Historic Chief Theatre artifacts will go on display

It’s been 22 years since fire ravaged Pocatello’s historic Chief Theatre, and while little remains of the theatre today, Randy Dixon hasn’t forgotten it.

“I remember looking at that as I was listening to the movie like it was yesterday,” said Dixon, who remembers watching films at the Chief as a youngster in the 1950s and 1960s.

Today, most of Dixon’s basement is a shrine to the theatre he remembers so well.

“Our idea here is to create a lasting history of the Chief Theatre that people can share with their children and their grandchildren,” said Dixon.

His collection, which contains various old photographs, one of the theatre’s original doors and two reupholstered seats, keeps growing. Last month, another collector loaned him one of the theatre’s four original drinking fountains.

Most of these items were acquired when the theatre was being remodeled in the late 1960s.

“Basically whoever wrecked it out ended up taking pieces of the Chief,” said Dixon.

Starting June 6, Dixon plans to put his collection on display at the Bannock County Historical Museum. The exhibit is set to run until August.

Dixon is asking others with Chief Theatre memorabilia to loan it to him for the exhibit.

“I’d like to see an usherettes’ uniform. That would be just really neat,” said Dixon.

You can contact Dixon through the Chief Theatre Project Facebook page.