EVANSTON -- Silent films, live performances and the latest flicks have entertained people here since 1917 at the Stand Theater on Main Street.

But on Monday, the history and memories went up in smoke as fire destroyed the historic structure.

"It's just a terrible … It's a real tragedy, and we're all pretty upset," Uinta County Museum Director Barbara Bogart said. "This has been the city's downtown movie theater for 90 years, and there's probably not a person in town that hasn't been in the building and has a memory associated with it."

The fire began about 3 a.m., said Eric Quinney, administrative officer for the Uinta County Fire District. He said the whole roof collapsed during the fire, but the walls remained standing.

No one was injured in the fire, which took about three hours to extinguish, Quinney said. Evanston firefighters were able to save the adjoining buildings and offices with little damage.

State, local and private investigators were at the scene Monday, but for safety reasons had not yet entered the collapsed structure to determine the cause of the fire, Quinney said.

A portion of Main Street in the downtown section was closed to traffic, and two adjoining offices were closed.

"There's still a real possibility of the building collapsing," Quinney said. "And so with those buildings and those offices being next door, the potential for them being impacted in the collapse is very real. They have been closed, and we are working with the insurance company and the engineering and demolition experts to make the building safe."

Crowds gathered on Main Street across from the Strand throughout the day taking pictures with cell phones and cameras -- and talking about memories. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ranold Phillips remembers going to the movies at the Strand.

"I used to go to the old movies there on Tuesday nights," Phillips said. "It was always a 10-cent double-feature cowboy movie. You could pay an extra nickel to sit upstairs in the balcony with your girlfriend if you wanted. But that's all gone now. My father actually performed on the stage many years ago ... he passed away in 1936."

Charles Maggard, who works for the Uinta County Museum and the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, remembers meeting a hero at the Strand.

"I have spent hundreds of hours in that building," Maggard said. "It cost 9 cents to get a ticket to go in when I was a little boy. There was a candy store across the street, and you could go in there and get penny candy, so for a dime you could get all the candy you could eat and a movie in the afternoon. A double-feature at that.

"One time, when I was about 7, around 1937 or '38, Gene Autry came to town. He came up on the stage, and we all got to shake hands with him. It was a great time… I just can't tell you how sad I am that this has happened. It's a great building, and a lot of memories just went up in smoke."

Owners Kim and Kendra West were among the crowd gathered on Main Street much of the day. Kim is the emergency management coordinator for Uinta County.

"I want my theater back," Kendra West said. "It's not the business -- it's the memories. There's 90 years of memories. Everybody in this town is affected by this. Everybody here has a memory of the Strand Theater."

Quinney said the discount $1 theater showed films Sunday night. He said Evanston residents can still see movies at the city's other movie complex.

"With a 100-year old building, the cause of the fire could be any number of things," Quinney said. "But with the total roof collapse, everything's just in a pile, and it's just not safe to go into the building yet. This investigation may be a little bit lengthy because of the accident potential in there."

Bogart said museum officials contacted a structural engineer Monday to come look at the building to see if any of the structure can be saved from demolition.

"We're trying to save the facade … It's gutted, but the sidewalls and the facade are still standing, and it's a brick building," she said. "If we can somehow save the facade, at least we won't have that horrible gaping hole on Main Street right now."