McCleary Theater

124 South 3rd Street,
McCleary, WA 98557

Unfavorite No one has favorited this theater yet

Additional Info

Nearby Theaters

Auditorium interior looking towards projection booth

This small town wooden theater, built in 1930, was last used as an auction house. Fred Thibodeau, owner of the Skyline Drive-in Theater in Shelton, Washington owned and operated this theater in the late-1960’s until he closed it in 1971. All the theater seats, stage, snack bar, and projection booth were intact. The auction business installed a suspended ceiling in the auditorium and sold all of the projection equipment.

It has since been demolished.

Contributed by Ken Layton

Recent comments (view all 6 comments)

KenLayton
KenLayton on May 6, 2005 at 11:35 am

Sadly, this theater mysteriously burnt to the ground over a year ago. I went by the property a couple of weeks ago and it’s just an empty lot now. :(

kateymac01
kateymac01 on May 6, 2005 at 3:21 pm

From the local newspaper The Vidette on March 31, 2005:

Former McCleary theater and auction site may be sold
Two years ago, fire destroyed the old McCleary Auction House building, leaving a pile of rubble, and a $24,000 bill to clean up the remains, which the city footed when the owner didn’t. At the March 23 City Council meeting, a local couple, Joyce Graham, who ran the concession counter at the auction house, and her husband, Frank, told the Council they are interested in paying the $24,000 owed to the city to purchase the property to open a business.

KenLayton
KenLayton on September 6, 2005 at 7:53 am

Last time I went by this was still a vacant lot.

KenLayton
KenLayton on June 7, 2011 at 1:35 pm

The former site of the theater is located between a gas station/convenience store and the police department.

KenLayton
KenLayton on July 18, 2011 at 12:29 am

According to the February 15, 1960 issue of Boxoffice Magazine, a man named Mel Stoney was associated with this theater.

KenLayton
KenLayton on April 13, 2014 at 11:27 am

A Letter To the Editor in today’s The Olympian newspaper gives some more information on the McCleary Theater:

http://www.theolympian.com/2014/04/13/3084554/some-more-history-about-thibodeau.html?sp=/99/109/208/

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.