The Virginia has been entertaining Somerset since 1920s

SOMERSET, Ky. (FOX 56) — Somerset is a spot for food fanatics, lake lovers, and art admirers. The city is also not without history.

The Virginia has been entertaining Somerset since the 1920s. As expected, the historic venue has changed since the doors first opened.

It opened in 1922 as a local movie theater and for more than 70 years became part of the city’s fondest memories. But the family-owned business fell on hard times, sitting vacant and deteriorating for nearly three decades.

In 1994, The Virginia closed after an ice storm caused its roof to collapse.

Several years ago, Somerset bought the property from the city’s downtown development corporation, spending $2.3 million to bring the theater back to life ahead of its 100th anniversary. The historic space is now more than a cinema, renovated into a multi-use venue.

“The Virginia Theater, what I like to call the artist formerly known as the Virginia Cinema, was one of the movie theaters located in downtown Somerset. One of the others was the Kentucky, which is now a parking lot. That was one of the main reasons why this community really banded together to try to refurbish this theater was to not let it become a parking lot and to let it be a part of the rich history of this community,” said John Alexander, the Pulaski County government’s communications director.

Last month, it hosted the 606-strong tornado relief benefit concert to raise money for storm survivors of May’s horrific tornado that damaged parts of the area.

Alexander is proud to have an iconic piece of the city back in play. He said if the lake is the city’s lifeblood, then The Virginia is its heart.

“The community was very welcoming of it. I like to use the quote that Humphrey Bogart used in The Maltese Falcon: it’s ‘the stuff that dreams are made of.’ This has been our dream for decades and to have it back open, to have it accessible to the public, and to be in a form that it’s never been in before and to have a building that is modern, that does have modern sensibilities, then also a throwback to the past,” Alexander said.

Alexander also hosts a classic movie series at the theater once a month.

“To me, it’s a chance again to show people Somerset that when they visit here, when they visit the lake, when they visit this area, that it’s something that they can come see that’s modern but then also looks towards the past as well,” said Alexander. “They can’t stay on the lake 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, to have things like this in downtown Somerset for people to go do outside of the lake and outside of that regular Memorial Day to Labor Day lake season is something that benefits everybody.”

Friday night, the band Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience is performing at the Virginia. The show starts at 8 p.m. For a list of other shows and events, click here.