The Pantages operated as the Roxy until 1978 when it was closed to be renovated. My father took my older brothers and sisters to see “Star Wars” there in May 1977.
I was at dinner tonight with a friend who lives near the Northgate, and I asked her about the status of the theater. She said it was just decided (within the past week or two) that the building will be torn down.
The Green Lake was considered a very modern theater when it opened on August 5, 1937. An ad declared it “As Modern as Tomorrow.” It was acclaimed as one of the Northwest’s finest theaters with its Mirrophonic sound, air conditioning, and a capacity of 750 patrons — “every seat a loge chair.”
On opening night, the movie shown was “3 Smart Girls” starring Deanna Durbin.
At some point the theater’s address was changed. The grand opening ad lists the address at 7111 Woodlawn Avenue.
This theater is officially closed now. The reasons for the closure are nothing we haven’t heard before. Here is a story from The Bremerton Sun newspaper:
Port Orchard’s Plaza Twin theater closes after 25 years
By Travis Baker, Sun Staff
May 4, 2005
Caught in a squeeze between longer runs for films in first-run movie houses and increasingly early release of movies on DVD, the 25-year-old Plaza Twin theater in Port Orchard has closed.
Owner Bob Geiger closed it after the final showings of “The Aviator,” “Are We There Yet?” and “Hitch” a week ago.
The site had been a theater since 1923, Geiger said, run first by the Knights of Pythias who used the upstairs as a lodge hall, and then for years as the D&R.
Geiger was one of 13 city businessmen who formed the Port Orchard Improvement Corp. in 1980 to remodel the single screen theater, which had been closed for 18 years, into a twinplex. They opened in April of that year.
It never made money, he said. He took over as sole owner in the early 1990s. It has been drawing only between 50 and 100 moviegoers a week, he said.
It may not have screened its last movie, despite the closure. Geiger said he’ll be happy to rent it to groups and show a film if they wish.
“In California, they have a number of theaters with the same problems and they are having good success renting them out for special events,” he said.
He has been restoring the upstairs for three years since a live theater group moved out, he said. It was in sad shape after years of temporary renovations into sets for one play after another.
“We’ve had a lot of people come and want to rent it,” he said, “and we’re going to give that a try,
He is refinancing the building and hopes to have the upstairs ready for parties and special occasions later this year.
“The movie industry is a strange industry, a complete autocracy and monopoly,” he said, “and they do what they want to do and don’t care about anything else.” The box office is down nationwide, and “they won’t give us anything until it leaves the first-run theaters.”
Then the lucrative DVD releases are out in a few weeks.
He feels many new films “are made quickly without a lot of substance, but for some reason people want to own them.”
“It’s really been a big job keeping that thing going, I had an altruistic attitude that I didn’t want to have a flea market or boarded-up building. We tried to keep it up but the elements of the industry are shooting us down.”
The Varsity has been operating as a movie theatre since 1940. Since there was no room to build outward, the theatre was expanded vertically with the addition of two upstairs screens in 1985. These smaller auditoriums feature high-back ultra-cushy seats with large wall-to-wall screens.
This theater is now home to the Auburn Avenue Theater group — a local community theater. They do dinner theater (mostly musicals), and the troupe’s shows are quite popular.
The building itself is about 100 years old. It has served in a variety of capacities — carriage house, bus depot, movie theater and live theater. For the last 15 years it has been family owned and operated.
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Oct. 12, 2000:
“The Bay — which has been a Ballard landmark since 1915 and has laid claim to being the oldest continuously operating theater in the country — has not really been preserved.
It was so structurally deteriorated that the developers found it impossible to renovate. It’s essentially a brand-new, $5 million triplex in the same location, with all the amenities of the new millennium theaters, including stadium seating, a state-of-the-art sound system and computerized ticketing (major credit cards accepted).
But the new theater is also very much an architectural tribute to the old one and a kind of museum of the kinder, gentler moviegoing experience of the past.
Owner Ken Alhadeff told the P-I last month that his intention was to ‘build the nation’s finest neighborhood theater — a theater with a soul.’ In a sense, he’s betting on a high-touch reaction against the gigantic megaplexes that have now taken over the movie-exhibition business, to the point that the big chains now are closing down their less profitable multiplexes with only three, six or eight screens."
The Pantages operated as the Roxy until 1978 when it was closed to be renovated. My father took my older brothers and sisters to see “Star Wars” there in May 1977.
There were seats for 2,700 when this theater opened, making it the largest in Seattle (until the Seattle Theatre/Paramount was born).
Excellent detail and photos about this theater here:
View link
I was at dinner tonight with a friend who lives near the Northgate, and I asked her about the status of the theater. She said it was just decided (within the past week or two) that the building will be torn down.
The Green Lake was considered a very modern theater when it opened on August 5, 1937. An ad declared it “As Modern as Tomorrow.” It was acclaimed as one of the Northwest’s finest theaters with its Mirrophonic sound, air conditioning, and a capacity of 750 patrons — “every seat a loge chair.”
On opening night, the movie shown was “3 Smart Girls” starring Deanna Durbin.
At some point the theater’s address was changed. The grand opening ad lists the address at 7111 Woodlawn Avenue.
The Green Lake Theater closed in 1950.
The Liberty Theatre was built in 1914 by C.S. Jensen and John G. von Herberg; it had a capacity of 1,700.
This theater was originally named the Society Theatre.
This theater is officially closed now. The reasons for the closure are nothing we haven’t heard before. Here is a story from The Bremerton Sun newspaper:
Port Orchard’s Plaza Twin theater closes after 25 years
By Travis Baker, Sun Staff
May 4, 2005
Caught in a squeeze between longer runs for films in first-run movie houses and increasingly early release of movies on DVD, the 25-year-old Plaza Twin theater in Port Orchard has closed.
Owner Bob Geiger closed it after the final showings of “The Aviator,” “Are We There Yet?” and “Hitch” a week ago.
The site had been a theater since 1923, Geiger said, run first by the Knights of Pythias who used the upstairs as a lodge hall, and then for years as the D&R.
Geiger was one of 13 city businessmen who formed the Port Orchard Improvement Corp. in 1980 to remodel the single screen theater, which had been closed for 18 years, into a twinplex. They opened in April of that year.
It never made money, he said. He took over as sole owner in the early 1990s. It has been drawing only between 50 and 100 moviegoers a week, he said.
It may not have screened its last movie, despite the closure. Geiger said he’ll be happy to rent it to groups and show a film if they wish.
“In California, they have a number of theaters with the same problems and they are having good success renting them out for special events,” he said.
He has been restoring the upstairs for three years since a live theater group moved out, he said. It was in sad shape after years of temporary renovations into sets for one play after another.
“We’ve had a lot of people come and want to rent it,” he said, “and we’re going to give that a try,
He is refinancing the building and hopes to have the upstairs ready for parties and special occasions later this year.
“The movie industry is a strange industry, a complete autocracy and monopoly,” he said, “and they do what they want to do and don’t care about anything else.” The box office is down nationwide, and “they won’t give us anything until it leaves the first-run theaters.”
Then the lucrative DVD releases are out in a few weeks.
He feels many new films “are made quickly without a lot of substance, but for some reason people want to own them.”
“It’s really been a big job keeping that thing going, I had an altruistic attitude that I didn’t want to have a flea market or boarded-up building. We tried to keep it up but the elements of the industry are shooting us down.”
Does anyone know what happened to the chandeliers that hung in the lobby? They were spectacular.
A little history from the Varsity’s Web site:
The Varsity has been operating as a movie theatre since 1940. Since there was no room to build outward, the theatre was expanded vertically with the addition of two upstairs screens in 1985. These smaller auditoriums feature high-back ultra-cushy seats with large wall-to-wall screens.
I just noticed that this theater is “closed for repairs.”
This theater was also known as the State at some point. Great photos at View link
Was this theater also known as the Neace?
This theater was originally known as the Edgemont.
View link
This theater was also known as the Paramount in the 1920s.
This theater is now home to the Auburn Avenue Theater group — a local community theater. They do dinner theater (mostly musicals), and the troupe’s shows are quite popular.
The building itself is about 100 years old. It has served in a variety of capacities — carriage house, bus depot, movie theater and live theater. For the last 15 years it has been family owned and operated.
Go here www.auburntheater.com/main.shtml for more information.
This theater was also known as the Rex.
The current total of seats at Taproot is 228. Renovation and conversion to live theater cut the number of seats.
Isn’t this site now a drugstore?
My mom boasts that she stood just feet away from Grace Kelly at this theater.
Formerly known as the Greenwood Grand, this theater is now the home to the Taproot Theatre Company.
Great exterior photos at View link
The Capitol Theatre originally had a 2/11 Kimball theatre organ installed in 1924.
Great photos of the theater at View link
According to an October 2000 news article, the Hollywood’s original marquee, with the centerpiece “H,” still stands.
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Oct. 12, 2000:
“The Bay — which has been a Ballard landmark since 1915 and has laid claim to being the oldest continuously operating theater in the country — has not really been preserved.
It was so structurally deteriorated that the developers found it impossible to renovate. It’s essentially a brand-new, $5 million triplex in the same location, with all the amenities of the new millennium theaters, including stadium seating, a state-of-the-art sound system and computerized ticketing (major credit cards accepted).
But the new theater is also very much an architectural tribute to the old one and a kind of museum of the kinder, gentler moviegoing experience of the past.
Owner Ken Alhadeff told the P-I last month that his intention was to ‘build the nation’s finest neighborhood theater — a theater with a soul.’ In a sense, he’s betting on a high-touch reaction against the gigantic megaplexes that have now taken over the movie-exhibition business, to the point that the big chains now are closing down their less profitable multiplexes with only three, six or eight screens."