State Theatre

History

The State Theatre at 404 S. Burdick Street in Kalamazoo is a John Eberson atmospheric movie palace built for the W. S. Butterfield chain. It opened in July 1927 (Wikipedia dates opening night July 14) after nine months of work costing $350,000, with a Spanish courtyard interior, a night-sky ceiling, and a Barton organ. Butterfield closed it in 1982; it reopened in 1985 for live shows and seats 1,590. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 17, 2021. In September 2025 the Kalamazoo Public Library’s local-history desk reported that Dan and Holly Carmichael of Lead Balloon Productions had bought it from the Hinman Company.