By Dylan Cornett

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A large crowd piled into a brand new theater on the night of Oct. 4, 1922, eagerly awaiting “The Eternal Flame,” a black and white silent film from director Frank Lloyd.

The walls were lined with hand-painted murals, the floors marble and the carpet plush. And with an audience rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home,” the Kentucky Theater was christened.

Now, more than 90 years later, the Kentucky Theater, affectionately nicknamed “The Kentucky,” is still going strong. The Kentucky primarily features low-budget and arthouse-type films that don’t traditionally make it to the mainstream theaters.

Fred Mills, the theater’s veteran manager, said it’s important to him to keep the feel of an older theater.

Mills has been the Kentucky Theater’s manager for more than 50 years. Mills said the historical feel of the building is what makes The Kentucky such a local icon.

“There isn’t much around anymore that still has that old-timey feel that The Kentucky features,” Mills said. “We feel that if we modernize it too much, we might lose that charm.”

Mills said the memory that sticks out to him the most was when the restaurant next to the theater caught fire in 1987, rendering the building inoperable. Everything in the theater was turned black as a result of the smoke damage.

The Kentucky Theater was out of commission for five years until the city purchased it from its former owners in 1992, and Mills was hired back on as manager.

The theater traditionally shows two films at a time for a two- to three-week stint.

After a two-day showing of the “Back to the Future” trilogy this past week in commemoration of Back to the Future Day – the day that Marty McFly travels to in the series’ second installment – the Theatre will show “Rock the Kasbah” and “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.”

“Paranormal Activity” isn’t the typical film frequent visitors expect when they go to the Kentucky Theater, but there’s method to Mills’ madness.

“With Halloween being around the corner, we felt it would be best to bring in a film like Paranormal Activity that has big-name recognition and some genuine scares,” he said.

Mills would like more students from UK and Transylvania University to come visit the theater. He plans to start exploring films outside the theater’s norm to make the theater more attractive to younger audiences.

“The theater is located in between the two schools, we hope that by them coming in we can introduce them to movies that they never expected to enjoy,” Mills said.

Mills said what motivates him most is the relationships he’s built over the years. The loyal patrons have become like family to him.

“I have the best job in town,” Mills said. “There hasn’t been a day I haven’t wanted to come into work.”