The Coleman Theatre Beautiful in Miami, Okla., was named the top tourism attraction in northeastern Oklahoma by the Grand Lake Association, reports the Joplin Globe.
Smith said the Coleman, which opened in 1929 as a vaudeville palace and movie theater, continues to draw increased tourism each year. Its proximity along Route 66 attracts many visitors.
“About 60 percent of our audiences are from out of town,” she said. “It’s just an extraordinary facility.” […]
Smith and the Friends of the Coleman organization are hoping to make the theater even more grand by spending $1.6 million to complete its upstairs ballroom, and make it available for conferences and receptions. […]
The group has raised about $1.2 million in private donations and grants, she said. […]
The work also is to include an addition on the north side that will house an elevator and more rooms, plus a second entrance.