Cotton Theatre

The Cotton Theatre, also known as Regent Theatre and Oster Regent Theatre, is a theater located at the corner of 1st Street and Main Street in downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was named for local Cedar Falls resident Frank Cotton who built the theater in 1909 and 1910.

History

The opening night of the Cotton Theatre was Thursday, June 23, 1910. On that night, The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary, chosen from the May Robson Company, was shown. The original theater had seating for 1,000 patrons.

In 1918, the name was changed to Regent Theatre. In 1991 the Blair family along with the Beck Trust gave the theater to the Cedar Falls Community Theatre as a gift. In 1994, it was restored at a price of 1.2 million dollars and was given the new name Oster Regent Theatre. The theater is still widely used today and seats 500 people. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

Silka, Wayne E. A History of the Cotton Theatre in Cedar Falls, Iowa, from 1910-1918. University of Northern Iowa, 1973.

External links

• http://www.cedarnet.org/regent/
• http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Cotton_Theater

Coordinates: 42°32′15″N 92°26′45″W / 42.5376°N 92.4458°W / 42.5376; -92.4458