The Hollywood in the Heartland project engages the public with Iowa's movie legacy through several heritage tourism activities designed to stimulate interest in this fascinating aspect of the state's history. The project is being completed in two successive phases:

1. Conduct a statewide survey of historic movie theaters and to develop a Multiple Property Document (MPD) for this building type. This research information is being disseminated to the public through an interactive, web-based tour of Iowa's most significant movie theaters and other sites connected to the creation of motion pictures in the state.
2. Develop public outreach opportunities to bring the results of the first phase of research to all corners of the state. This may include the creation of a traveling exhibit focusing on Iowa's movie theaters and the state's role in the creation of movies, a book-length publication, or a statewide conference focusing on the rehabilitation and adaptive use of historic movie theaters.

Get Involved

If you know of a movie theater that isn't included in the inventory results, please send us information on it! Simply download this abbreviated site inventory form and fill it out to add the movie theater:

Movie Theater Form in MS Word format (128 KB)

After you fill out the form, please return it by email as an attachment to info@preservationiowa.org. Please insert 2-6 digital photographs of the theatre on the form and also attach them to the email with the form as separate images. Please include “Movie Theatre Survey” in the subject line of the email.

Project Press

Read the project's press release online at the State Historical Society of Iowa's website.

Download Spot on SHPO from Preservation Iowa's Fall 2007 newsletter, The Iowa Preservationist (Vol. 17, No. 3).