Banana Republic closed it’s store in the Coliseum during the pandemic and has announced that the closure is permanent. This theater is vacant, ready and waiting for…? The interior is mostly intact, the conversion to retail was done with the idea that it might someday re-open as a theater.
This is a typical audio rack for a GCC theater during this era. At the top, a Dolby CP-50 audio processor. In the middle, a Kelmar dual 9VDC exciter lamp power supply. At the bottom, four Kelmar power amplifiers. The CP-50 was the first 35mm film Dolby Stereo processor from Dolby Labs. Many were installed worldwide in the late 1970’s and early 80’s.
General Cinema placed their screens within a reflective surround structure in their older theaters. It was called the “Shadow Box”. This design feature was dropped by the middle of the 1970’s. New houses and remodels after that time had the screen surrounded by black masking.
The Lyric name also moved to the former Mission Theater at some point in the past. At one time, all three theaters in town (The Lincoln, The Lido, and the Lyric) were under the same management. This had changed by the 1970’s when I worked as a relief projectionist for IA Local 351 in that area. All three had different owners by that time. In regards to the 2009 comment above about the Dolby install, it was unique but did sound great for the time. The installer re-used the tube amplifiers left over from the 1950’s mag stereo installation. 4 channels of Motiograph 100% vacuum tube amplification and Voice of the Theater speakers backstage. I think the original Superman was the first Dolby screening at this theater. First Dolby installation between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.
I had the honor of knowing Paul in the mid 1970’s. I was his relief projectionist at the Skagit Drive In in Burlington, WA. A first class technician, he and I had reconnected shortly before his passing.
I had been wondering how long it would remain sitting empty. This theater never did the business that GCC had hoped for. The competition seemed to have more aggressive bookers and got most of the top grossing product. It’s location at the rear of a strip mall shopping center did not help. AMC acquired this property with the bankruptcy of GCC and promptly closed it at the end of a 20 year lease.
The Seattle Public Library has a more complete collection of Polk’s Directories. In 1957, Larry Goedde is listed as manager. The 1958 edition is missing, the 1959 has no listing for the Basin nor does any later edition.
Polk’s Directory lists the Ritz Theater at 210 South Ash Street and the Ritz Barber Shop at 212 South Ash. It must have been in a small storefront to the left of the entrance door. The Polk’s listing for the theater is gone by the mid 1960’s but the barber shop continued to be listed for several years after the theater must have closed.
A 3 minute long documentary on The Guild from 2015 can be found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4A20aP_4D4 It has many shots of both the interior and the exterior along with an interview with the long time manager.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The massive free standing marquis of the Lewis and Clark comes into view at 23:24. This was shot soon after the addition with 4 new screens was added to the original 3 screen and bowling alley complex.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The Midway comes into view at 11:21. Showing a double bill of “Chained Heat” & “Vice Squad”. The video shows a good idea of what the neighborhood around the theater was like in 1983.
The State of Washington (owner) is presently doing a minor remodel to the theater. Fire safety system upgrades, electrical upgrades, and a badly needed new roof. Theater is set to reopen in Spring of 2022. I’ll get some pictures of the interior when it does. Columbia Basin Allied Arts is the local non-profit that books most events in the venue.
Got a chance to tour the interior with the owner. No longer recognizable as as a theater inside. A second level has been built in a portion of the auditorium. Windows and doorways have been cut into the auditorium wall on the sidewalk side to create office spaces.
I am wondering if in 1924 an error was made in the above mentioned news item. I think the location is actually Seattle, WA. John Danz owned many theaters in the Seattle area, starting in the nickelodeon years and continuing under the same family ownership until a sale to Cineplex in 1986. In the 1960’s, his company, Sterling Recreation Organization, expanded to the Los Angeles area but I am unaware of any operations in the San Francisco area. John Danz lived until the mid 1950’s, the John Danz Theater in Bellevue, WA is named after him. His son, Fred Danz assumed control of the company at the senior Danz death. John Danz operated Seattle theaters under both the “Class A” and “Capitol” names at different times. They had adjacent addresses on 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle.
I agree 100% with the comment above about the marque. Interstate 5 was built some years after the theatre, the view of the marque from the Southbound lanes of I-5 was impressive. If you look carefully in this picture, you can see the little “cable car” used to change the marque. The teenage staff would have to load it up with the letters needed, climb in and hoist themselves up the level needed and push or pull it from side to side across the face of the sign while standing inside the car. I am sure that OSHA would not approve of this practice today.
In the mid 1980’s, I was the chief projectionist at GCC’s Renton Village Cinema. The Division Manager’s office was directly below the Cinema II/III projection booth and sometimes you could hear loud conversations in the office from the booth. Linda Danisher, the Division Manager did not seem to care for the trips to the Sparks Cinema which had been added to the theaters under her supervision. All of her other theaters were less than an hours drive from her home. She spoke about her Sparks trips to her secretary more than once. I don’t blame her for not liking the trip.
Randy Finley, owner of the original Guild tried but was unable to purchase the adjacent property in order to expand. It was a pizza restaurant at the time. He instead purchased and demolished the building two doors down the street to build Guild II. Guild II opened in 1984.
The Liberty was destroyed by fire on February 9, 1968. Fire had started in the hotel next door and spread to the theatre. The Sunnyside High School class of 1965 has a website with pictures of the two buildings on fire. Sunnysidehigh65.com is the website. Pictures can be found in “Pictorial History of Sunnyside Volume 2”
In the photograph, you can see the name of Oliver Wallace advertised as the organist. The Dream is thought to have been the first theatre to install a pipe organ to accompany silent films. Oliver Wallace went on to become the music director for Walt Disney. He composed the music for more than 130 of the Disney shorts from the 1930’s – 1950’s. He also composed music for many full length Disney films.
Found this: https://www.pugetsound.media/2020/05/07/radio-went-to-the-movies-kbfw-sro-theaters/ about the radio station that shared the building with the Samish Drive In. I worked for SRO theater Division for some time in the 1980’s. They were a great company to work for. Pictures of the Drive In included.
Banana Republic closed it’s store in the Coliseum during the pandemic and has announced that the closure is permanent. This theater is vacant, ready and waiting for…? The interior is mostly intact, the conversion to retail was done with the idea that it might someday re-open as a theater.
This is a typical audio rack for a GCC theater during this era. At the top, a Dolby CP-50 audio processor. In the middle, a Kelmar dual 9VDC exciter lamp power supply. At the bottom, four Kelmar power amplifiers. The CP-50 was the first 35mm film Dolby Stereo processor from Dolby Labs. Many were installed worldwide in the late 1970’s and early 80’s.
General Cinema placed their screens within a reflective surround structure in their older theaters. It was called the “Shadow Box”. This design feature was dropped by the middle of the 1970’s. New houses and remodels after that time had the screen surrounded by black masking.
The Lyric name also moved to the former Mission Theater at some point in the past. At one time, all three theaters in town (The Lincoln, The Lido, and the Lyric) were under the same management. This had changed by the 1970’s when I worked as a relief projectionist for IA Local 351 in that area. All three had different owners by that time. In regards to the 2009 comment above about the Dolby install, it was unique but did sound great for the time. The installer re-used the tube amplifiers left over from the 1950’s mag stereo installation. 4 channels of Motiograph 100% vacuum tube amplification and Voice of the Theater speakers backstage. I think the original Superman was the first Dolby screening at this theater. First Dolby installation between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.
I had the honor of knowing Paul in the mid 1970’s. I was his relief projectionist at the Skagit Drive In in Burlington, WA. A first class technician, he and I had reconnected shortly before his passing.
The snipes mentioned above today appeared on YouTube on the Periscopefilm channel.
I had been wondering how long it would remain sitting empty. This theater never did the business that GCC had hoped for. The competition seemed to have more aggressive bookers and got most of the top grossing product. It’s location at the rear of a strip mall shopping center did not help. AMC acquired this property with the bankruptcy of GCC and promptly closed it at the end of a 20 year lease.
The Seattle Public Library has a more complete collection of Polk’s Directories. In 1957, Larry Goedde is listed as manager. The 1958 edition is missing, the 1959 has no listing for the Basin nor does any later edition.
Polk’s Directory lists the Ritz Theater at 210 South Ash Street and the Ritz Barber Shop at 212 South Ash. It must have been in a small storefront to the left of the entrance door. The Polk’s listing for the theater is gone by the mid 1960’s but the barber shop continued to be listed for several years after the theater must have closed.
A 3 minute long documentary on The Guild from 2015 can be found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4A20aP_4D4 It has many shots of both the interior and the exterior along with an interview with the long time manager.
The Guild #1 (the pink theater) was demolished ¼/2022. So far, Guild #2 (Blue theater) remains standing.
Status should be changed to “Demolished”. The site is apartments now, no trace of the theater remains.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The massive free standing marquis of the Lewis and Clark comes into view at 23:24. This was shot soon after the addition with 4 new screens was added to the original 3 screen and bowling alley complex.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The Midway comes into view at 11:21. Showing a double bill of “Chained Heat” & “Vice Squad”. The video shows a good idea of what the neighborhood around the theater was like in 1983.
The State of Washington (owner) is presently doing a minor remodel to the theater. Fire safety system upgrades, electrical upgrades, and a badly needed new roof. Theater is set to reopen in Spring of 2022. I’ll get some pictures of the interior when it does. Columbia Basin Allied Arts is the local non-profit that books most events in the venue.
Got a chance to tour the interior with the owner. No longer recognizable as as a theater inside. A second level has been built in a portion of the auditorium. Windows and doorways have been cut into the auditorium wall on the sidewalk side to create office spaces.
I am wondering if in 1924 an error was made in the above mentioned news item. I think the location is actually Seattle, WA. John Danz owned many theaters in the Seattle area, starting in the nickelodeon years and continuing under the same family ownership until a sale to Cineplex in 1986. In the 1960’s, his company, Sterling Recreation Organization, expanded to the Los Angeles area but I am unaware of any operations in the San Francisco area. John Danz lived until the mid 1950’s, the John Danz Theater in Bellevue, WA is named after him. His son, Fred Danz assumed control of the company at the senior Danz death. John Danz operated Seattle theaters under both the “Class A” and “Capitol” names at different times. They had adjacent addresses on 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle.
I agree 100% with the comment above about the marque. Interstate 5 was built some years after the theatre, the view of the marque from the Southbound lanes of I-5 was impressive. If you look carefully in this picture, you can see the little “cable car” used to change the marque. The teenage staff would have to load it up with the letters needed, climb in and hoist themselves up the level needed and push or pull it from side to side across the face of the sign while standing inside the car. I am sure that OSHA would not approve of this practice today.
In the mid 1980’s, I was the chief projectionist at GCC’s Renton Village Cinema. The Division Manager’s office was directly below the Cinema II/III projection booth and sometimes you could hear loud conversations in the office from the booth. Linda Danisher, the Division Manager did not seem to care for the trips to the Sparks Cinema which had been added to the theaters under her supervision. All of her other theaters were less than an hours drive from her home. She spoke about her Sparks trips to her secretary more than once. I don’t blame her for not liking the trip.
Randy Finley, owner of the original Guild tried but was unable to purchase the adjacent property in order to expand. It was a pizza restaurant at the time. He instead purchased and demolished the building two doors down the street to build Guild II. Guild II opened in 1984.
Only the lobby section remains, auditorium and the bowling alley both demolished.
“The Sand Pebbles” was being shown at the time of the fire.
The Liberty was destroyed by fire on February 9, 1968. Fire had started in the hotel next door and spread to the theatre. The Sunnyside High School class of 1965 has a website with pictures of the two buildings on fire. Sunnysidehigh65.com is the website. Pictures can be found in “Pictorial History of Sunnyside Volume 2”
In the photograph, you can see the name of Oliver Wallace advertised as the organist. The Dream is thought to have been the first theatre to install a pipe organ to accompany silent films. Oliver Wallace went on to become the music director for Walt Disney. He composed the music for more than 130 of the Disney shorts from the 1930’s – 1950’s. He also composed music for many full length Disney films.
Found this: https://www.pugetsound.media/2020/05/07/radio-went-to-the-movies-kbfw-sro-theaters/ about the radio station that shared the building with the Samish Drive In. I worked for SRO theater Division for some time in the 1980’s. They were a great company to work for. Pictures of the Drive In included.