Gerbrach built the beautiful, 900-seat Art Deco-style Collegian Theatre in 1937 on Main Street. It offered the best sound and largest screen in Ames. The theater had the capacity to accommodate stage plays as well as film showings.

Joe Gerbracht is shown supervising a drawing for prizes sponsored by the Collegian Theatre in August of 1956.  Twenty five free lube jobs at a local filling station plus a 21-inch television and a portable sewing machine were given away.  Mayor Joseph Lawlor is seen on the left handing the winning ticket to Ray Truesdell, manager of the Ranch Theatre.  Mildred Gerbracht is acting as the official clerk.

Joe built the Varsity in campustown in 1938 and the Ranch Drive-In on west Lincoln Way in 1949. The Collegian eventually replaced the Twin Star in the 1930s, and the Capitol, which closed in the early 1950s. On Main Street, Pyle Photo at 121 Main occupies the former Twin Star building.  The Collegian closed in January 1974 and was eventually sold to the bank next door. It is still used as bank office space, but remnants of the theater may still be seen inside the building.