In less than four short years, San Antonio’s Majestic Theatre will reach its centennial celebration. Countless memories have been made within the walls of the venue, and even more experiences are on the precipice of living forever in the annals of Texas history.
Located in the heart of downtown San Antonio, the Majestic Theatre opened on June 14th, 1929 and was instantly deemed one of the grandest movie palaces in the South. That’s in no small part thanks to the venue being the first theater in Texas to be fully air-conditioned, an attractive feature in a region where temperatures frequently reach triple digits. Advertisements at the time even promoted the venue as offering “an acre of cool, comfortable seats,” underscoring just how significant the advancement was to audiences of the era.
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And yet, despite its historic beginnings, the Majestic Theatre came dangerously close to being demolished in the late ’80s. Fortunately, civic engagement organizer and local leader Joci Straus stepped in by founding the Majestic Empire Foundation, which aimed to save the Majestic and the nearby Empire Theatre from an irrevocable fate.
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“The whole reason the foundation was formed in 1987 was the theaters had been abandoned and run down,” says Jaselyn Blanchard, current executive director of the Majestic Empire Foundation. “They were slated to be completely ripped down and converted into parking garages. At that point, Joci Straus stepped in and had them designated as historic landmarks, which prevented their demolition. And from there began the fundraising campaign to restore them. I think what many people don’t know is how close we were to these theaters not existing.”
Imbued with Spanish Mediterranean influences, the Majestic Theatre was designed by John Eberson for Karl Hoblitzelle’s Interstate Theatres empire. Hoblitzelle, an American theater owner, real estate investor, and philanthropist, had a vision that aligned neatly with Eberson’s, whose atmospheric-theater style aimed to make audiences feel like they were stepping into a world far removed from the ordinary.
“When people come into the space, the number one thing that they experience is that they’ve never seen anything like that,” Blanchard says. “We’re not a modern theater. We’re a theater that honors the history. It’s restored back to the original atmospheric design from the time that it was originally built.”
Blanchard explains that conceptually, Eberson “brought the outside in,” giving people a singular chance to escape from reality and enjoy an entertainment experience that could transport them from their day-to-day lives.
Inspired by outdoor courtyards, Eberson incorporated a nighttime sky into the theater’s design. On the ceiling, clouds drift across an expansive blue heaven, while dozens of twinkling stars shine bright. “It’s a very defining feature,” Blanchard says. “When people think about the Majestic, they think about the star ceiling.”
