Owner George Guthrie enlisted the firm of Lawrence and Holford to design the theatre in a Tudor Gothic style meant to resemble the castle in the city of Elsinore from Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

[2] The building features stained glass by the Povey Brothers and a Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ similar to the original, which was dismantled in 1962.

The Save the Elsinore Committee jumped at the chance to gain ownership of the theater and launched a fundraising drive to purchase it.

It continued to raise money for its operational costs through fundraising in the community and was graced by appearances from many stars at the turn of the millennium, most notably by actors James Earl Jones and Gregory Peck.

Finally, in February 2002, a deal was cut with CB2, the architectural firm also responsible for Salem's Riverfront Carousel, to help restore the Elsinore completely at an estimated cost of $3.2 million.