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History of the Dome Theater

The Theater was originally built in 1910 and was called the Kootenai Theatre and Opera House. The original structure was a wood frame building which was later stuccoed. Early owners were A.M. Hoffman and W.F. Kienitz. The original theater burned down on January 20th, 1948.

The owners at the time of the fire were Mrs. Arthur J. Neils and Mrs. A.J. Agather. These owners immediately planned on rebuilding and decided to use materials such as concrete and mortar. The theater was rebuilt on the original site and called The Dome Theater since it was now as strong as Dome Mountain. The Dome Theater reopened for business on June 29th, 1948.

Following are archive photos of the Dome Theater in 1948

This is an original photo of the Dome Theater when it opened in 1948

This archive photo shows the original appearance of the auditorium and concession stand in 1948 when the Dome Theater first opened for business.