Palace Theater
About this property
Morris Performing Arts Center (originally Palace Theatre and formerly Morris Civic Auditorium) is a 2,564-seat concert hall located in South Bend, Indiana. It opened in 1922 as a vaudeville house and later became a movie palace. It was developed along with the neighboring Palais Royale Building by the Palace Theater Corporation. It is a four- to five-story, rectangular, Spanish Renaissance Revival style brick building with finely crafted terra cotta ornamentation. It was planned for demolition in 1959 but was saved from demolition, and between 1998 and 2000, it was restored and remodeled. Morris Performing Arts Center's interior has a rose, blue and cream color scheme, as when it opened. The theater stage measures 56 feet by 57 feet and contains a red and gold main curtain dating from the 2000 restoration. The theater is home to the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and hosts Broadway shows, concerts, and other special events, including Marian High School's annual commencement ceremony. The theater's interior borrowed from European architectural styles. More than half of the seats at the center, 1,282, are in the balcony, with the remainder in the lower level. In 1985, the center was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It qualified for historic designation because of its place in the region's history and because of its historically significant architecture. In 2022, the theater celebrated its 100th year, and on November 2 of that year, a documentary commemorating the anniversary aired on the local PBS affiliate, WNIT-TV. The Raclin Murphy Encore Center addition opened in 2026.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Palace Theater listed on the National Register?
Palace Theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 4, 1985.
What type of historic resource is Palace Theater?
Palace Theater is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Palace Theater?
The period of significance for Palace Theater is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Palace Theater?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Palace Theater will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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