Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ESCALANTE, Garfield County — A historic theater is being restored and reopened to once again offer entertainment for the locals and tourists in the small community of Escalante.
Escalante resident Jenifer Steed runs a local restaurant and business with her husband that caters and provides entertainment for tourist groups and local events. Steed said the majority of their events for their business, Wild West Retreat and Cowboy Cookouts, are held outside, but they wanted an option to host indoor events. As a result, the Steeds decided to purchase and restore the old historic theater on Main Street.
“It’s so cute and it hasn’t had anything done with it for so many years,” Steed said.
The Escalante Showhouse was built in 1938 by Lorin Griffin and was originally constructed as an entertainment hall and movie theater, according to Escalante Chamber of Commerce member Harriet Priska. During the construction, Griffin would allow local children to trade petrified wood for admission to the theater. He eventually used the petrified wood to adorn the exterior on the front of the theater, Priska said.
The showhouse continued to offer entertainment until the late 1960s when it eventually closed. Since the mid-1990s, the Chamber of Commerce has offered a walking tour of several historic buildings in Escalante, including the showhouse, Priska said. In March 2013, the showhouse and several other historic buildings were registered as the Escalante Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places.
Steed said they are excited to reopen the showhouse as a dinner theater for locals and tourists.
“There is nothing to do here at night,” she said. “This town is really quiet at night.”
Priska said a previous owner had removed the petrified wood facade from the front of the building, but the delineating shape has remained the same. Steed said they plan to put the petrified wood back on the front of the building and they plan to use as much of the original material as possible during their renovations.
“We took the old floor joists all made with the circular saws and everything and we actually made our table tops for our dinner show out of that,” Steed said. “And we are putting back down all the original flooring that was in there… It’s really cute, rustic. Some of those chairs are the old vintage wood chairs. They are so cute.”
Steed said they plan to have a dinner theater with plays, local bands and cowboy poetry as entertainment. She said they may also do murder-mystery dinners. They plan to open the showhouse in July and will do evening shows Tuesday through Saturday. The Historic Escalante Showhouse is located at 50 N. Main St.
Steed also started a Kickstarter project* to help fund the renovations for the Escalante Showhouse.
*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
