Visit Viroqua's Historic Temple Theater

The town of Viroqua, WI is located in Vernon county, just east of the Mississippi River along Highway 14. This small town with a population just shy of 5,000 people has a great big personality. The town has a great historic Main Street that has been featured for years. The shops, restaurants and unique boutiques all add to the town's character and character indeed it has!

As you are cruising or walking the Main Street in Viroqua, you will notice a theatre billboard. Flashing lights, large letters and many colors will bring your eyes to its awareness. The Temple Theatre has been a center landmark for this town for decades upon decades.

In 1922, a classic revival style main street building was constructed. Included in this building are two store front sections, the theatre and in the top front a Masonic Temple. These 4 portions of the building are all independently run as fully functioning businesses and meeting areas.

Throughout the years the theatre was used to host shows, movies, musicals and civic events. This Temple Theatre was the center of the community and served as a gathering spot through the 1950's. When the depression struck, the theatre began to feel the pressure of trying to survive in difficult times.

As movies began to make it big, the theatre was transformed into a traditional movie theatre. As the television began to enter the common households, the theatre struggled to entice the public to view movies there. This began the long road of selling and buying of the theatre to many different entrepreneurs.

This lead to local management feeling the theatre was destined to only suffer financially and eventually closed the doors. After the doors closed, the theatre was soon in danger as demolition was discussed to make a parking lot.

Fortunately, the theatre building survived the depression era and soon came back to life. A man named Fred Nelson had the vision to restore the theatre and purchased it to donate it back to the Vernon County Historical Society. The Historical Society knew that they needed a dedicated group to complete the restoration and gave the responsibility to the newly named association: Associates to Restore the Temple Theatre.

The Vernon County Historical Society along with the Associates to Restore the Temple Theatre began a full restoration of the theatre in 2000, and celebrated the Grand Opening July 5-7, 2002.

The Temple Theatre has now been fully restored and is a completely functioning historic theatre. Many live shows take place throughout the calendar year and bring people from far away to see the theatre in action. On the night of a show, the lights are shining so brightly, the entire town seems to be lit up by them. Seeing those lights makes everyone feel the pride of a successfully renovated and restored piece of history.
The ARTT (Associates to Restore the Temple Theatre) produce 5 live shows annually. The Viroqua Wild West Days also have a live presentation show and many local non-profit organizations host shows as fund-raisers. Independent producers and performers often rent the site to include a show on their tour.

The ARTT provides the staff to run the theatre whenever a show is scheduled. The volunteers that run the sound, lights, usher and ticket booth love the theatre and the life it brings to all who enter it! The Temple Theatre is a masterpiece of design and attracts tourists from all across the country to see exactly what is going on inside!