The Ingersoll Theatre opened its doors on October 5, 1939, with a double-header: Second Fiddle and Torchy Runs for Mayor. The Des Moines Tribune called it “Tri-States’ newest theatre!!” and boasted of “everything new and the last word in screen entertainment.” Seating for 600 made it modest compared to downtown palaces, but perfect for the growing west side neighborhoods. The Tribune highlighted its “novel seating arrangement” where chairs were staggered so that “each person has a view between the two persons ahead of him.”

By the late 1960s and 1970s, the Ingersoll’s story reflected that of many single-screen houses nationwide. Television had already pulled away family audiences, and new multiplexes in suburban shopping malls promised more choice under one roof. Its reinvention came in 1978, when the building was converted into the Ingersoll Dinner Theater. In 2010 it was re-reinvented as a restaurant and nightclub.

Fast forward to today as new owners are converting it back into a live performance venue and dinner theater… THE INGERSOLL!