I wish to correct a statement regarding number of screens at opening. The Factoria had only 3 screens at opening. All three equipped with Dolby CP-50 audio processors, new Simplex 35mm projectors fitted with lens turrets that were mated to rebuilt older RCA soundheads. At opening, we did not have platters but rather Cinemeccanica Towers which held 13,000 feet of film on the reels but required rewind time at the end of the screening. Platters came in 1982 with the two additional screens. The new screens were equipped for 70mm and each had brand new Century JJ2 projectors with lens turrets, Dolby CP 200 audio processers, and Christie platters. I was the #2 (part time) Union projectionist from 1981 - 1983. The local Projectionist’s Union was IATSE Local 154 and existed from 1908-1998. In 1998, merged with IATSE Local 15, Seattle Stagehands Union.
My Dad’s U. S. Government job took the family to the Devils Lake area for a couple of years, 1969 - 71. My school bus went right by the drive in. Never went to film here, despite pestering my parents to go. I was 11 years old at the time.
This drive in was located just outside of the main gate to Larson Air Force Base which closed in 1966. Airmen on duty at the main gate would have had a view of the screen about 100 yards away. The theater would have been under final approach for B-52 bombers from the SAC base. It is an empty field (with many rattlesnakes!) at present. Foundation of the snack bar building is still there.
Some 6 months later, GCC opened the above mentioned 6-plex on the other side of the parking lot. I worked for GCC, Tom Moyer’s Luxury Theaters had better bookers, in my opinion. GCC rarely had the top grossing films.
I neglected to mention in my previous comment of a major issue that almost further delayed the opening of this theater. It had been scheduled to open before the Christmas season but there were many construction delays. Hence the mid-January opening.
At the last minute, the local fire department insisted that the projection equipment have an Underwriters Labs label. Or a certificate from another nationally recognized testing laboratory. Our Italian made Cinemeccanica projectors and consoles of course did not have this. GCC had to, at great expense, hire another company to do the testing on site. Maryland Testing Laboratories flew a man out from Baltimore for two days so that he could inspect and certify the machines as safe. He even placed a Maryland Testing Labs sticker on each machine.
I was the opening projectionist for this theater. Opened as a 6-plex, all 35mm with 2 Dolby houses and 4 mono. First Dolby houses in the county. Business was poor at first, Weekends were OK but weekdays suffered greatly. Weekday matinees were especially bad, often zero attendance for multiple showings throughout the afternoon. GCC did however maintain the daily matinee policy throughout my 2+ years there. Competing 4-plex less than 100 feet away, just across the parking lot.
A GCC Home Office executive was present for the opening week. It was Charlie Atkinson as I recall. He said to me that he was afraid that the company was some 5 or more years early in opening this theater after he saw the receipts for the first weekday showings.
There was an active farm next door, a gate got left open and we had horses from the farm in our parking lot on opening night. Within a year or so, that farm was gone. Replaced by big box retail including a Toys R Us.
Silverdale is a Navy town, submarine base is there and the Bremerton Navel Shipyard just a few miles away.
I was unaware that Coupeville had ever had a theater. I grew up about 10 miles away in the 1960’s/70’s and thought that Oak Harbor and Langley had the only two indoor theaters on the island. There is also the Blue Fox drive in, just South of Oak Harbor. In addition, there is a theater on the Navy Base but it is not open to the general public.
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the Mond theater (name was Cine-Mond by this time) was operated by Bob and and his brother Ben McRae of McRae Theater Equipment. Both Bob and Ben were Union Brothers in Local 154 IATSE Projectionists Union as was I. They operated a handful of theaters in the area. In 1983 when 20th Century Fox gave “Return of the Jedi” to a 35mm house (GCC Villa Plaza) instead of his 70mm Dolby equipped Narrows Theater in Tacoma, Bob decided to get out of the exhibition business. The theater equipment and supply business continued for years thereafter.
Banana Republic closed it’s store in the Coliseum during the pandemic and has announced that the closure is permanent. This theater is vacant, ready and waiting for…? The interior is mostly intact, the conversion to retail was done with the idea that it might someday re-open as a theater.
This is a typical audio rack for a GCC theater during this era. At the top, a Dolby CP-50 audio processor. In the middle, a Kelmar dual 9VDC exciter lamp power supply. At the bottom, four Kelmar power amplifiers. The CP-50 was the first 35mm film Dolby Stereo processor from Dolby Labs. Many were installed worldwide in the late 1970’s and early 80’s.
General Cinema placed their screens within a reflective surround structure in their older theaters. It was called the “Shadow Box”. This design feature was dropped by the middle of the 1970’s. New houses and remodels after that time had the screen surrounded by black masking.
The Lyric name also moved to the former Mission Theater at some point in the past. At one time, all three theaters in town (The Lincoln, The Lido, and the Lyric) were under the same management. This had changed by the 1970’s when I worked as a relief projectionist for IA Local 351 in that area. All three had different owners by that time. In regards to the 2009 comment above about the Dolby install, it was unique but did sound great for the time. The installer re-used the tube amplifiers left over from the 1950’s mag stereo installation. 4 channels of Motiograph 100% vacuum tube amplification and Voice of the Theater speakers backstage. I think the original Superman was the first Dolby screening at this theater. First Dolby installation between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.
I had the honor of knowing Paul in the mid 1970’s. I was his relief projectionist at the Skagit Drive In in Burlington, WA. A first class technician, he and I had reconnected shortly before his passing.
I had been wondering how long it would remain sitting empty. This theater never did the business that GCC had hoped for. The competition seemed to have more aggressive bookers and got most of the top grossing product. It’s location at the rear of a strip mall shopping center did not help. AMC acquired this property with the bankruptcy of GCC and promptly closed it at the end of a 20 year lease.
The Seattle Public Library has a more complete collection of Polk’s Directories. In 1957, Larry Goedde is listed as manager. The 1958 edition is missing, the 1959 has no listing for the Basin nor does any later edition.
Polk’s Directory lists the Ritz Theater at 210 South Ash Street and the Ritz Barber Shop at 212 South Ash. It must have been in a small storefront to the left of the entrance door. The Polk’s listing for the theater is gone by the mid 1960’s but the barber shop continued to be listed for several years after the theater must have closed.
A 3 minute long documentary on The Guild from 2015 can be found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4A20aP_4D4 It has many shots of both the interior and the exterior along with an interview with the long time manager.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The massive free standing marquis of the Lewis and Clark comes into view at 23:24. This was shot soon after the addition with 4 new screens was added to the original 3 screen and bowling alley complex.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The Midway comes into view at 11:21. Showing a double bill of “Chained Heat” & “Vice Squad”. The video shows a good idea of what the neighborhood around the theater was like in 1983.
The State of Washington (owner) is presently doing a minor remodel to the theater. Fire safety system upgrades, electrical upgrades, and a badly needed new roof. Theater is set to reopen in Spring of 2022. I’ll get some pictures of the interior when it does. Columbia Basin Allied Arts is the local non-profit that books most events in the venue.
Got a chance to tour the interior with the owner. No longer recognizable as as a theater inside. A second level has been built in a portion of the auditorium. Windows and doorways have been cut into the auditorium wall on the sidewalk side to create office spaces.
I am wondering if in 1924 an error was made in the above mentioned news item. I think the location is actually Seattle, WA. John Danz owned many theaters in the Seattle area, starting in the nickelodeon years and continuing under the same family ownership until a sale to Cineplex in 1986. In the 1960’s, his company, Sterling Recreation Organization, expanded to the Los Angeles area but I am unaware of any operations in the San Francisco area. John Danz lived until the mid 1950’s, the John Danz Theater in Bellevue, WA is named after him. His son, Fred Danz assumed control of the company at the senior Danz death. John Danz operated Seattle theaters under both the “Class A” and “Capitol” names at different times. They had adjacent addresses on 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle.
I wish to correct a statement regarding number of screens at opening. The Factoria had only 3 screens at opening. All three equipped with Dolby CP-50 audio processors, new Simplex 35mm projectors fitted with lens turrets that were mated to rebuilt older RCA soundheads. At opening, we did not have platters but rather Cinemeccanica Towers which held 13,000 feet of film on the reels but required rewind time at the end of the screening. Platters came in 1982 with the two additional screens. The new screens were equipped for 70mm and each had brand new Century JJ2 projectors with lens turrets, Dolby CP 200 audio processers, and Christie platters. I was the #2 (part time) Union projectionist from 1981 - 1983. The local Projectionist’s Union was IATSE Local 154 and existed from 1908-1998. In 1998, merged with IATSE Local 15, Seattle Stagehands Union.
My Dad’s U. S. Government job took the family to the Devils Lake area for a couple of years, 1969 - 71. My school bus went right by the drive in. Never went to film here, despite pestering my parents to go. I was 11 years old at the time.
This drive in was located just outside of the main gate to Larson Air Force Base which closed in 1966. Airmen on duty at the main gate would have had a view of the screen about 100 yards away. The theater would have been under final approach for B-52 bombers from the SAC base. It is an empty field (with many rattlesnakes!) at present. Foundation of the snack bar building is still there.
Some 6 months later, GCC opened the above mentioned 6-plex on the other side of the parking lot. I worked for GCC, Tom Moyer’s Luxury Theaters had better bookers, in my opinion. GCC rarely had the top grossing films.
I neglected to mention in my previous comment of a major issue that almost further delayed the opening of this theater. It had been scheduled to open before the Christmas season but there were many construction delays. Hence the mid-January opening.
At the last minute, the local fire department insisted that the projection equipment have an Underwriters Labs label. Or a certificate from another nationally recognized testing laboratory. Our Italian made Cinemeccanica projectors and consoles of course did not have this. GCC had to, at great expense, hire another company to do the testing on site. Maryland Testing Laboratories flew a man out from Baltimore for two days so that he could inspect and certify the machines as safe. He even placed a Maryland Testing Labs sticker on each machine.
I was the opening projectionist for this theater. Opened as a 6-plex, all 35mm with 2 Dolby houses and 4 mono. First Dolby houses in the county. Business was poor at first, Weekends were OK but weekdays suffered greatly. Weekday matinees were especially bad, often zero attendance for multiple showings throughout the afternoon. GCC did however maintain the daily matinee policy throughout my 2+ years there. Competing 4-plex less than 100 feet away, just across the parking lot.
A GCC Home Office executive was present for the opening week. It was Charlie Atkinson as I recall. He said to me that he was afraid that the company was some 5 or more years early in opening this theater after he saw the receipts for the first weekday showings.
There was an active farm next door, a gate got left open and we had horses from the farm in our parking lot on opening night. Within a year or so, that farm was gone. Replaced by big box retail including a Toys R Us.
Silverdale is a Navy town, submarine base is there and the Bremerton Navel Shipyard just a few miles away.
I was unaware that Coupeville had ever had a theater. I grew up about 10 miles away in the 1960’s/70’s and thought that Oak Harbor and Langley had the only two indoor theaters on the island. There is also the Blue Fox drive in, just South of Oak Harbor. In addition, there is a theater on the Navy Base but it is not open to the general public.
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the Mond theater (name was Cine-Mond by this time) was operated by Bob and and his brother Ben McRae of McRae Theater Equipment. Both Bob and Ben were Union Brothers in Local 154 IATSE Projectionists Union as was I. They operated a handful of theaters in the area. In 1983 when 20th Century Fox gave “Return of the Jedi” to a 35mm house (GCC Villa Plaza) instead of his 70mm Dolby equipped Narrows Theater in Tacoma, Bob decided to get out of the exhibition business. The theater equipment and supply business continued for years thereafter.
Banana Republic closed it’s store in the Coliseum during the pandemic and has announced that the closure is permanent. This theater is vacant, ready and waiting for…? The interior is mostly intact, the conversion to retail was done with the idea that it might someday re-open as a theater.
This is a typical audio rack for a GCC theater during this era. At the top, a Dolby CP-50 audio processor. In the middle, a Kelmar dual 9VDC exciter lamp power supply. At the bottom, four Kelmar power amplifiers. The CP-50 was the first 35mm film Dolby Stereo processor from Dolby Labs. Many were installed worldwide in the late 1970’s and early 80’s.
General Cinema placed their screens within a reflective surround structure in their older theaters. It was called the “Shadow Box”. This design feature was dropped by the middle of the 1970’s. New houses and remodels after that time had the screen surrounded by black masking.
The Lyric name also moved to the former Mission Theater at some point in the past. At one time, all three theaters in town (The Lincoln, The Lido, and the Lyric) were under the same management. This had changed by the 1970’s when I worked as a relief projectionist for IA Local 351 in that area. All three had different owners by that time. In regards to the 2009 comment above about the Dolby install, it was unique but did sound great for the time. The installer re-used the tube amplifiers left over from the 1950’s mag stereo installation. 4 channels of Motiograph 100% vacuum tube amplification and Voice of the Theater speakers backstage. I think the original Superman was the first Dolby screening at this theater. First Dolby installation between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.
I had the honor of knowing Paul in the mid 1970’s. I was his relief projectionist at the Skagit Drive In in Burlington, WA. A first class technician, he and I had reconnected shortly before his passing.
The snipes mentioned above today appeared on YouTube on the Periscopefilm channel.
I had been wondering how long it would remain sitting empty. This theater never did the business that GCC had hoped for. The competition seemed to have more aggressive bookers and got most of the top grossing product. It’s location at the rear of a strip mall shopping center did not help. AMC acquired this property with the bankruptcy of GCC and promptly closed it at the end of a 20 year lease.
The Seattle Public Library has a more complete collection of Polk’s Directories. In 1957, Larry Goedde is listed as manager. The 1958 edition is missing, the 1959 has no listing for the Basin nor does any later edition.
Polk’s Directory lists the Ritz Theater at 210 South Ash Street and the Ritz Barber Shop at 212 South Ash. It must have been in a small storefront to the left of the entrance door. The Polk’s listing for the theater is gone by the mid 1960’s but the barber shop continued to be listed for several years after the theater must have closed.
A 3 minute long documentary on The Guild from 2015 can be found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4A20aP_4D4 It has many shots of both the interior and the exterior along with an interview with the long time manager.
The Guild #1 (the pink theater) was demolished ¼/2022. So far, Guild #2 (Blue theater) remains standing.
Status should be changed to “Demolished”. The site is apartments now, no trace of the theater remains.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The massive free standing marquis of the Lewis and Clark comes into view at 23:24. This was shot soon after the addition with 4 new screens was added to the original 3 screen and bowling alley complex.
Someone has posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmCwcbcQmA a Washington State Department of Transportation video of a drive on Highway 99 shot on June 7th of 1983. The Midway comes into view at 11:21. Showing a double bill of “Chained Heat” & “Vice Squad”. The video shows a good idea of what the neighborhood around the theater was like in 1983.
The State of Washington (owner) is presently doing a minor remodel to the theater. Fire safety system upgrades, electrical upgrades, and a badly needed new roof. Theater is set to reopen in Spring of 2022. I’ll get some pictures of the interior when it does. Columbia Basin Allied Arts is the local non-profit that books most events in the venue.
Got a chance to tour the interior with the owner. No longer recognizable as as a theater inside. A second level has been built in a portion of the auditorium. Windows and doorways have been cut into the auditorium wall on the sidewalk side to create office spaces.
I am wondering if in 1924 an error was made in the above mentioned news item. I think the location is actually Seattle, WA. John Danz owned many theaters in the Seattle area, starting in the nickelodeon years and continuing under the same family ownership until a sale to Cineplex in 1986. In the 1960’s, his company, Sterling Recreation Organization, expanded to the Los Angeles area but I am unaware of any operations in the San Francisco area. John Danz lived until the mid 1950’s, the John Danz Theater in Bellevue, WA is named after him. His son, Fred Danz assumed control of the company at the senior Danz death. John Danz operated Seattle theaters under both the “Class A” and “Capitol” names at different times. They had adjacent addresses on 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle.