The Historic Malco Theatre was built on the site of the Princess Theatre which had occupied the location at 817 Central Avenue, Hot Springs from 1910 until it burned on Christmas Eve in 1935. Sidney Nutt, Sr. bought the Princess Theatre from the original owners in 1927.

In 1929, Mr. Nutt updated the Princess to include “talkies”, just beginning to make their appearance as replacement of silent motion pictures. After the disastrous fire, Mr. Nutt rebuilt the theatre. It was purchased by the Malco Theatre group and renamed the Malco Theatre. The word “Malco” is an acronym, made from the initials of M. A. Lightman.

It re-opened on February 22, 1946, the Malco Music Hall was known as the showplace of the South with 1140 seats, and had the finest projection and sound equipment. There were two entrances; one on Central Avenue and one on the Broadway side for “Coloreds” who sat in a section of the balcony. The segregated arrangement ended with the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. In researching the Malco for the National Register of Historic Places, it was learned that the “Princess” entrance to the theatre may be one of only 2 in the United States still in existence. In 2010 the Malco Theatre was put on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 30,000 square feet building space to the right of the theatre has three stories; the first floor contains commercial spaces. The second floor was originally occupied by a radio station, KWFC, owned by Clyde Wilson Furniture Company. Directly behind these spaces was a small hotel, which has been empty since the 1940s. The Malco remained the local cinema showcase until the 1980s. At that time, the Malco was divided into twin theatres. Since the early 1990′s it has been the home of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival as well as the year-round educational and cultural events presented by the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute.