The City of Imperial is trying to find a new home for the old theatre seats. Making the job more difficult is the fact that the seats have to stay as an entire row, due to shared supports in between the seats.
These boxes of seats that have been stored on the stage in the Theatre, as well as two more pallets of boxes that are in Jill Moline’s storage unit, will be installed in February 2026..
Imperial Theatre seating to be replaced
By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
There are three weekends left to enjoy movies at the Imperial Theatre, before it closes for the month of February to install the new seating that was purchased from donations from the community and surrounding area.
Starting on Monday, Feb. 2 thru March 5, 2026, the Imperial Theatre will be closed for renovation of the seating area.
The city is looking for volunteers to help remove seats starting Feb. 2. The Theatre that was going to take the old seats decided they didn’t want them so the city is offering them free of charge to anyone who wants to come pick them up. Seats must be taken by the row.
Once all the seats are removed, the old flooring will be replaced with new plywood sub-flooring, before being covered with new slip resistant, commercial grade flooring.
The city has hired Einspahr Construction to replace the sub-flooring. A crew from Perkins County will install the new flooring.
The new flooring will have to be brought into the Theatre and allowed to acclimate for about a week before it is installed.
Once the flooring is put down, the city hired one person from Heartland Theatre Services, the company the seats were purchased from, to come out and guide the installation of the seats.
When this time comes, the city will once again be in need of volunteers to help with the installation of the seats. This would be a great way for high school students to get in some volunteer hours.
If everything goes according to plan, the Imperial Theatre will show a movie on March 6,7 and 8. If something causes a delay, the city will notify the public on their City of Imperial App.
Volunteers who want to help with the removal or installation of seats can leave their name and contact information at the theatre or City Offices.
Please be patient during the renovation. It is important to keep the Theatre operating in Imperial. Many of the surrounding towns have lost theatres and the City is trying to make sure our Theatre is a place people will want to come and enjoy a movie in.