The Art Deco facade rising above you is the work of architect C. Howard Crane, who gave Ann Arbor this movie palace. It was built by W. S. Butterfield Theatres, the same company that operated the nearby Michigan Theater, and since 1999 the non-profit Marquee Arts has run the State, complementing the Michigan's programming. The theater you see today holds four screens tucked into the balcony of what was once a 1900-seat auditorium.
In 1989 the original auditorium's main floor was converted into a ground-floor retail space; that retail space housed an Urban Outfitters store until 2020 and now contains a small Target store. The State grew out of Butterfield's local circuit: in 1940 Butterfield operated five Ann Arbor theaters, including the Majestic on Maynard Street, a house converted in 1907 from a roller rink. When city officials denied Butterfield permission to renovate the Majestic, they built the State instead — staff moved from the Majestic to this new house, and Butterfield considered the State its direct replacement.
Today, the theater's central location and its distinctive green, yellow and red marquee make it an icon of downtown Ann Arbor. Green, yellow and red, the marquee still marks the State as an icon of downtown Ann Arbor.