Ector Theatre

The Ector Theatre is a historic single-screen movie theater in downtown Odessa, Texas, United States. It opened on August 1, 1951, with a screening of the film "Half Angel" starring Loretta Young. The building is an Art Moderne-style house constructed of dark orange brick with a corner entrance, and its facade and side are wrapped in green granite with geometric square-block designs lined with neon. A marquee wraps around from the side to the front of the building, and the vertical sign remains in use at the corner above the marquee. For more than five decades the Ector served the Permian Basin region as a venue for films and live entertainment. In its later years it operated as a restored single-screen theater showing classic and art films, and it was available for rent for group performances and meetings. The venue also hosted tribute-artist shows and performing-arts events under banners such as "Ector Performing Arts" and "The Ector Opry." The theater is owned by the City of Odessa, Texas, and was leased to the nonprofit group Friends of the Ector Theater Inc. The Ector closed in June 2016; its final showing was a documentary titled "Mexico's Bravest Man." According to local reporting, the closure came as the city prepared to begin work on a convention center in downtown Odessa, and the keys were returned to the city. The official website, ectortheatre.com, was maintained as an archive of the venue's 2013-era pages and other sources. The Ector Theatre is remembered as an Odessa historical landmark and a landmark of mid-century American movie-palace architecture in West Texas.

The Ector Theatre opened on August 1, 1951, in downtown Odessa, Texas, as a single-screen movie house. Its first attraction was "Half Angel," starring Loretta Young. The building was designed in the Art Moderne style, built of dark orange brick with a corner entrance. From about twenty feet down the side and wrapping around the front, the facade is finished in green granite with geometric designs in square blocks; each block's pattern is lined with neon. The marquee wraps around from the side to the front of the building, and the vertical sign, located at the corner just above the marquee, remained in use. For more than fifty years the Ector served the Permian Basin as a venue for films and live entertainment. In its later decades it operated as a restored single-screen theater featuring classic and art films, and it was available for rent for purposes such as group performances and meetings. The venue also presented live programming, including legendary tribute artists, under the banners "Ector Performing Arts" and "The Ector Opry." The theater was owned by the City of Odessa, Texas, and leased to the nonprofit group Friends of the Ector Theater Inc. The Ector closed in June 2016. Its final showing, on the evening of June 25, 2016, was a documentary called "Mexico's Bravest Man." Local reporting stated that the operators were returning the key to the city because Odessa was preparing to begin work on a convention center in downtown Odessa. The official website, ectortheatre.com, was preserved as an archive of the site's 2013 pages and other sources, describing the venue as an Odessa historical landmark. The Ector Theatre is regarded as a historic landmark of Odessa and a surviving example of mid-twentieth-century American movie-palace architecture in West Texas.

• The Ector Theatre opens as a single-screen movie house in downtown Odessa, Texas, with a screening of "Half Angel" starring Loretta Young.

• The Ector Theater closes after more than 50 years, with a final showing of the documentary "Mexico's Bravest Man."

A restored historic single-screen movie palace and community entertainment venue in downtown Odessa, Texas.

• Single-screen movie theater

  A restored single-screen Art Moderne theater showing classic and art films.

• Ector Performing Arts

  Live performance programming at the venue.

• The Ector Opry

  A live music show presented at the theater.

1. 1Ector Theatre official website (archived)ectortheatre.com
2. 2Ector Theatre - Wikidatawikidata.org