The Kay Theater Foundation

The Kay Theater Foundation A unique WW2 Quonset hut building, The Kay was brought to Rockdale in 1947 to serve as a theater. In 1947, E. L.

Today, fully restored, The Kay is a nonprofit community center for arts & entertainment. Thank you for your Donations https://givebutter.com/KayDonations Bryan and the Foy Arrington Family bought a surplus military Quonset hut to serve as the core of a movie theatre which operated until 1962. The Kay Theater Foundation renovated and restored the building, re-opened the theater in 2010, and was rec

ognized as a recorded as a Texas Historical Landmark by the Texas Historic Commission in 2013. The Kay Theater once again serves as a community center, hosting special events, weddings, music & theatrical performances, and movie screenings. Visit www.kaytheater.org for info on upcoming events or to inquire about hosting your next event at The Kay Theater.

Mark your calendars for the next movie at The Kay Theater -- we'll be showing the new Zootopia 2 (2025) on July 10th at ...
06/25/2026

Mark your calendars for the next movie at The Kay Theater -- we'll be showing the new Zootopia 2 (2025) on July 10th at 7PM. Admission just $5!

In the meantime, we're working hard to complete our exterior renovation! The Kay's exterior is looking great and is looking forward to greeting guests through it's freshly painted doors!

Did you know Historic Preservation is one of the nine ways cities are allowed to use Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue as defi...
06/24/2026

Did you know Historic Preservation is one of the nine ways cities are allowed to use Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue as defined by the Texas Legislature? The Kay appreciates the City of Rockdale's support of our project to repair the facade of historic The Kay by means of a H.O.T. grant.

Fun fact: There were once 100s of surplus WW2 Quonset Huts across the Nation which were repurposed into movie theaters. Today, The Kay is just one of TEN still in operation as a movie theater .. and we are the only one in Texas.
Come check us out on our next movie, game night, or special event!

Special thanks to Texas Propane for their support of The Kay. Their donation helps us bring arts & entertainment to our ...
06/24/2026

Special thanks to Texas Propane for their support of The Kay. Their donation helps us bring arts & entertainment to our community and maintain our historic theater.

As a non-profit, the Kay Theater depends on the generous support of individual and business donors to fund its programmi...
06/24/2026

As a non-profit, the Kay Theater depends on the generous support of individual and business donors to fund its programming, operations and improvements. The Kay wishes to thank Gemini Pro-Lon for their contribution to The Kay.

Major progress on The Kay's facade repair project! Tiger Painting is on the job making this historic building shine agai...
06/24/2026

Major progress on The Kay's facade repair project! Tiger Painting is on the job making this historic building shine again! The repaired stucco is freshly painted white with an elastomeric paint, new black trim around the and the doors and windows, and the doors are sanded-down ready to be painted bright red along with the trim and K-A-Y letters. Can't wait for the final touches!!

The Kay Theater Foundation would like to express its gratitude to the Texas Historical Foundation for their support of T...
06/23/2026

The Kay Theater Foundation would like to express its gratitude to the Texas Historical Foundation for their support of The Kay with an $8100 Historic Preservation Grant awarded in Feb 2026. This grant is contributing to the repair of the facade (roofing & stucco), repainting of the exterior .. including the iconic red K-A-Y letters, trim and doors .. and repainting of the interior of The Kay.
Any remodeling project is nerve-racking as it is unknown what you will find until you actually open up the damaged area. Attached are photos taken during repairs which revealed the extent of damage once uncovered. This damage was caused by water breaches infiltrating cracks in the stucco which had worsened during the past few years with moisture expanding the cracks during freezes.
Now that Windham Roofing has repaired the underlying issues, and LMJ Stucco has repaired the stucco surface, Tiger Painting is repainting the exterior this week!
The THF grant has been key to our project's success as, unlike other reimbursement grants we were awarded, it provided the Foundation up-front funding the proceed with our repairs.
The Kay Theater Foundation's Non-profit Board is happy to get the facade repairs completed and has made the commitment to financially plan for repainting the facade at recommended intervals to properly maintain the stucco seal. Part of this financial planning is The Kay's introduction of INDIVIDUAL AND BUSINESS MEMBERSHIPS which will allow the organization to plan ahead for programming, operations and improvements.
Drive by and check our out progress and watch for upcoming events when you can see it up-close and inside. Mark your calendars for our Open House event on Sat, 8/1 when you can learn more about our Programming and Membership Offerings. We look forward to seeing you then, but in the meantime you can find details at www.kaytheater.org

The Kay Theater Foundation would like to thank the Milam County Historical Commission for their support in helping us to...
06/22/2026

The Kay Theater Foundation would like to thank the Milam County Historical Commission for their support in helping us to preserve the historic Kay Theater. In March 2025, the Foundation was awarded a $2500 grant for a much-needed repair of our stucco facade. We appreciate their patience with our organization in executing the repairs as additional damage was discovered. This resulted in our costs being much higher than initially expected and necessitated us doing more fundraising and grant writing to properly repair the building. The Kay is excited to be completing our repairs this month with our third step of this project (painting of the repaired facade) underway. The Kay is proud to be a key part of the revitalization of downtown Rockdale and a success story in historic preservation. Come check us out at one of our upcoming movies or events. We will be hosting an Open House event on Sat, Aug 1 as well. Stay tuned for details. Follow us and visit our website for event & programming info. www.kaytheater.org

Help The Kay Theater pick the End of Summer Movie to be shown Fri, 8/7 at 7pm -- the weekend before the kids go back to ...
06/19/2026

Help The Kay Theater pick the End of Summer Movie to be shown Fri, 8/7 at 7pm -- the weekend before the kids go back to school! VOTE HERE BY 7/6 https://form.typeform.com/to/zkqijtS5 and provide us some other feedback to better serve you!

Be sure to check out the rest of our Summer Schedule at www.kaytheater.org/movies

Fire up your engines and race on down to The Kay Theater for our showing of F1 The Movie Friday, 6/19 at 7pm! Feel free...
06/19/2026

Fire up your engines and race on down to The Kay Theater for our showing of F1 The Movie Friday, 6/19 at 7pm! Feel free to bring your to-go meal and favorite beverages to enjoy at our tables. Admission is just $5 and we'll have Concessions Snack Packs (bottomless popcorn, drink and candy) for just $5! Tickets at www.kaytheater.org/movies

F1 The Movie was nominated for Four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects and won the Academy's Oscar Award for Best Sound!

The showing is made possible by a generous donation from Mine Services Inc. supporting our nonprofit theater's programming efforts and mission to bring arts & entertainment to our community.

GAME ON!! Join us for an evening of fun and games at The Kay Theater on TUESDAY, 6/16 FROM 6-9PM for Game Night at The K...
06/15/2026

GAME ON!! Join us for an evening of fun and games at The Kay Theater on TUESDAY, 6/16 FROM 6-9PM for Game Night at The Kay! Admission is FREE. Show up whenever you can get there and join in the fun. Feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks. Bring your friends and meet new ones!
We'll have our ping-pong table set up, as well as a few putting greens. There will be dominoes and an assortment of board games (feel free to bring your favorite too). Our friends are also bringing their personal gaming consoles for all to enjoy.
** PLEASE NOTE: This is a MIXED- AGES event and anyone UNDER 16 MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT. **

Address

350 N Main Street (P. O. Box 1572 For Mail)
Rockdale, TX
76567

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