After Major Fix, Cheyenne’s Atlas Theatre Sets Its Sights on a Valentine’s Day Comeback

The original story by Renée Jean for Cowboy State Daily.

Cheyenne’s beloved Atlas Theatre has been through a lot in its 139 years — but nearly collapsing under its own weight might top the list.

Now, after months of being closed and about $700,000 in behind-the-scenes structural repairs, the historic downtown theater is hoping to welcome audiences back just in time for Valentine’s Day.

If all goes according to plan, the curtain will rise on Almost Maine, a play about love, loss and wintertime magic under the northern lights. It’s a fitting choice for a building that’s been held together by equal parts history, heart and some very serious engineering.

The Atlas, built in 1887, shut its doors in August after a troubling discovery: the second and third floors were essentially hanging from the ceiling. That design may have worked fine in the Wild West era, but modern upgrades over the decades added weight and stress the original structure was never meant to handle.

“She stood for 138 years without any help,” said Travis Kirchhefer, president of the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players board. “It was probably a great idea in 1887.”

Still, sagging ceilings and flexing floors were a clear sign something had to be done — and fast — to protect both the building and the people inside it.

The repair work has been extensive but intentionally subtle. Contractors installed massive new concrete footers in the basement, added structural steel beams that run all the way up to the roof, and reinforced original brick columns with steel plates.

Despite all that, most visitors won’t notice a thing.

“This is all structural work,” Kirchhefer said. “It’s not meant to be seen.”

Only three steel beams will remain visible, while others are hidden behind fire-resistant drywall that also helps bring the building up to modern safety codes. The goal, he said, was to strengthen the Atlas without stripping away its historic soul.

The Atlas Theatre sits at 211 W. Lincolnway and predates Wyoming statehood by three years. When Cheyenne was booming as the “Magic City of the Plains,” railroad magnate Gen. Grenville Dodge labeled the block the “Atlas Block,” a nod to the Greek Titan who held up the world.

The building started as a tea and confectionary shop before becoming a vaudeville theater in 1908, designed by famed Wyoming architect William Dubois. Back then, trains pulled right up behind the theater so performers could unload sets and costumes straight from railcars into the building.

Later, the upper floors became the Strand Hotel — and with it came plenty of colorful lore. From rumored tunnels to the Capitol, to call buttons linked to prostitution, to a hidden trapdoor once used to stash booze during Prohibition, the Atlas has no shortage of secrets.

Cheyenne Little Theatre Players bought the Atlas in the 1970s and has spent decades slowly restoring it. Early efforts focused on visible improvements like exterior paint and restoring its rare asbestos fire curtain — one of only three left in the country.

The current repairs, though less glamorous, were unavoidable.

“These aren’t the sexy projects,” said longtime volunteer Brenda Lyttle. “But they’re the ones that keep the building standing.”

Looking ahead, the group has big plans: better bathrooms, an elevator to the balcony, expanded backstage space and possibly even dinner theater seating upstairs. A neighboring building has already been purchased to help support future renovations and storage needs.

For now, though, simply reopening is the win.

Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or a little later, the Atlas Theatre is on track to once again host live performances, melodramas during Cheyenne Frontier Days and the kind of community moments that have kept it alive for more than a century.

After all, if a building has survived the Wild West, vaudeville, Prohibition and a sagging ceiling, a comeback seems only fitting.