White terra cotta gleams across the front of the Indiana Theatre, the six-story movie palace and ballroom built in 1927 on Washington Street in Indianapolis and now home to the Indiana Repertory Theatre. In 1979 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and sits within the Washington Street–Monument Circle Historic District. The front is sheathed in white terra cotta; the eye is drawn to the curving triangular arch with churrigueresque framing that fills the central bay above the marquee.
The original marquee is still in place, a ribbon of history over the entrance. Inside, the plan once included an entrance lobby, a 2½‑story main lobby, and a 3,200‑seat auditorium distinguished by elaborate plaster ornamentation based on Spanish Baroque motifs. The upper floors were divided between office space and theater space, while the basement originally held bowling alleys and billiard rooms.
Above it all rises the Indiana Roof Ballroom, an atmospheric space decorated to resemble a square surrounded by buildings with a stage at one end. Notice that above the curving arch and marquee still rises the Indiana Roof Ballroom, its atmospheric ceiling shaped to resemble a square surrounded by buildings.