Long Center for the Performing Arts, Performing arts center in downtown Lafayette, Indiana

The Long Center for the Performing Arts occupies the 1921 Mars Theatre, a four-story rectangular brick building in Georgian Revival style with limestone ornamentation and terra-cotta panels, measuring 69 feet 4 inches wide and 141 feet 4 inches deep. The building houses the Denis H. Long Center for the Performing Arts, and the St. John Pavilion adjoins the theater.

Built in 1921 as the Mars Theatre, the four-story Georgian Revival brick building with limestone ornamentation and terra-cotta panels was designed as a vaudeville house seating 1,205 patrons. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The building now houses the Denis H. Long Center for the Performing Arts.

The venue serves as a gathering place for music ensembles, theatrical performances, and film screenings that draw people from across the region. It remains central to the local arts community as a space where different types of entertainment happen throughout the year.

The venue is easily accessible in the downtown area and can be rented for private events in both the main theater and the pavilion space. The flexible layout allows spaces to be configured for concerts, receptions, classes, and formal dinners depending on visitor needs.

The Mars Theatre was built 69 feet 4 inches wide and 141 feet 4 inches deep, and its 1921 auditorium seated 1,205 patrons. The four-story Georgian Revival brick building carries limestone ornamentation and terra-cotta panels, and it entered the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.