Future Up in the Air for Mahnomen’s Rainbow Theatre

Mahnomen, MN — The historic Rainbow Theatre in Mahnomen has been closed for more than 50 years, yet still stands in the heart of downtown as a relic of the past. But now the county of Mahnomen, who has owned the building since 1975, is examining what to do with roughly 100 year old brick building. Mahnomen County Administrator CJ Holl says there’s a lot of history remaining on the inside, but they need to figure out if structurally the building is worth restoring.

Mahnomen County has hired a structural engineer to evaluate whether or not the building is capable or worthy of being saved, or if it does need to be demolished how to go about doing that with buildings on both sides.

If restoration is an option for the county, Holl says they can look to the recently restored Garrick Theatre in Hawley, which is identical to the Rainbow Theatre, for some potential vision.

The structural evaluation of the Rainbow Theatre should be completed shortly, according to Holl.