West Duluth’s Alhambra Theater reopened under a new name, The State Theater, on June 27, 1925. The name change came after a renovation of the space, which had originally opened on Sept. 15, 1913.

The State Theater closed circa 1928. The building housed a variety of businesses until it reopened as the Alhambra on May 16, 2025 — one month ahead of the centennial of its name change.

The Alhambra, 321 N. Central Ave., is next door to another recently renovated and reopened theater, The West. Both are operated by Bob Boone.

While the original Alhambra was designed for both motion pictures and vaudeville performances, the focus of the remodeled State Theater was specifically for movies.

“We have installed the very latest mazda projection lamps, which are now replacing the old flickering arc light,” reads an advertorial in the Duluth Herald. “The new mazda projection lamp gives a perfectly smooth, uniform light and eliminates all eye strain. Our new Minusa gold fiber screen, used in combination with the new cinephor projection lense, gives a picture more lifelike than has been possible before the other screens and lenses.”

The leather seats in the theater were made by the Automatic Seating Company of Superior and “built for perfect comfort.”