The Historic Park Theatre - Estes Park, Colorado
Posted by: 
Big B Bob
N 40° 22.531 W 105° 31.405
13T E 455566 N 4469569
The oldest theatre west of the Mississippi River built as a motion picture theatre that is still shows first run films.
Waymark Code: WM6NMV
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 06/27/2009
Views: 14
From the Historic Park Theatre Website: (
visit link)
The Historic Park Theatre is the oldest theatre west of the Mississippi River that was built as a motion picture theatre that is still operating Film Productions.
The Park Theatre was constructed by J.L. Jackson in 1913. It was completed by C.H. Bond in 1914/15. Bond sold the building to Fred Jackson, who operated the theatre untill 1922 when he sold it to Ralph Gwynn. Gwynn added the landmark tower. This tower is termed the "Tower of Love", because Gwynn built it representing the beautiful love of his life. Gwynn operated the theatre until his death.
The theatre has been operated since 1968 by long time locals Ola and Richard Stanger. The Stangers purchased the theatre in 1982 from Vic Walker and saved it from demolition, by having the theatre placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Stangers along with the citizens of Estes Park also saved the neon lights on the tower by getting a variance passed that allowed the lights to burn in the town of Estes. After the Lawn Lake flood of 1982 Estes Park added a new sign code that banned all neon signs in Estes Park. The citizens of Estes Park decided that the tower should be able to keep the lights burning with a town vote that said the lights on the tower are not a sign.
This family run and operated Historic theatre looks forward to having you as our guest and as a part of our future history.