Aberdeen Theatre

115 W. Wishkah Street,
Aberdeen, WA 98520

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Showing 26 - 45 of 45 comments

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on August 10, 2007 at 5:51 pm

Nice picture, now if only this could become a movie house again and a nice marquee built across the front it wouldn’t look to bad.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on July 5, 2007 at 2:27 am

There are great photo’s of this theater in all it’s incarnations at www.jonesphotocollection.com be shur to search using different spellings for “theater” and “theatre” as there are many different photo’s and they do not all pull up at once.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on February 19, 2007 at 7:46 pm

David, I hate to disagree with you but I was projectionist at both the D&R and Aberdeen theaters when they were open with Grays Harbor Theaters and later with Luxury, and the screen at the D&R was larger than the Aberdeen and neither screen was curved. The Aberdeen procienium opening was smaller and both theaters had the screens on the stage. While the screen at the Aberdeen may have apeared to go from wall to wall because the auditorium was narrower than the D&R it was smaller. The D&R also had Boush & Lomb cinema scope lenses that were for their time the best money could buy but the aberdeen had very cheap scope adaptors that hung on the front of the projectors and used the existing flat lenses as the base. The Aberdeens scope picture was always hard to focus and very severly cropped because the maskings at the Aberdeen were fixed while the D&R had movable maskings and separate flat lenses. The Aberdeen’s capacity was about half what the D&R was. The Aberdeen was a fine picture house but the show at the D&R was better from a technical point of view.

Davidfox
Davidfox on February 14, 2007 at 3:26 pm

The Aberdeen Theater had a wonderful, wall-to-wall, curved screen that made for a great CinemaScope presentation during that era. In contrast, the D&R screen was much more cramped, although also curved.

KenLayton
KenLayton on April 8, 2006 at 10:06 pm

Yes this is still a nice theater building.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on April 8, 2006 at 4:09 pm

Hopefully a deal can be worked between Harbor Arts and the current owner to purchase this theater and return it to it’s place as a venue for entertainment on the harbor.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on February 24, 2006 at 1:10 am

I still think this would be a good alternative to the multi-plex in Aberdeen. I bet the church would sell if the price was right.

KenLayton
KenLayton on October 11, 2005 at 8:17 am

Too bad, it sure would have been a nice place. :(

Maybe we should work on buying the land the Harbor Drive-in Theater was on and rebuild it.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on October 11, 2005 at 2:03 am

The Aberdeen Theater is no longer for sale. It was sold over 2 years ago and the church that now occupies the building is not interested in selling. To bad it could have been a nice theater again.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on September 15, 2005 at 3:34 pm

Thanks for the info.It’s much appreciated.

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 14, 2005 at 8:55 am

A quick phone call to Scott Hicks' American Cinema Equipment (www.cinequip.com) in Portland, Oregon could get you a package deal on all the used projection/sound equipment needed to operate this theater.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on September 12, 2005 at 10:12 am

You may be right about the Art theater, I was just trying to think of something but first run. But the “stage” at the Aberdeen is really only large enough for a screen and speakers. There is no fly space or lighting, or dressing rooms. Having worked at both the D&R and Aberdeen for many years, the D&R was the only one equiped for stage shows. The Aberdeen was built only for movies. Unfortunatly the D&R has been closed for about 20 years and stripped and would take a vary large influx of cash to re-open. The Aberdeen should be just about turn key with the only issues being projection, sound equipment and a screen.

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 12, 2005 at 9:33 am

The South Shore 10 crap-plex is barely staying open. I’ve heard many rumors from industry insiders that it is really struggling. They charge way too much money for everything. The whole mall is empty with many empty stores. The Aberdeen-Hoquiam area folks just can’t afford to pay the prices over there at that theater. The area is primed for a good second run or discount theater and either the Aberdeen or D&R Theater would be a good choice. I don’t know how an ‘art’ theater would do in the Aberdeen-Hoquiam area, but I kinda think it would not do anything. Since the Aberdeen has a stage, it could do well as a single screen discount movie house with live stage shows.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on September 12, 2005 at 8:50 am

Thank You for the sales info, this is a great opportunity to save one of the areas movie theaters. I think someone could make a go of it if they don’t try to compete with the 10 plex for product. I might be interrested in trying if there is someone out there who whould be willing to partner with. Having grown up in Aberdeen I believe the area would support an alternetive cinema. The closest
Art house is the Capital Theater in Olympia. Besides I have heard that the 10 plex at So Shore Mall is'nt all that great.

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 11, 2005 at 11:35 pm

Did some real tearing apart of my place and finally found the real estate & contact info on this theater/church:

Windermere Real Estate
Grays Harbor, Inc.
101 South Broadway
Aberdeen, Wash. 98520
Craige Fectzo, Associate broker
business phone: (360) 533-6464
Voice mail: (360) 537-7987
Fax: (360) 533-0375

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 11, 2005 at 10:55 pm

I believe a guy named Craig Fectzo (spelling?) was the agent.

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 11, 2005 at 10:54 pm

Condition is good. Price is around $120,000 if I remember correctly. I’ve lost the real estate & contact info I had. It was a local Aberdeen real estate company though.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on September 11, 2005 at 3:55 pm

I wonder whats left of the theater now that the churuch is going to sell it. The front has been extensivly altered, but if the lobby and auditorium are still intact this could be a nice art house as there is no theater in the area that shows those kinds of films. There is a 10 screen in So. Aberdeen that has the first run product tied up but the art/foriegn/classic market is untapped. A price and condition would be nice, anyone know? Before this became a church it was a nice Warner Bros theater. The only alteration being the removal of part of the wall between the lobby and the auditorium to put in a snack bar.

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 6, 2005 at 7:35 am

I understand the church still has this theater for sale.

Ron Carlson
Ron Carlson on January 1, 2005 at 2:24 am

The Aberdeen theater opened in October 1929 just days before the stock market crash. The original name was Warner Bros. as the theater was built by Warner Bros. Studio. The original decoration was heavy spanish/moorish. The interior has many arches that originally contained dark red velvet valances. There are also 4 large stained glass windows each depicting a spanish galleon in sail. These windows stayed back lit during the movie for soft illumination. The auditorium cieling contains 5 large lavishly painted coves with fake wood beams that house the auditorium lighting. The theater was built expressly for films, there is no stage or dressing rooms as no live performances were ever planned. There was a small pipe organ to accompany the silent and early sound films. The original sound system was Vitaphone sound on disc. The lobby is small with stairs on either side that rise up to the balcony, offices and lounges. The original entrance doors were solid oak and the entrance and box office was tiled with colorful imported tiles. The seating capacity was about 700. The name was changed to Aberdeen Theater most likely when the studios had to divest themselves of their theaters in the early 1950’s. I have not been in the Aberdeen Theater since it became a church, but at least it has not fallen into the sad shape of the D&R.