Malco Theatre

The Malco Theatre on Central Avenue rose after fire destroyed its predecessor, the Princess Theatre, on Christmas Eve 1935; the masonry entrance on Broadway survived and became the base of the new building. It took the Malco name in 1936 under its new owner, M. A. Lightman of Memphis. From 1929 to 1964 the Broadway entrance was marked for Black patrons and led straight to the balcony, while the Central Avenue entrance was marked for white patrons. The theater showed films through 1995 and is now home to the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute and the Maxwell Blade Theatre of Magic and Comedy. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Local accounts describe a glowing woman seen in the basement and screams heard when no one is inside, and one telling speaks of a woman who vanished from the audience during a magic show in the 1880s. The theater is a stop on a Hot Springs ghost walk, and Sweet n' Sour Paranormal ties the reports to the Princess Theatre fire.