A Brief History of the Historic Spring Theatre...

     For more than 60 years, the theater building on Main Street in Springhill, LA has stood tall but has also had to endure many hard times through the years. The original theater was constructed in 1946 by the Tri-State Theater Company. It enjoyed several years of success, until a tragic fire destroyed most of the building in 1958. That year, Boyd Adkison purchased the building and began reconstructing.
     Boyd was able to reopen to the public in 1959. Unfortunately, Boyd died in 1960 from cancer. Luckily for the Spring, his wife, Bess, ran the theater after her husband's untimely death. Bess remarried and kept the Spring open for 22 more years. The Spring reached the height of its glory days in 1979, when the George Peppard film "Five Days From Home" opened at the Springhill theater. The movie about a man that escapes from a Louisiana prison to be by his ailing son's bed in California was partially filmed in Springhill. The premiere was attended by George Peppard (the movie's director and starring actor). Unfortunately, Bess's death in 1982, brought an end to movies at the Spring for many years. Even after its last movie, the poster for "Lady & the Tramp" still hung outside as a reminder to the public of the brighter days the theater had once hosted.
     During the 1980s the theater saw brief usage by the church now known as Trinity Worship Center. Following the church's use of the facility, the building remained vacant and in disrepair for over a decade.
     As the city of Springhill was trying to revamp its Main Street, Jan Willis was concerned about the building. According to Willis, "...we felt the city could not afford to use the taxpayers' money to buy the theater." Fortunately, two men felt the building needed to be saved. In 2001, James Branch and Lamar Smith purchased the building and donated it to the city. While seeking state and federal funding, the city set out to find someone willing to invest time and money to restore an important piece of town history. The theater's luck had finally changed, in 2002 a new partnership between Mike (son of Bess & Boyd Adkison) and Nita Adkison and Adam and Kelli Harris of Center, TX would completely change the face of the theater.
     Spring Theatres, LLC was born. The company set out to bring top quality movies at a price well below the national average to an area that had forgotten what it was like to not travel to Bossier City or Magnolia to see any movie. Starting in June of 2002, Adam Harris began the huge task of renovating the building from top to bottom. Armed with a $100,000 one-man restoration plan, Adam worked 19-hour days, and, occasionally, slept overnight inside the theater. The 415 seat auditorium boasts a 40' x 20' screen that dwarfs most screens in the Ark-La-Tex. In addition, the theater rattles your seat with its state-of-the-art Digital DTS sound system. Six years later, Adam is still making improvements in an effort to provide the best movie experience in the area.
     After three months of intense labor, the Spring Theatre opened with the blockbuster Spider-Man. On opening night, Adam found himself disappointed at the poor turnout but never got discouraged. In December of 2002, Adam & Kelli Harris were able to buy out Mike & Nita Adkison becoming sole owners of Spring Theatres, LLC. Since then, Adam has been able to overlook those first night disappointments thanks to overwhelming support by the community. The North Webster Chamber of Commerce soon recognized the tremendous contribution the theater makes to the community and named the Spring Theatre the 2003 "Outstanding Business of the Year".

Compiled July 2008