CLASS ACT
Community troupe restores life to historic Texas Theatre
STORY AND PHOTOS BY LISA TANG
The Texas Theatre was likely going to ruin in the early 2000s, had the Palestine Community Theatre not started renovations. Twenty years later, the nonprofit organization, led by a dedicated board of directors, continues hosting productions while raising funds through donations and grants that ensure its preservation.
When the grand, three-story Spanish colonial theater was erected in 1930, it opened as an atmospheric movie palace, the most expensive in Texas at its time. The effects came from an organ that played background music to accompany silent films.
The building’ s long history included two fires and a series of closings and openings, but all that changed after PCT adopted the building as its home and initiated a range
10 SPRING EDITION 2025