Chief Theater

Since its founding in 1928, this historic theater has served the community of Coldwater, Kansas. Originally built as the Gossett Theater by Paul Gossett, the theater has had several names and owners. For example, it was briefly called Stark's Comanche Theater in 1940 after a naming contest. When the Frank family purchased the building in 1947, they renovated the inside, adding a Native American theme and New Deal-style artwork and renaming the business the Chief Theater. Save for an 18-month period in the 1980s, the theater has operated continuously since it opened its doors. Today, like several other historic theaters in small towns across Kansas, the theater is now operated by a local non-profit, the Chief Community Theater, Inc., who expressed plans to renovate the building again shortly after they took over operations in 2002.

The Chief Theater, originally called the Gossett Theater, was designed in 1928 by its first owner, Paul E. Gossett. A review of area maps indicates that at the time it was built, this was the only movie theater in town. In fact, given the town's small size, this is likely to be the only movie theater ever to operate in Coldwater. The general contractor was Thomas Howard, and the interior designer was R.E. McGaully. According to a November 1928 article in the Western Star, the building's features included "hardwood covering the auditorium's sloping concrete floor; upholstered chairs with arm rests provided seating for two hundred patrons on the main floor and one hundred additional chairs ... at the balcony level." Since the theater was built after the peak of silent films, it was equipped from the beginning to show talkies and had a Kolster-Tone machine to provide synchronized music.

Gossett sold the theater in 1940 to Bernard, Victor, and Donita Stark, who held a contest to determine the theater's new name. The winner, Mrs. C.G. Lyon, provided the name Comanche, winning free tickets to twenty movies. Under the new name Stark's Comanche Theatre, the family directed operations for six years before selling it in 1946 to Sol and Lucille Frank. Following a remodeling the following year, the theater gained its modern name, the Chief Theater, and its notable Native American motif. An art piece on the building's interior, which depicts the history of Comanche County and Coldwater, was inspired by the public art created in rural areas in the previous decade as part of the New Deal. The Franks also enclosed the original entrance area to form a foyer, although this part of the building has since been reopened to the outside.

The building's last sets of owners were Porter and Betty Smith, who purchased it in 1952 and moved showings to weekends only, and Joe and Connie Sunderland, who bought it in the early 1980s and proceeded to close it for 18 months. In the summer of 1985, the Coldwater Chamber of Commerce purchased the Chief Theater and reopened it. Today, it is operated by the Chief Community Theater Inc., a local non-profit organization founded in 2002 by eleven Comanche County residents. When the building was nominated for the National Historic Register in 2004, the Chief Community Theater Inc. expressed plans to restore the theater while still keeping its historical integrity.

Ottensen, Kristen and Elizabeth Rosin. Chief Theater - National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, National Parks Gallery. June 1st, 2004. Accessed October 12th, 2023. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/dcef6e90-b364-4d75-bd83-21a4dc7d7132/.