Concept rendering
ROXY
St. Ansgar · Iowa

The lights are coming back on.

Live bands. A real dance floor. A full bar under a starlit arched roof. Downtown St. Ansgar's 1937 theatre is becoming North Iowa's newest place for a night out.

Opening news, first show announcements, and early ticket access. No spam.

What's Coming

A new place to make memories

North Iowa grew up dancing, at the Surf in Clear Lake and the Terp in Austin. The Roxy is bringing that kind of night back to Main Street, in a room that's been entertaining St. Ansgar since 1937.

Live Bands

A real stage with real sound, for touring acts, regional favorites, and local bands.

Dance Floor

Hardwood in front of the stage for swing, country, and rock and roll. Bring your dancing shoes.

The Bar

A long, warm-lit bar with drinks on tap and lounge seating along the walls.

Community Nights

Fundraisers, reunions, movie nights, and celebrations. The town's living room, again.

Concept rendering of the renovated Roxy: a starlit arched ceiling over a wood dance floor, a stage with gold curtains, a long bar on the left, and booths on the right
Concept RenderingStage, dance floor, and bar beneath the original arched roof. Design in progress.

Renovation photos and before-and-after shots will be posted here as the work progresses.

Events

The first shows are being booked

Opening night and the first lineup will be announced here first, and the mailing list gets the first shot at tickets.

?TBA
Admit One

Grand Opening

Date and headliner to be announced.

♪Live
Admit One

Live Music Nights

Regional bands and touring acts.

★Soon
Admit One

Dances & Specials

Swing nights, themed dances, community events.

Get notified when tickets go on sale →
The History

Almost 90 years of stories

Harlan Anderson opened the Roxy on August 4, 1937, and built much of it with his own hands. Generations of St. Ansgar have spent their Saturday nights here since.

The Roxy in 1937
1937

The Roxy opens

Red-and-blue neon, synchrophonic sound, and a town that filled a newspaper page with congratulations.

1956 newspaper clipping about bowling alleys arriving
1956

Lucky Lanes

Twenty local men hauled five bowling alleys 300 miles to turn the theatre into a bowling alley.

The Cinema Capri in 1976 with palm trees on the marquee
1976

Cinema Capri

Anderson came back and reopened it with a tropical theme "from sidewalk to screen."

The Bridal Theatre storefront with painted palm trees on the marquee
1979

The Bridal Theatre

Four decades of wedding gowns, with the palm trees still on the marquee. Generations of brides came back through the same doors.

Read the full story →
The Unusual History

The theatre where you could fly to the movies

In 1953 the Roxy's owner opened a sister theatre two miles northwest of town on Highway 105. Harlan Anderson was a pilot, so his drive-in gave free airplane rides before showtime. It later added a landing strip so pilots could fly in and watch from their planes.

The Bel-Air Fly-In made newspapers as far away as Jamaica and Singapore.

The Bel-Air story →
1953 newspaper article: Roxy Drive-In Has Many Admirers, showing the screen being raised
July 9, 1953 · Raising the 50-foot screen at the new Roxy Drive-In. (St. Ansgar Enterprise)
Share Your Roxy Memories

Were you there?

Saw a movie at the Roxy or the Cinema Capri? Bowled a line at Lucky Lanes? Watched from your car (or your plane) at the Bel-Air? We'd love your stories, photos, tickets, and anything else you've held onto.

Be first through the doors

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