While Columbus, Indiana deserves its reputation as “the Athens of the Prairie” for its collection of mid-century modern architecture, my recent stop there found me captivated by a historic building of a different sort, one with roots extending back to the last quarter of the 19th century. The Crump Theater, an outstanding Art Moderne/Art deco movie theater, has a complicated history and an uneven – but optimistic – future path.
East elevation and façade of the Crump Theater in Columbus, Indiana.
The original part of the building (the front half of what is visible today) dates to 1871. Colonel John A. Keith, an attorney, had the building, known as “Keith’s Arcade,” constructed. The building was purchased in 1889 by John S. Crump after a fire destroyed his original opera house (located at 4th and Washington Streets).
While I don’t have a photo of the 1871 building, this is the footprint from the 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance map (page 5).
Crump and local architect Charles Sparrell transformed the existing building into Crump’s New Theater, and the refurbished structure, now a 2,000-seat opera house, opened on October 20, 1889. This renovation resulted in a twos-story (maybe 2.5-story) brick building, with a distinctive round-arched façade, with elongated (Italianate-style) arched windows on the second story, and an arcade of arched openings on the ground level.
The expanded theater, seen on the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance map (page 26).
The first movie was shown in the Crump in 1914, and more changes were on the way. As the United States celebrated the end of World War I and the economy soared, Crump’s New Theater underwent another reinvention in 1920, this time with the complete removal of the 1871 façade. I don’t know what this version of the theater looked like, but the interior was substantially enlarged, and a mezzanine level added.
Ad from the February 9, 1922 edition of the Evening Republican.
In the fall of 1941, architect Alden Meranda channeled the inspiration of Art Deco design and the building was reborn yet again, this time as a sleek and modernistic Art Moderne masterpiece.
Entry doors to the theater.
There are four sets of paired, wooden entry doors with circular lights arranged vertically behind the ticket box, which has rounded corners and looks nothing so much like a vessel heading to sea. If you look down, you see the embedded apron sign at your feet, with stylized geometric shapes and “Crump” directly in front of the ticket box.
Description of the $45,000 “improvement” work that began in the fall of 1941, from the October 13, 1941 edition of the Evening Republican.
While the 45-foot sign (with five foot high letters!) was what I noticed as I drove down Franklin Street, every aspect of the facade is striking.
Façade of the Crump Theater.
Although I didn’t get a detail shot of the parapet, it appears to be pleated like an accordion (or, more accurately, a chevron) – with a carved floral motif.
Some of the Vitrolite panels are cracked, but the green is mesmerizing.
The ticket box of the theater.
Like so many other downtown movie theaters, deferred maintenance and fewer patrons led to the closure of the Crump in the late 1980s. But the community fought back against demolition, and the fact that the building still stands – and another restoration campaign has kicked off – is a testament to the love Columbus has for the distinctive theater.
Earlier this year, the Crump Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., a non-profit group, was founded. The organization’s focus is to bring the Crump back to a fully-operational state, with 700-750 seats and the capacity to host all sorts of performances, artists, and groups. I am crossing my fingers that the Crump – the oldest known theater in Indiana still in operation – has many more successful acts ahead.
