As vaudeville suffered a major decline in the 1930s, the Keith-Albee began to run movies. By the 1970s grand movie houses were being torn down to make way for larger cinemas. However, the citizens of Huntington chose to save the theatre from closure and the wrecking ball. The Hyman family decided to convert the grand Keith-Albee into three separate theatres. A fourth theatre was later added in a former retail space. In 1986, the Keith-Albee was placed on the Register of Historical Places in conjunction with several blocks of downtown Huntington. The Marshall University Foundation took a 99-year lease on the theatre back in 1990 and renovations were conducted in the 1990s. In 2004, a large cinema opened in Pullman Square, seriously damaging the Keith-Albee's business.Older Huntington Theatres Battle Competition , The State Journal, February 17, 2005 On January 22, 2006, the Keith-Albee stopped being an active movie theater. After a brief transfer to the Marshall University Foundation, Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc. has taken control of the theatre and will convert the Keith-Albee into a performing arts center.Curtain Falls on Huntington's Keith Albee Theatre , The State Journal, January 22, 2006 Throughout 2006, contractors and volunteers have worked to repair years of wear and to restore portions of the theatre to their original form. Along with many less visible projects, the partitions installed at the height of the theatre's days as a movie theatre were removed, reducing the three rooms to the original one.Keith-Albee Theatre Preparing For Rebirth , The State Journal, September 14, 2006 On December 12, 2006 the Keith-Albee hosted the world premiere of the movie We Are Marshall with actors Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox and director Joseph McGinty Nichol attending.We Are Marshall premiere at Keith-Albee Theatre, Ironton Daily Tribune, December 13, 2006 The theatre itself even makes a cameo appearance in the movie.
