SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The State Theatre in downtown Sioux Falls hit multiple milestones in 2021, celebrating its 95th birthday and the one-year anniversary of the cinema’s reopening.

Following decades of fundraising and renovating, the State Theatre reopened in December 2020. A year later, the nearly century-old cinema continues to impress moviegoers.

“They come in and they understand the level of detail that went into every inch of this place and the importance of restoring it to how it looked in 1926. That’s not the easiest way to do a construction project but it was definitely worth the time and effort,” State Theatre Executive Director Allison Weiland said.

The theatre closed in 2021 by adding extra movies and showtimes during Christmas break.

“Movies are a great thing to do during these winter months so we saw a lot of families come in and share the experience together, which is something we love to see,” Weiland said.

Executive Director Allison Weiland hopes to attract even larger audiences in the new year.

“We’ve been open now for a year but there’s a lot of people in our community and beyond that don’t know we’re open, we’re a movie theatre and how you get tickets, so just expanding that message, making sure people know this is a place for everyone to come and enjoy movies,” Weiland said.

The elevator is already installed but one of the next big projects at the theatre is finishing the third-floor microcinema.

“We definitely would have it open for rental, whether it’s corporate meetings or private events. We see people that want to bring in old family movies and show them as a group or somewhere great to watch the parade,” Weiland said.

Whatever the outing, the State Theatre aspires to offer every visitor the best seat in the house.

The State Theatre is showing The Sound of Music at 7:00 Wednesday night and will showcase a pair of new releases this weekend.