Landmark Theatre (Syracuse, New York)

Landmark Theatre

Loew's State Theater
The Theatre's exterior in January 2023
Interactive map of Landmark Theatre
Address	362 S. Salina Street Syracuse, New York United States
Owner	Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre
Capacity	2,908
Type	Movie palace
Screen	1
Current use	Performing arts center
Construction
Opened	February 18, 1928 (1928-02-18)
Website
landmarktheatre.org
Loew's State Theater
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location within New York
Location	362-374 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY
Coordinates	43°2′50.67″N 76°9′9.36″W
Architect	Thomas W. Lamb
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	77000970
Added to NRHP	May 02, 1977

The Landmark Theatre, originally known as Loew's State Theater, is a historic theater from the era of movie palaces, located on South Salina Street in Syracuse, New York, United States. Designed by Thomas W. Lamb, it is the city's only surviving example of the opulent theatrical venues of the 1920s. The Landmark is on the National Register of Historic Places. Saved from demolition by a community campaign in the 1970s, it is run by the nonprofit Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre and hosts touring Broadway productions and concerts; a restoration of the auditorium's original colors was completed in 2025.

History

The Loew's Corporation announced plans for a new theater on February 19, 1926. It would be built at the intersection of South Salina Street and West Jefferson Street, previously the location of the Jefferson Hotel. The Loew's State Theatre opened on February 18, 1928, and offered double bills of famous vaudeville stage acts and first-run films. During the Great Depression and World War II it continued to do good business, as theater patrons escaped for a few hours into its plush grandeur.

However, by the 1970s, the theater suffered from low attendance and was in disrepair. It closed in 1975 and was in danger of demolition; other downtown movie palaces, including the RKO Keith's, had already been torn down. Preservationists, led by the young group that became the Preservation Association of Central New York, rallied to save it in 1975. The next year Malcolm Sutton, a longtime Loew's employee, bought the theater and the commercial space above it from the chain and sought a demolition estimate, forcing the issue. In 1976, Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre, or SALT, was formed to preserve and renovate the venue. The concert impresario Murray Bernthal and his first wife, Rose, were among those who worked to save the theater. Rose Bernthal became its first executive director in 1977.

In 1977 Sutton agreed to sell the theater itself to SALT for $65,000 while keeping the offices above it. An October 11, 1977, benefit concert by Harry Chapin raised $9,000 toward the price, and the sale was completed by 1979; the theater was renamed the Landmark. The remainder of the building, including the upper floors, stayed with Sutton.

The Landmark eventually purchased the first two floors of the building and a $16 million renovation project lasting from October 2010 to November 2011 expanded the stage and backstage area enough to host touring Broadway shows, also providing new dressing rooms and green rooms in a plan to try to attract larger, longer-running events to the theater. The aging, recessed loading dock in the theater's rear on South Clinton Street was removed and replaced with a new two-bay dock. The box office was relocated from Jefferson Street to Salina Street, next to the lobby entrance and the original wooden ticket booth, both disused since its Loews State days. Awnings over the street-level storefronts were removed.

In addition to the theater, the building also includes several storefronts and offices on the upper floors. The Clinton Street storefronts were eliminated during the backstage expansion, the display windows now used for event posters. The upper floors have a separate entrance on West Jefferson Street and are collectively referred to as the Loews Building. Three floors have been converted by developer Robert Doucette into 24 condominium apartments. On September 12, 2008, the Landmark hosted the world premiere of The Express, a fictionalized account of the life of Syracuse University alumnus Ernie Davis, attended by stars Rob Brown and Dennis Quaid. Fans lined South Salina Street for the red-carpet event, which also drew Jim Brown, Floyd Little and members of Syracuse's 1959 national championship team.

A new marquee was added in the early 2020s. In 2025 the theater closed for a $1.5 million restoration of its auditorium, the first by professional artists since it opened. Conservators led by John Tiedemann stripped decades of soot and tobacco residue that had dulled the hall to brown and restored about 30 original colors, chiefly gold, red and green, on the walls, ceiling and proscenium arch. A $500,000 state grant provided the core financing. The Landmark reopened on September 9, 2025, with a 12-day run of the touring production of Hamilton, followed by a concert by David Byrne.

Architecture

Loews State Theatre, broader view of exterior.

According to Peter Baum of SALT, Loew's State was the first great "Oriental-style" movie theater, predating two of Loew's "Oriental palaces" in New York City. Architect Thomas Lamb described the theatre as "European, Byzantine, Romanesque – which is the Orient as it came to us through the merchants of Venice." It is considered a prime example of Lamb's ornate Indo-Persian designs; its auditorium features a row of "grotesques", beast-like heads, along with grillwork, mythological figures and a valance depicting Eastern deities. A large chandelier once hung in the lobby, originally designed by Louis Tiffany for Cornelius Vanderbilt's mansion. The chandelier was sold during the 1970s. A 1,400-pipe Wurlitzer organ was also once a major feature of the venue, but was also gone by the time SALT purchased the property. The promenade lobby, reached via a grand staircase, once held a fishpond with a Japanese pagoda fountain. The Landmark's red and gold decor and several large murals have been preserved and restored. The restored lobby is closed to the public and is only open for special events.

External links

• Landmark Theatre official site
• Landmark Theatre at Cinema Treasures
• Landmark Theatre Archives