,” she said. “All we know is we want to contribute to the community and downtown. Everyone has memories of the State Theatre, and we’ll be investing in its renovation.”
Dagan was out of the country Friday and unavailable for an interview.
Banko Capital also owns such properties as the Yorktowne building in downtown Mishawaka, the Viridean office building in South Bend, and it has ownership in North Douglas Condominiums in Mishawaka.
The lights in the theater’s historic marquee were on Friday to welcome a group of six undergraduates from the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago. The advanced restoration class is studying the State Theatre as part of a class project on the building’s potential for adaptive reuse.
“I think it would really be nice to keep it as a theater,” student Lirio Solano said. It could be used both for film screenings and live performances, she said.
Paint is peeling from the walls and ceiling and the theater seats were removed years ago, but the structure itself stands solid.
“Believe it or not, but this is in pretty good condition compared to some other theaters,” said Neal Vogel, principal at Restoric LLC in Chicago and the class instructor. He was shooting photos of architectural details in the Beaux Arts interior.
The State Theatre, 214 S. Michigan St., was designed by prolific theater architect Henry L. Newhouse. Of dozens of Newhouse-designed theaters across the Midwest, only two — the Portage Theater in Chicago and Tivoli Theater in St. Louis — are still open, Vogel said.
His students will perform an intensive study of the State this semester and present the results of their work, including renovation cost estimates, in March. Bringing the students to South Bend was a partnership between the college, Downtown South Bend Inc. and the Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend & St. Joseph County.
Not only are city officials pleased the State Theatre has a new owner, but they are looking forward to assisting Banko Capital as it moves forward with planning the future use and renovating the building.
“They have expressed that they do not plan to rehabilitate the building in a vacuum,” Tamara Nicholl-Smith, director of downtown business recruitment for South Bend, said. She said the new owners have “expressed to us their enthusiasm about the building, not only due to its historic significance and aesthetic beauty, but also because of the potential importance the building can once again play in the downtown community.”
Berrien Springs resident Ezra Haugabrooks is very interested in the theater’s future. He’s had his eye on the building for a while as a potential home base for Opera LaSalle, a non-profit regional opera company he’s involved in forming.
“Our intent is to do professional opera in South Bend and education, too,” Haugabrooks said. He plans to work with the theater’s new owner to make that dream a reality.
The State Theatre opened in 1921 as the Blackstone Theatre Vaudeville House, and later operated for decades as movie theater. It closed as a first-run movie house in 1977, according to Tribune archives.
The State Theatre later operated as a nightclub for 12 years, which ended in foreclosure. A 2006 effort by a local group to turn the theater into a Christian-focused cultural arts center also ended in foreclosure.
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Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe:
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