Since opening on September 4, 1922 the Orpheum has remained one of Wichita’s prominent venues providing the community with programming ranging from music, theater, comedy, dance, films to local church services, lectures, weddings and almost any other type of event imaginable. It was built as a Vaudeville house, but was converted to show “talkies” seven years after opening to adapt to the changing entertainment environment. It is a marvel that the Orpheum remains intact today because so many theaters of its era (including most in Wichita) succumbed to the wrecking ball as tastes changed and popular entertainment abandoned downtown. After closing in 1976, the theater was saved from demolition and subsequently gifted in 1984 to a new, all-volunteer non-profit organization – The Orpheum Performing Arts Center, Ltd. That same year, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.