Tacoma Mall Twin Theatre

Joe, do we know if there is a third theatre out there with this design?

The May 27, 1968, issue of Boxoffice Magazine announced that the Tacoma Mall Theatre had opened on May 16. Among the celebrities attending the opening were Rudy Vallee, Tippi Hedren, and Troy Donahue. The article was accompanied by a small photo of the exterior of the theatre.

The similarity of the Tacoma Mall Theatre to the slightly earlier (and larger) Lakewood Center Theatre, and the fact that both were built by the Forman family, owners of both Forman United Theatres and Pacific Theatres (operating the Lakewood Center,) would lead one to expect that both houses had been designed by the same architect. Indeed, the Tacoma Library photos linked in comments above do attribute the Tacoma Mall to architect George T. Nowak, who was the architect of the Lakewood project. However, the Tacoma photo is the only source I can find saying that Nowak designed this theater.

The problem is that I’ve also found a source (but again only one) attributing the house to a different architect, that being a Boxoffice Magazine item of August 5, 1968, which mentions in passing that architect Ben Meyer, designer of United Theatres' new 112th Street Drive-In at Seattle had also designed the circuit’s new Tacoma Mall Theatre.

I think the Boxoffice item might be in error, but can’t be positive, and I don’t know the Tacoma Library’s source for the claim that Nowak designed the house. I suppose it is possible that the similarity of the two theaters stems from requests by the Formans that two different architects provide pretty much the same design for the different theaters (perhaps getting Mayer to do a less costly knockoff of Nowak’s design for Lakewood.) Maybe somebody can come up with a third source that will confirm one or the other of the sources I found.

Wow, I remember going here as a little kid in the late ‘90s. Can’t remember what films I saw, but I know I really liked the place (especially the chandeliers). How rare that such a nice theatre was built in the '60s, of all decades. I’ll miss this place.

And plus, Lakewood’s House of Donuts > Krispy Kreme.

>^..<

Someone should add the Pacific Lakewood Center to this site.

And there are WAY better doughnuts to eat in Tacoma than the ones at Krispy Kreme!

The Krappy Kreme doughnuts is doing considerably less business than the theater ever did. The Mall was stupid to have ever demolished this wonderful theater.

The Krispy Kreme doughnuts store that replaced this theater is deserted nowadays.

OH MY GOSH!!! Mark, the old clip from the Lakewood, Calif., theater could just as well be the Tacoma Mall Theatre.

I was going through the Tacoma Public Library photos of the Tacoma Mall Theatre and comparing them to the Lakewood theater … It’s eerie.

I feel a pilgrimage to Lakewood coming on.

The Tacoma Mall Twin Theatre has a long lost cousin in Lakewood CA! In 1968 Pacific Theatres opened an identical theatre to the Tacoma Mall Theatre in Lakewood, California. And it still exists. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I think United Theatres, a Pacific Theatres company, built the Tacoma Mall theatre.

The same chandeliers that graced the Tacoma Mall Twin during its life STILL HANG at Pacific’s Lakewood Center 16! The 2 theatres have had rather different lives however. Where Tacoma Mall Theatre’s auditorium was twinned (one big, one medium sized) the Lakewood kept its large 1200 seat auditorium intact and added screens in 1974 and 1999 resulting in a 16-plex.

I have not been in the theatre, but peeked in the lobby windows before business hours and saw the chandeliers, the curved lobby, similar box office, everything that would make fans of the old Tacoma Mall Twin feel nostalgic. I hope to get down to see a film someday. Hopefully they have not altered the large auditorium too much so I can see what Tacoma’s was like before twinning.

Here is a link to a newspaper article that shows a model for the Lakewood (look familiar?):
http://cinerama.topcities.com/lakewoodcenter.htm

Here is Cinematour’s photo and detailsof the Lakewood: (again, look familiar?):
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=2081

I found other photos on some website, both old and new (including the inside of the large auditorium!), however, since they are not my property I shouldn’t post them. I will try to find the link again.

I worked at the Tacoma Mall Twin Theatre when home from college for the summer of 1989. I grew up in Tacoma and in it’s day, this was THE place to see a big blockbuster movie. For the summer of ‘89 the theatre booked “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” in 70MM on Screen 1 with a 35MM print playing simultaniously on Screen 2 for a few weeks. Screen 2 filled out the rest of the summer with “Do The Right Thing” playing sold-out shows followed by “When Harry Met Sally”. The 70MM print of Indy was moved to the Tacoma South Cinemas and was replaced by “Parenthood”. Other notable engagements in 70MM: “The Empire Strikes Back”, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, “2010”, “Clan of the Cave Bear”, “Young Sherlock Holmes”, “Top Gun”, and “Aliens”. Don’t ask me how I retained all this! QUESTION: DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE PICTURES OF THE AUDITORIUMS? I would love to see them again…

While it may not sit exactly within the footprint of the Tacoma Mall Theatre, the structure erected in the theatres place is a Krispy-Kreme. In my opinion, pop-corn is better for you. I saw “The Piano” here with “Ace Ventura pet detective” on the other side.