LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A historic Las Vegas theater has flipped the switch on a bright future. Huntridge Theater re-lit its iconic sign and marquee Friday night.
Hundreds of spectators gathered downtown to witness the relighting of the theater sign and marquee.
Many who are familiar with the theater's rocky past understand the significance of the relighting ceremony.
The Huntridge was first opened in 1933 by Leigh S. J. Hunt, who eventually passed it down to his son Henry. By 1977, the Huntridge Theater had closed its doors.
Over the course of the next decade, the theater would change owners several times, closing and reopening. In 1993, the theater was registered in Nevada's Register of Historic Places, but the Huntridge closed for a final time in 2004 and never reopened.
IT'S LIT! For the first time in nearly two decades, the marquee at Huntridge Theater is lit tonight. It's still a long road to reopening the shuttered landmark, but Dapper Companies hopes to start renovations in the next year: https://t.co/3Sn9JN0wA9 pic.twitter.com/TwnVxaUQyw
— KTNV 13 Las Vegas (@KTNV) April 8, 2023
Longtime Las Vegas photographer Mike Hill says he remembers the theater’s heyday.
“I would never think, shooting all these things in 1993, that 30 years later that they would be asking for the photos to put in an exhibit,” Hill told Channel 13.
Hill is not the only one strolling down memory lane.
“In '93, The Cranberries just came out, we actually talked our way on their tour bus, and we got to meet the whole band. I mean, this is youth right here," said one fan who came out to see the re-lighting Friday night.
Dapper Companies acquired the theater in 2021 and will now begin renovations with plans to open the theater once again.
“We just owned it for about under two years. We have been cleaning it up and getting the lights back on,” said owner J Dapper.
A date has yet to be set, but Dapper Companies says the Huntridge should reopen within the next two years.
