Opened in 1931,[1] it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 as the "Fox–Watson Theater Building".

[2] The Fox–Watson Theatre was opened in late February 1931 by Winfield W. Watson, a local businessman and banker.

Fox West Coast Theatres built the art deco style movie house at a cost of US$400,000 (equivalent to $7,098,000 in 2023).

Boller Brothers, an architectural firm out of Kansas City, Missouri, designed the structure.

It was restored by a non-profit group over several years and reopened as The Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts on March 8, 2003.