Hippodrome HistoryConstruction began on the building currently known as the Waco Hippodrome Theatre in 1913. When it opened on February 7, 1914, admission was ten cents for adults, a nickel for children and a quarter for box seats! A mixed bill of road shows, vaudeville tours, movies and local talent shows and events were held. A fire in the projection booth destroyed much of the front of the building in November of 1928. Due to projectionist era during the show, the first reel came undone and the film came to close to the kerosene lamp and caught the film on fire. Fortunately, no one in the house, was injured, but it did destroy the front of the building. The theater was built as a hooray to vaudeville to bring family entertainment to Waco. The land that the theater sits on was donated to Waco leaders by Mrs. Wm Bruestadt.  The theater originally operated as the Hippodrome from 1913-1928 by Mr. E.H. Hulsey and Mr. J.P. Harrison.. In 1929, Southern Enterprises, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, leased the theater to Louis Dent’s Waco Theater and changed the name from the Hippodrome to the Waco Theater.
After the fire occurred, the theatre was remodeled with a Spanish facade. It then spent the next fifty years bringing renowned stars such as Elvis, John Wayne, and Ann Margaret to town. The largest crowd ever gathered at the Waco was over 10,000 people to see John Wayne in person. While native Wacoans remember the Waco Theater as a movie house, the Hippodrome has always been a performing arts center in one form or other. From 1932 to 1956, the Mary Holliday Show broadcast on WACO radio was sponsored by Jones' Fine Bread, entertaining Wacoans on air and Central Texas children in person for years. Every Saturday, someone would win a prize and tickets to the afternoon show. Its most famous graduate was Hank Thompson, Country Western singer. The Waco Theater operated as a movie house primarily up until 1978, when it closed in disrepair. Between 1981 and 1986, the community raised $2.4 million in private and public funds to restore the Hippodrome to its original use as a live performance venue. With the support of the Junior League of Waco, the Cooper Foundation, the Waco Foundation and an army of individuals, the Hippodrome Theatre reopened on February 26, 1987. The Theatre is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and the Texas Historical Commission roster and is also a member of the League of Historical American Theaters. It is now owned and operated by the Waco Performing Arts Company, a community based, nonprofit organization which manages the facility for the benefit of Waco and Central Texans alike.
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