Washington Theater
602 Washington Avenue,
Bay City,
MI
48708
602 Washington Avenue,
Bay City,
MI
48708
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The Washington Theater opened on August 17, 1903. It was built on the same site as the Woods Opera House which burned down on August 29, 1902. In 1916 the Washington Theater was renamed the Washington Strand Theater. That lasted until 1925 when the name was changed back to the Washington Theater.
This theater closed in 1963 and the building was demolished in 1965 to make way for a parking lot.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
When I was living in Bay City I performed on the stage of the Washington. Also, I took photographs of the Washington Follies learning to be a photographer. If I can figure out how to do it I will post the pictures.
I had the lucky experience as a kid to see movies at the Washington! Its interior featured a stage, side opera boxes and 2 rear Balconies! It was demolished in 1965.
The November 1, 1902, issue of The Engineering Record reported that architect James M. Wood was drawing the plans for the rebuilding of Bay City’s Wood Opera House.
Opened or placed it first ad on August 17th, 1903 and closed in 1963.
The original Woods Opera House opened its doors on September 17, 1886, and was also a replacement of an earlier opera house that ALSO got destroyed by a fire nine months beforehand, called the Westover Opera House located between Center and Washington.
The older Westover Opera House nearby was destroyed by a fire on January 17, 1886. According to a May 1976 article released by the Bay City Times, the Westover was already closed for more than a month when the fire happened. Everything from the Westover before the fire moved to a nearby roller rink (including its scenery). The original Westover was designed by widely known theatrical architect J.M. Wood of Chicago, who also helped design the Woods Opera House as well.
On August 29, 1902, the Woods Opera House was swept by flames after the last performance of “The Tide Of Life”, killing a 22-year-old man named Eugene Zaremba when a section of the wall collapsed and buried him, costing a total of $113,000 in destruction and damages.