KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) - Kilgore’s historic Crim Theater now sits free from asbestos and empty, awaiting a decision on what, if anything, it will become.
A block away, Kilgore’s Texan Theater is now a successful venue for the city after major renovations, but the Crim Theater is still awaiting its turn to become something.
Although it hasn’t been used for decades, the Crim Theater has been declared structurally sound, but city officials haven’t decided what it will become.
City of Kilgore Director of Parks and Facilities Keith Yorgason says the city is going to keep the Crim.
“As is the case with any old buildings in Kilgore, if you want to do something with them, demolish them or upgrade them or anything, you always check for asbestos, lead, anything like that and it has to be removed if you want it to be safely used,” Yorgason said.
Asbestos was found in the building, so it recently went through an abatement.
“You can see some portions of the building that have been removed from the building. Some of the plaster, some insulation around the HVAC ducts,” Yorgason said.
He said the work was done without bothering the neighbors.
“They came in here, shut the doors, eight weeks later they were done,” Yorgason said.
The inside space has such a high ceiling it’s almost dizzying walking in. Yorgason said the theater seats are long gone, and the Crim was used for storage. Everything in there had become trash.
“We had just about the entire parks and facilities department, myself included, down here. It took an entire eight-hour day, multiple loads with a brush truck. Filling it just with things that had been rotting in here, one time or another,” Yorgason said.
They had to do that before the abatement could begin. The building is not watertight but has been declared structurally sound by an engineer. The Crim went up in 1939 and was apparently built to last.
“A lot of companies throughout the years, back in the thirties until now, that when the theater was running, they’d use it to show their opening showing of their films,” Yorgason said.
There were many premiers during its heyday, but there isn’t even a screen in it now.
“The most important thing is now that it has a clean bill of health, it can be anything that it needs to be,” Yorgason said.
And right now, from the outside, it’s a landmark. Looking at it, you can almost hear the crowd gathering for that premiere of long ago.
The recent asbestos abatement cost $187,000 dollars. It was partially paid for by a $90,000 donation from the Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation.
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