This theatre should really be saved. It’s rare today to find a house like this in such good condition. Someone should step up and get this started. I know it takes money and there has to be some kind of a plan for it’s use to warrent the expenditure but it would be a shame to see it fall into a wreck only to be torn down when it is now in such restorable shape.
Agree, I enjoyed the first part but not the end. Why not restore the theater and build a new section next door and incorporate the new screens there. Making the whole building look like the original theater. You get the best of both.
Ron,
I was in McMinnville about 2 years ago and the Mack was closed at that time but I contacted the owner who said that the theater did good business but he didn’t have the time to devote to running it. It’s last incarnation was an art house running foreign, independent, art films. It still has a web page www.macktheater.com and it is still advertising it’s last film “Capote”. Check it out.
The photo’s for the Weir & Rex listed on the PSTOS site clearly show 2 different buildings. I was in the Weir and it was definatly the brick building with the crown on the roof line. It was next to the Masonic building (Later Browers dress shop). The Rex was next to the Weir more at mid block. At least that is what the photo’s show.
This is good news, the interior by the look of the photos is a total wreak. The roof is missing and the elements have taken their toll. At least the exterior will be cleaned and preserved and that is great. Much better than demolition which is usually the case with old buildings whose interiors have rotted away.
Amazing theater, this should be saved if the majestic is in as good of condition as the palace this could become a major performance center. Two theaters in one building. Maybe one for live and the other for film or some combination. Just amazing that the palace has never been stripped. Save it now!
Sounds like the Cinerama needs to hire a good old fashioned projectionist. It’s unforgivable to have a great venue with sloppy projection work. I know Paul Allen ownes the place but it is run by one of the major circuits. If Mr. Allen was told about the presentation issues he might be able to put some presure on whoever runs the theater to clean up their act.
With reguards to the showing of DVD’s in art house theaters. I run an independent art house and while we prefer 35mm film it is becoming increasingly harder to get. I am now playing 3 releases and one of those was shipped to me as a DVD. No choice was offered a DVD arrived and that’s what I will show. The film is “Mid-August Lunch” an Italian comedy. I have found that this is becoming more and more prevelant.
I’m still up in the air about the studio’s owning their own theaters again, there are good things and bad.
Shame, shame, shame, This theater is magnificent and should not be chopped up! I have to agree with what’s being posted that there are empty spaces around playhouse square that can be used for new construction of smaller performance space. The people of Cleveland should rise up and demand that the Allen be left alone. Otherwise when this travesty is finished and the day arrives (which it will) that someone wants the Allen to be returned to it’s original configuration a whole lot of money will again have to be spent to undo this mess. But here in America we like to spend lots of money to fix things then rip them out and then fix them again. Such a waste.
The original marquee for the Harbor Drive-In was a huge Paul Bunyun swinging an axe. The whole sign was done up in bright neon and the axe would swing back and forth. There was also beautiful landscaping and lots of colored lights along the fences and in the trees. The snack bar had disney characters painted on the walls by some local artist, done when the place was first opened, including Minnie Mouse nursing a baby mouse. Something I’m sure Disney would never have approved of! In the 70’s the theater was twinned, and a new booth was built on the roof of the snack bar. Now the land has some houses built on it and a business. All trace of the theater is gone.
I see that the theater finally got new carpet after 40 years. It will be nice to not have the duct tape holding down the seams. I do hope the theater saved the little bit of original carpet from the balcony for archival perposes. But all in all it now looks way batter.
I agree that the current marquee has merit and it appears to be in good condition, that said, it doesn’t really blend with the architecture of the building. Many theaters had their marquee’s replaced over time and usually each replacement was in keeping with whatever was in vogue at the time with no thought to the style of the facade or what the original architect had in mind. So my opinion is to go back to something more in keeping with whatever was originally intended. Also this marquee does not need to be destroyed, it can be removed and sold to grace another theater that may be needing a new marquee. Changing the name is minor and can be done by any good sign company.
As a theater operator I can say that while the concessions may seem priced high and in many cases are, if theaters didn’t have concessions they would go under. While we do get a % of the box office gross the film distributors take the majority of that revenue. So the only way to make any money to pay our expenses is through concessions. People are quick to point out that tickets are high and so are the snacks. The film distributors dictate what you can charge for admissions price based on the theaters geographic location. Theater owners have some leeway in this area but not much. So in order to pay the rent, lights, wages, taxes, insurance, and many other expences we charge a lot for popcorn.
Sounds like the owners are just looking to make a buck. While making a profit is OK, It’s not OK to do so with the demolition of a historic building. There’s no reason why they won’t sell the theater for a realistic value other than to thwart anyone’s attempt to save it. The attitude of “I own this and I can do whatever I want with it” is what has destroyed much of America’s local historical fabric. Many towns are nothing but ugly strip malls due to owners not wanting to invest in the preservation of their holdings and allowing wholesale demolition. He should be stopped.
The photo’s of the work on the auditorium look great! I can not stress how pleased I am that this is getting done. Hoquiam and Wa. State are getting a very rare gem. The 7th st will be around for another 80 years to entertain and captivate all who enter with her beauty.
Amazing, not many of S Charles Lee’s california theaters from the 1940’s remain in their original configuration. This must be restored and reopened. A true treasure!
There is part of the Music Box installed in the lobby of the City Centre building in downtown Seattle. It is a large ornamental carved stone arch that once graced the front of the building above the marquee. There were 3 of these arches and they contained windows. Don’t know what happened to the other 2, probably purchased during demolition.
I was in the Broadway in the 1980’s and saw Beau Gest with Marty Feldman. It was playing in the balcony theatre. I remember that the balcony was quite large and had not been changed at all from the original decorations with the exception of the new wall with the screen located on the front edge of the balcony. The theatre was fairly run down by this time and the lobby and entrances to the differant theatres were very cobbled up to try to keep the crowds from crossing from one auditorium to another. To bad as it looked like it had been nice at one time. Tom Moyer wasn’t known for being very simpathetic with his older properties. He liked to chop them up as cheaply as possible.
Glad to see that the cieling is getting restores. This has been the most visible problem area for the theatre. When finished the theatre should look GREAT!
This all rings true, Great idea to try something different, but will anyone come? Also you might draw an audience at the beginning because of the novelty but I don’t see that it will be self sustaining. Also the above comments are very true with reguards to product, most of the newsreels are not available and costs will be prohibitive. In the really old days the theaters were owned by the studios and they provided all this extra programing to stretch the programs out and provide information ( news ) to their patrons but the need is just no longer there.
This theatre should really be saved. It’s rare today to find a house like this in such good condition. Someone should step up and get this started. I know it takes money and there has to be some kind of a plan for it’s use to warrent the expenditure but it would be a shame to see it fall into a wreck only to be torn down when it is now in such restorable shape.
Agree, I enjoyed the first part but not the end. Why not restore the theater and build a new section next door and incorporate the new screens there. Making the whole building look like the original theater. You get the best of both.
Ron,
I was in McMinnville about 2 years ago and the Mack was closed at that time but I contacted the owner who said that the theater did good business but he didn’t have the time to devote to running it. It’s last incarnation was an art house running foreign, independent, art films. It still has a web page www.macktheater.com and it is still advertising it’s last film “Capote”. Check it out.
The photo’s for the Weir & Rex listed on the PSTOS site clearly show 2 different buildings. I was in the Weir and it was definatly the brick building with the crown on the roof line. It was next to the Masonic building (Later Browers dress shop). The Rex was next to the Weir more at mid block. At least that is what the photo’s show.
This is good news, the interior by the look of the photos is a total wreak. The roof is missing and the elements have taken their toll. At least the exterior will be cleaned and preserved and that is great. Much better than demolition which is usually the case with old buildings whose interiors have rotted away.
I agree with the comment on the name. This was built as “The King” and it should be called by that name. King Cat is rather wierd.
Amazing theater, this should be saved if the majestic is in as good of condition as the palace this could become a major performance center. Two theaters in one building. Maybe one for live and the other for film or some combination. Just amazing that the palace has never been stripped. Save it now!
Per the web site AMC runs the Cinerama.
Sounds like the Cinerama needs to hire a good old fashioned projectionist. It’s unforgivable to have a great venue with sloppy projection work. I know Paul Allen ownes the place but it is run by one of the major circuits. If Mr. Allen was told about the presentation issues he might be able to put some presure on whoever runs the theater to clean up their act.
With reguards to the showing of DVD’s in art house theaters. I run an independent art house and while we prefer 35mm film it is becoming increasingly harder to get. I am now playing 3 releases and one of those was shipped to me as a DVD. No choice was offered a DVD arrived and that’s what I will show. The film is “Mid-August Lunch” an Italian comedy. I have found that this is becoming more and more prevelant.
I’m still up in the air about the studio’s owning their own theaters again, there are good things and bad.
Shame, shame, shame, This theater is magnificent and should not be chopped up! I have to agree with what’s being posted that there are empty spaces around playhouse square that can be used for new construction of smaller performance space. The people of Cleveland should rise up and demand that the Allen be left alone. Otherwise when this travesty is finished and the day arrives (which it will) that someone wants the Allen to be returned to it’s original configuration a whole lot of money will again have to be spent to undo this mess. But here in America we like to spend lots of money to fix things then rip them out and then fix them again. Such a waste.
The original marquee for the Harbor Drive-In was a huge Paul Bunyun swinging an axe. The whole sign was done up in bright neon and the axe would swing back and forth. There was also beautiful landscaping and lots of colored lights along the fences and in the trees. The snack bar had disney characters painted on the walls by some local artist, done when the place was first opened, including Minnie Mouse nursing a baby mouse. Something I’m sure Disney would never have approved of! In the 70’s the theater was twinned, and a new booth was built on the roof of the snack bar. Now the land has some houses built on it and a business. All trace of the theater is gone.
I see that the theater finally got new carpet after 40 years. It will be nice to not have the duct tape holding down the seams. I do hope the theater saved the little bit of original carpet from the balcony for archival perposes. But all in all it now looks way batter.
I agree that the current marquee has merit and it appears to be in good condition, that said, it doesn’t really blend with the architecture of the building. Many theaters had their marquee’s replaced over time and usually each replacement was in keeping with whatever was in vogue at the time with no thought to the style of the facade or what the original architect had in mind. So my opinion is to go back to something more in keeping with whatever was originally intended. Also this marquee does not need to be destroyed, it can be removed and sold to grace another theater that may be needing a new marquee. Changing the name is minor and can be done by any good sign company.
Having never been in the state does anyone have any photo’s of the interior before it was split up into 3 cinemas. And any of the way it is now?
As a theater operator I can say that while the concessions may seem priced high and in many cases are, if theaters didn’t have concessions they would go under. While we do get a % of the box office gross the film distributors take the majority of that revenue. So the only way to make any money to pay our expenses is through concessions. People are quick to point out that tickets are high and so are the snacks. The film distributors dictate what you can charge for admissions price based on the theaters geographic location. Theater owners have some leeway in this area but not much. So in order to pay the rent, lights, wages, taxes, insurance, and many other expences we charge a lot for popcorn.
Sounds like the owners are just looking to make a buck. While making a profit is OK, It’s not OK to do so with the demolition of a historic building. There’s no reason why they won’t sell the theater for a realistic value other than to thwart anyone’s attempt to save it. The attitude of “I own this and I can do whatever I want with it” is what has destroyed much of America’s local historical fabric. Many towns are nothing but ugly strip malls due to owners not wanting to invest in the preservation of their holdings and allowing wholesale demolition. He should be stopped.
The photo’s look great! Hooray for the 7th st. it has been a long road to get this far.
The photo’s of the work on the auditorium look great! I can not stress how pleased I am that this is getting done. Hoquiam and Wa. State are getting a very rare gem. The 7th st will be around for another 80 years to entertain and captivate all who enter with her beauty.
Amazing, not many of S Charles Lee’s california theaters from the 1940’s remain in their original configuration. This must be restored and reopened. A true treasure!
There is part of the Music Box installed in the lobby of the City Centre building in downtown Seattle. It is a large ornamental carved stone arch that once graced the front of the building above the marquee. There were 3 of these arches and they contained windows. Don’t know what happened to the other 2, probably purchased during demolition.
Great picture, brings back many memories of afternoons at the movies when I was a kid.
I was in the Broadway in the 1980’s and saw Beau Gest with Marty Feldman. It was playing in the balcony theatre. I remember that the balcony was quite large and had not been changed at all from the original decorations with the exception of the new wall with the screen located on the front edge of the balcony. The theatre was fairly run down by this time and the lobby and entrances to the differant theatres were very cobbled up to try to keep the crowds from crossing from one auditorium to another. To bad as it looked like it had been nice at one time. Tom Moyer wasn’t known for being very simpathetic with his older properties. He liked to chop them up as cheaply as possible.
Glad to see that the cieling is getting restores. This has been the most visible problem area for the theatre. When finished the theatre should look GREAT!
This all rings true, Great idea to try something different, but will anyone come? Also you might draw an audience at the beginning because of the novelty but I don’t see that it will be self sustaining. Also the above comments are very true with reguards to product, most of the newsreels are not available and costs will be prohibitive. In the really old days the theaters were owned by the studios and they provided all this extra programing to stretch the programs out and provide information ( news ) to their patrons but the need is just no longer there.