The sign is in a coffee shop located on the ground floor of an office building that is diagonally across the intersection of 6th Avenue and Blanchard streets from the King was. The coffee shop is on the Northwest corner of the intersection, the King was on the Southeast corner.
DTS was one of several competing and non-compatible digital sound formats for 35mm film prints. In the case of DTS, SMPTE timecode (and a backup analog soundtrack) was printed on the film itself. The audio tracks were on the disc which was synced with the timecode on the film. System is still in use for a few very rare 70mm film presentations including the Seattle Cinerama where I work.
Hi Dennis. The King had the last carbon arc lamps in use in Seattle. They were Ashcraft Super Cinex lamps. Water cooled, 13.6mm positive and 11mm negative trim. A beautiful light came from those lamps. Even though the screen was not curved, it was very large and the picture from the Norelco DP 70’s was a really nice thing to see. I remember that the bean counters in the Home Office did not seem to understand that we were not Xenon. Each month a Monthly Xenon Report was sent to the theater. It was always filled out showing zero hours of use and no new lamps installed.
GCC built 4 similar buildings in the area in the mid – late 1980’s. Lincoln Plaza in Tacoma, Gateway in Federal Way, Kitsap Mall in Silverdale, and Renton Village in Renton. I was the opening projectionist for Kitsap and Renton Village. All except the Gateway were a bit hard to find. I can’t speak as to the rent but I know that 20+ year leases were common and GCC came to regret them.
As of June, there is a sign in front of the theater regarding “Change of Land Use” A 274 unit eight story apartment building is proposed. Sign says: “Existing Theater Building To Be Demolished” I was the opening projectionist for GCC when the “New” Renton Village opened in 1989. I had previously worked at the “Old” GCC Renton Village tri-plex that was on the same site.
Also, the Street View image of this theater is about 5 blocks off. Aurora Cinema was a few steps from the corner of 130th and Linden. The back side of the building faced Linden, the entrance was on the East side and faced Aurora Avenue. Parking was to the South and East of the building. There is a large apartment complex on the site today.
I agree with what Stan has said above, especially the Coke/Pepsi comment as I did the same. I am not sure if it was in the terms of the lease for this property or perhaps this was one of the few GCC owned rather than leased buildings but cinema staff was responsible for parking lot cleaning and maintenance. I have memories of staff repainting the white lines between parking spaces during the down time when all three shows were in. It was not the quickest (or the neatest) way for sure. Paint for a few minutes and then clean up and serve customers for a bit and then back outside to paint. I’m glad I was in the booth and did not have any part of this project.
I am going to guess the date of this photo to the mid to late 1960’s. State Route 599 is still under construction in the picture and it opened in 1968. The large building across U.S. 99 from the theater was once a Holiday Inn.
I can a small amount of information. The opening projectionist in 1948 was Mr. Ashley (Ash) Bridgham. The closing projectionist in 1979 was the same Ashley Bridgham. Ash worked other theaters in the area between these dates but he did both open and close this drive in. Prior to the Duwamish, Ash had worked at the Roxy in Renton. He started his career in the late 1920’s. He retired along with the theater in 1979 and passed away about 1984 or so. Ash told me that due to the swampy wetland to the north of the site, mosquitos were a bit of an issue at this theater. The theater was never automated and remained a manual booth to it’s closing day. It had Brenkert BX-80 projectors and RCA soundheads. It is possible I can find some more information in the files of the old projectionists union local 154 in Seattle. I am an officer of IA local 15 that now represents the few remaining Union projectionists in Seattle.
At the very much smaller and less ornate theater in my small home town I also did the marquee change to “WW”. I was still in high school and working as projectionist, janitor, marquee changer, cashier, concession worker, and anything else that needed to be done.
I found, by accident, some late 1960’s 8mm footage of the Weis Drive In on Youtube. The Drive in footage starts at 1:03 and runs through 3:15 in the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGEF7C58Vs8. The comments with the video say that their father was the projectionist there.
No, it is not. It is very dark inside but I was able to see that the wall between the lobby and the auditorium has been removed and the floor leveled. It looks like the main floor interior has been subdivided into smaller rooms.
Roman-Holliday: Was your manager’s name perhaps Corrine Strello (unsure of spelling)? Mrs. Strello was a manager for SRO theaters from the late 1950’s until retiring from SRO’s Cinerama in the early 1980’s. I worked for her at the Cinerama. Such things would never be allowed today but her husband managed for a competitor, National General’s Crossroads Cinema in Bellevue.
When opened, the projectionists were: Thomas Watters, Jr, George Worst, and Jack Bostock. George and Jack passed away years ago and Tommy passed away on July 28, 2016. Tommy was the Business Agent for IATSE Projectionists Local 154 from 1968 until his retirement in 1999. He left the Aurora Cinema and went to the Oak Tree Cinema in 1986.
This theater was a near identical twin of the Factoria Cinemas in it’s original 3 screen configuration. Two 400 seat houses at either end of the building with a 200 hundred seat house between. It opened about 6 months after the Factoria. All booths were identical insofar as equipment goes. New Simplex 35 projectors with lens turrets, rebuilt RCA 9030 soundheads, Xetron 2000W lamphouses. Dolby stereo with CP 50’s and BGW amplifiers in each house. The booth did not originally have platters, SRO seemed to prefer Cinemeccanica towers as film transport devices during this time frame. I worked there in the 1981/82 time frame a few times as a relief projectionist. It was always a nice house to work, SRO took very good care of their theatres as well as their employees. SRO was a class act, they were not a cheap operator.
I drove by on my way back from Portland yesterday. The theatre remains closed but the lobby has been rented out as retail space. The exterior of the building is in perfect condition, the grounds and parking lot are well maintained.
One of the nicest features about working at the John Danz as an IATSE projectionist was the fact that the building was partially built into a slope. At the rear of the theatre was a door that led directly into the booth with only 3 steps up. Also, a reserved projectionist parking spot next to the door.
The Lake was at first a single screen. Judging from it’s appearance, I would guess 1940’s or early 50’s construction. In 1979 or 80, the original auditorium was split and 2 new ones added alongside for a total of 4. It closed when the Fairchild Cinemas opened.
One of several new high rise office towers for Amazon now sits in the site of the KIng. One of the plastic panels from the “King Kat” sign now hangs on the wall of a coffee shop across the street.
Ericrising; I worked there as an infrequent relief projectionist from November of 1981 until October of 1982 when I went full time. When I started, Henry Cannon was the chief projectionist and Jerry Keene was the #2. I replaced Jerry when he left in October 1982. Henry is in his 80’s, still active and happy in retirement. Jerry left town shortly after he left the King.
As of June 14, this former theater is vacant and available for lease. Given the incredible construction boom in downtown Seattle that is presently underway, I don’t doubt that it will be demolished in the not too distant future to make way for yet another high rise.
As a Union projectionist, young and new to Seattle, I got very lucky and wound up running Raiders matinees in 70mm all Summer long in 1981. The booth had been automated by the time I came to the Southcenter. It had a single Century JJ II projector (it’s mate went to the John Danz Theatre in Bellevue), a Christie Autowind 3 platter, Xetron 4,000 watt Xenon lamphouse. Audio was a Dolby CP100 with BGW amps. Original “Voice of the Theater” speakers were still in place. Automation was an SRO Theaters custom made “Commander”. They installed this automation unit into all of their theaters.
The sign is in a coffee shop located on the ground floor of an office building that is diagonally across the intersection of 6th Avenue and Blanchard streets from the King was. The coffee shop is on the Northwest corner of the intersection, the King was on the Southeast corner.
DTS was one of several competing and non-compatible digital sound formats for 35mm film prints. In the case of DTS, SMPTE timecode (and a backup analog soundtrack) was printed on the film itself. The audio tracks were on the disc which was synced with the timecode on the film. System is still in use for a few very rare 70mm film presentations including the Seattle Cinerama where I work.
Hi Dennis. The King had the last carbon arc lamps in use in Seattle. They were Ashcraft Super Cinex lamps. Water cooled, 13.6mm positive and 11mm negative trim. A beautiful light came from those lamps. Even though the screen was not curved, it was very large and the picture from the Norelco DP 70’s was a really nice thing to see. I remember that the bean counters in the Home Office did not seem to understand that we were not Xenon. Each month a Monthly Xenon Report was sent to the theater. It was always filled out showing zero hours of use and no new lamps installed.
GCC built 4 similar buildings in the area in the mid – late 1980’s. Lincoln Plaza in Tacoma, Gateway in Federal Way, Kitsap Mall in Silverdale, and Renton Village in Renton. I was the opening projectionist for Kitsap and Renton Village. All except the Gateway were a bit hard to find. I can’t speak as to the rent but I know that 20+ year leases were common and GCC came to regret them.
This theater did not have stadium seating. There are none of the older style (William Reisman design) GCC houses remaining in Washington State.
As of June, there is a sign in front of the theater regarding “Change of Land Use” A 274 unit eight story apartment building is proposed. Sign says: “Existing Theater Building To Be Demolished” I was the opening projectionist for GCC when the “New” Renton Village opened in 1989. I had previously worked at the “Old” GCC Renton Village tri-plex that was on the same site.
Also, the Street View image of this theater is about 5 blocks off. Aurora Cinema was a few steps from the corner of 130th and Linden. The back side of the building faced Linden, the entrance was on the East side and faced Aurora Avenue. Parking was to the South and East of the building. There is a large apartment complex on the site today.
I agree with what Stan has said above, especially the Coke/Pepsi comment as I did the same. I am not sure if it was in the terms of the lease for this property or perhaps this was one of the few GCC owned rather than leased buildings but cinema staff was responsible for parking lot cleaning and maintenance. I have memories of staff repainting the white lines between parking spaces during the down time when all three shows were in. It was not the quickest (or the neatest) way for sure. Paint for a few minutes and then clean up and serve customers for a bit and then back outside to paint. I’m glad I was in the booth and did not have any part of this project.
I am going to guess the date of this photo to the mid to late 1960’s. State Route 599 is still under construction in the picture and it opened in 1968. The large building across U.S. 99 from the theater was once a Holiday Inn.
I can a small amount of information. The opening projectionist in 1948 was Mr. Ashley (Ash) Bridgham. The closing projectionist in 1979 was the same Ashley Bridgham. Ash worked other theaters in the area between these dates but he did both open and close this drive in. Prior to the Duwamish, Ash had worked at the Roxy in Renton. He started his career in the late 1920’s. He retired along with the theater in 1979 and passed away about 1984 or so. Ash told me that due to the swampy wetland to the north of the site, mosquitos were a bit of an issue at this theater. The theater was never automated and remained a manual booth to it’s closing day. It had Brenkert BX-80 projectors and RCA soundheads. It is possible I can find some more information in the files of the old projectionists union local 154 in Seattle. I am an officer of IA local 15 that now represents the few remaining Union projectionists in Seattle.
At the very much smaller and less ornate theater in my small home town I also did the marquee change to “WW”. I was still in high school and working as projectionist, janitor, marquee changer, cashier, concession worker, and anything else that needed to be done.
I found, by accident, some late 1960’s 8mm footage of the Weis Drive In on Youtube. The Drive in footage starts at 1:03 and runs through 3:15 in the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGEF7C58Vs8. The comments with the video say that their father was the projectionist there.
No, it is not. It is very dark inside but I was able to see that the wall between the lobby and the auditorium has been removed and the floor leveled. It looks like the main floor interior has been subdivided into smaller rooms.
I found an recent but expired real estate listing for the MarJo, $99,900 asking price.
Roman-Holliday: Was your manager’s name perhaps Corrine Strello (unsure of spelling)? Mrs. Strello was a manager for SRO theaters from the late 1950’s until retiring from SRO’s Cinerama in the early 1980’s. I worked for her at the Cinerama. Such things would never be allowed today but her husband managed for a competitor, National General’s Crossroads Cinema in Bellevue.
When opened, the projectionists were: Thomas Watters, Jr, George Worst, and Jack Bostock. George and Jack passed away years ago and Tommy passed away on July 28, 2016. Tommy was the Business Agent for IATSE Projectionists Local 154 from 1968 until his retirement in 1999. He left the Aurora Cinema and went to the Oak Tree Cinema in 1986.
To clarify what I just wrote above, there were a total of two 400 seat houses, one on either end of the building. Not two on each end.
This theater was a near identical twin of the Factoria Cinemas in it’s original 3 screen configuration. Two 400 seat houses at either end of the building with a 200 hundred seat house between. It opened about 6 months after the Factoria. All booths were identical insofar as equipment goes. New Simplex 35 projectors with lens turrets, rebuilt RCA 9030 soundheads, Xetron 2000W lamphouses. Dolby stereo with CP 50’s and BGW amplifiers in each house. The booth did not originally have platters, SRO seemed to prefer Cinemeccanica towers as film transport devices during this time frame. I worked there in the 1981/82 time frame a few times as a relief projectionist. It was always a nice house to work, SRO took very good care of their theatres as well as their employees. SRO was a class act, they were not a cheap operator.
I drove by on my way back from Portland yesterday. The theatre remains closed but the lobby has been rented out as retail space. The exterior of the building is in perfect condition, the grounds and parking lot are well maintained.
One of the nicest features about working at the John Danz as an IATSE projectionist was the fact that the building was partially built into a slope. At the rear of the theatre was a door that led directly into the booth with only 3 steps up. Also, a reserved projectionist parking spot next to the door.
The Lake was at first a single screen. Judging from it’s appearance, I would guess 1940’s or early 50’s construction. In 1979 or 80, the original auditorium was split and 2 new ones added alongside for a total of 4. It closed when the Fairchild Cinemas opened.
One of many new high rise residential towers now occupies the entire block.
One of several new high rise office towers for Amazon now sits in the site of the KIng. One of the plastic panels from the “King Kat” sign now hangs on the wall of a coffee shop across the street.
Ericrising; I worked there as an infrequent relief projectionist from November of 1981 until October of 1982 when I went full time. When I started, Henry Cannon was the chief projectionist and Jerry Keene was the #2. I replaced Jerry when he left in October 1982. Henry is in his 80’s, still active and happy in retirement. Jerry left town shortly after he left the King.
As of June 14, this former theater is vacant and available for lease. Given the incredible construction boom in downtown Seattle that is presently underway, I don’t doubt that it will be demolished in the not too distant future to make way for yet another high rise.
As a Union projectionist, young and new to Seattle, I got very lucky and wound up running Raiders matinees in 70mm all Summer long in 1981. The booth had been automated by the time I came to the Southcenter. It had a single Century JJ II projector (it’s mate went to the John Danz Theatre in Bellevue), a Christie Autowind 3 platter, Xetron 4,000 watt Xenon lamphouse. Audio was a Dolby CP100 with BGW amps. Original “Voice of the Theater” speakers were still in place. Automation was an SRO Theaters custom made “Commander”. They installed this automation unit into all of their theaters.