Teatro Galia

History

Galias’ Theater construction began in 1943 in the commune of Lanco, and was carried out by Felipe Barthou Lapouple. In fact, Barthou himself and Juan Polette Saint-Simon were in charge of its design, who adopted the balloon frame model to the local reality; a wooden construction characteristic of the United States and in chilean cities such as Valparaíso. It had a built area of 635.51 m2 in three sections: foyer, hall and performing arts box. Its original capacity was for 500 people.
The work was inagurated in 1945 as a theater. Projection equipment were implemented a decade later.
In 1963, the club Deportivo Juventud acquired the Galia Theater in order to continue its legacy and promote culture and the arts. A decade later, in the 1970s, it was leased as a movie theater to the Aravena family.
Between 1980 and 2000, the theater and cinema ceased to function and its deterioration accelerated, while the rest of the building was used as offices.
After the property was sold to the Municipality in 2012, the restoration and normalization project officially began. Recently, in 2020, the Galia Theater completed its heritage recovery works thanks to an investment of 2196 million chilean pesos carried out by the MOP and financed by the Regional Government of Los Ríos.
The renovated theater has two levels of seats and a capacity for 241 spectators. There are also spaces for administrative offices and a cafeteria will soon be installed.