State Theater

Opened Nov. 22, 1949
Closed June 15, 1996
Architect: Joseph Wohleb of the firm of Wohleb & Wohleb

First operated by Evergreen Theaters, then Fox-Evergreen, then Fox West Coast Theaters, then Mann Theaters, then Tom Moyer Luxury Theaters, then T.P.M. Theaters (Thomas P. Moyer, Jr.), then finally Act 3 Theaters.

Theater was a 1,000 seat stadium seat single screen when it opened in 1949. In 1977, when it was operated as a Tom Moyer Luxury Theater, it was chopped up (quite badly) into a 3 plex. In 1983 it switched to second run and became a dollar house until closing.

After ActIII owned and operated it as a $1.00 theater, it quickly became rundown and uncared for (I know, I worked there in high-school in the late 80's). Soon, ActIII walked away, closing the State Theater, and leaving it in a state of disrepair.

Along came Harlequin, a group of both public and private investors, and they bought the theater and gave it new life in the late 90's

They converted it into a live-theater showplace (they even added the small neighboring space that was being used as a pottery business, using this new space for ticket sales.)

The inside is quite small now, as much of the space has been closed off, but it makes a nice, cosy place to see live theater. The main theater now seats around 250-300 (only a guess), and the two side-theaters are inaccessible to patrons, probably used for "back-stage" type stuff.

I had the opportunity to see a play there over Xmas, 2001 and was quite happy to see the theater given new life, especially after spending so much time there in high-school when ActIII owned (and neglected) it.

The theater seats 212 in the current configuration, 80 in the center and 66 on each side. There are also a few seats in the gallery, mostly reserved for ushers although a few have been sold at the day of show for sold out shows. The two side theaters no longer exist and have been removed. Since the theater was never a vaudeville house, it does not have much backstage space, so some of the old back seating is used for office and technical space, along with costume and props storage. The old projection booth still exists and is currently used as an extra dressing room for large shows. The marquee was rebuilt along with the restoration, and the ticket booth was left as is. Currently they don't have a use for the ticket booth, though from time to time we try to come up with one.

As part of the terms of the sale, Harlequin is not allowed to show movies there, so it will never be a movie theater again. However, as a live theater space it is quite nice, with the semi-thrust stage raised 16 inches at the start of the last season to add even more intimacy. Harlequin puts on six shows a year as part of their normal season, and other user groups put on shows ranging from a single show to an entire week throughout the rest of the year.

Harlequin is currently undergoing a capital campaign to perform some needed upgrades and maintenance to the building. The primary focus of this is replacing the HVAC system and repairing or replacing the roof. There are a lot of buckets currently hidden in the catwalks and the structure above the false roof.

The official site (just updated) is at http://www.harlequinproductions.org/

Oh, and the inside does preserve some of the original architectural elements. The art on the walls was restored as part of the remodel, and the light fixtures on the walls are original. The original chandeliers have been stored in the old projection booth, and if you saw the production of The Constant Wife last season, you saw one of them used as the chandelier on-set. The lobby was also lovingly upgraded, though again with original elements such as the drinking fountain. The new mural 'Phoenix Rising' on the celing commemorates the rebirth of the space.

I am grateful that Harlequin took over this one-time movie gem. When I attended school in Thurston County in the early 1990s, my friends and I made many treks to the State to see movies for $1. While we loved seeing movies for cheap, we hated walking into theaters that smelled like urine. The seats were falling apart, and our feet would stick to the floor. And we were afraid of what filth we couldn't see in the dark. But then we were so sad when the theater closed.

As a theater student, however, I had the good fortune of touring the theater one afternoon when Harlequin was considering buying it. I got to walk in the projection booths and see areas of the State I'd never seen. Oh, the potential! (I also got to see some of that filth my friends and I were afraid of. Yuck. And I got to see how really poorly the "tri-plexing" was done.)

It's such a treat now to see plays at the State Theater, to see how it's been lovingly restored and to see this wonderful space being used at all.

Nice color scheme on this photo:
http://www.vanishingmovietheaters.net/assets/images/db_images/db_STATE1rz1.jpg

A couple current photos of the State Theatre including the box office.
photo 1
photo 2

The typical "ban" on showing movies in this theater is for first run product. You can show classics and second run product without any problems.

The "restored" marquee is rusted out and falling apart again. They never addressed the issue of the pidgeons roosting in the "State" channel letters so now it's all rusted again.

Yes, Ken, the State's exterior could use some love!

Harlequin is embarking on a capital campaign to do the following:

-Repair and insulate the roof. The current roof leaks in many places and is basically uninsulated.
-Remodel the current box office space. As it stands right now it is very inefficient for current staff.
-Build dressing rooms into currently dead space (actually, always dead space - not used in the original floor plan but inside the building)
-Build administrative offices
-Install new HVAC
-Rebuild the marquee again
-Retire the mortgage

You can read about it here: http://harlequinproductions.org/enhance/enhancecampaign.html
It's wonderful to work in a space that is so loved by so many people. The Harlequin folks really do work harder than has ever made sense because they love being in that space. When so many movie palaces are falling into disrepair, not operating or even being knocked down, to have one be lived in and loved is a wonderful thing, whether it is showing movies or live entertainment. It's easy to say that you would do a restoration differently, or you would rebuild something that's currently in disrepair; other people are out there trying to actually do that and I'm glad to help support their efforts.

They should restore and use the original free-standing boxoffice. If they can't get a line of 300 people through the boxoffice in 15 minutes, then they don't know how to sell tickets.

I hate the fact they gutted the auditorium and removed all the neon. Then they dropped the ceiling so low. Ruined ruined ruined! They bastardized the place in my opinion. It should have never been "converted" to a 'stage' house in the first place. Why the hell didn't they stay in the Washington Center? That's what the Washington Center was built for. It was explained to the tax payers when the Washington Center was originally being built that ALL performing arts groups would
have their home there. Every time I drive by the State Theater I see a crappy paint job, bums hanging out in front and back of the building, trash all over, grafitti, dilapidated marquee with bird crap running down it. They ruined it.

I worked as a projectionist at the "State", before it was purchased by Moyer's Luxury (Ore-Wash Corp). Back then, it had a huge screen, waterfall curtains, first-class projection system with magnetic stereo sound capabilities. The only time I ever had a magnetic stereo movie in a theatre that had the equipment to run it was at the State. It was in 1978, and the movie was "Capricorn One".

Dolby stereo had not yet arrived in Olympia, so getting a mag-stereo film was quite an experience. Even though it hadn't been used in years, with a little TLC, the sound system performed wonderfully!

As is noted here, the theatre was triplexed, and it was a horrible job. The original sloped loge section was closed off to allow for two small screens. The booth was made by framing a floor across the back two rows. It was so cramped that our union business agent had to crawl under the lamphouses to get to the projectors... there was almost no clearance from the lamp to the back wall. The auditorium seats were not realigned, and the screens were located in the corners of the auditoriums. In the right auditorium, you sat facing left and had to look right to see the screen. It was the other way in the Left auditorium. There were plenty of other flaws, but that probably doesn't matter now... thankfully, that part is history.

Working at the State during that time was an excellent education in how very different theatre owners could be. The Mann company was an excellent operator and employer. They took good care of their buildings and staffs, and budgeted maintenance activities as a normal part of their operations. Their successor was almost 180 degrees from that, though it didn't seem to harm their business any. They became the only operators in that part of town, and could pretty much set the standard as they wished.

The Olympian just ran an article about the renovation efforts at the State. You can link to it here:

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051114/NEWS/511140301

The story details the campaign to raise money to repair the leaking roof, restore the deteriorating marquee and expand the tiny dressing room. It also addresses the overall state of the theater, and there are some great photos.

IMO, they should have stayed in the Washington Center since that was where _all_ the stage groups were supposed to be.

The marquee at the State was already supposed to be restored when they reopened it, but soon the pidgeon problem returned. So now they need to 'restore' it again? The roof was replaced when they reopened the State. So now they need to 'repair' that too? Go back to the Washington Center where all the stage productions belong. Put movies back at the State.

Just to correct something: the roof was not replaced when the State was reopened, simply repaired.

I am certain that movies can come back to the state as soon as an entrepreneur comes up with the capital to make it happen. It didn't happen in '97, and I suspect it would be even less likely to happen now.

There were two people that I know of who were also looking at purchasing the State theater for use as a movie theater at that time. One of them is a good friend of mine who owns & operates the restored single screen Chehalis Theater in Chehalis.

The rental prices for the Washington Center were too high for local theater groups. That is why Harlequin and Capital Playhouse found new spaces. That is why Saint Martin's -- which lost its theater in the 1980s -- never used the Washington Center. It's really expensive! (I speak from experience here.)

I also had heard along the way that when the State was for sale, there was a contract provision that movies could not be shown there for a specific amount of time. It's not unusual; many theater chains have that provison when selling a property.

Sadly, the State was in terrible shape when it was sold in the mid-1990s. I would much rather have Harlequin using that space than to have seen it demolished or become a retail space or apartments.

Yes, there are further improvements that must be done. But it's not like Harlequin is a cash cow, and those improvements will come with time. And I think Harlequin and its supporters will do those things with love and care. It's a slow process, especially for a group that relies on donations for facility improvements.

Let me add that I am not affiliated with Harlequin in any way, other than having seen the company's shows. And I loved going to movies at the State in its $1 days, and I was saddened when it closed its doors. However, the State is one of the finest venues for theater in the South Puget Sound area. We should be glad the space is being used for entertainment, and we should be thankful some developer didn't buy the place and bulldoze it.

We should also be thankful that some of the original architectural flairs were preserved as much as they were. (Someone could've ripped out that gorgeous ticket booth. Wouldn't that have been nice?!) And we should support/praise efforts to keep the place open and restored. I can tell you, when I was in college and going to $1 showings, the place wasn't clean or preserved; it was rotting out, and it was sad.

But the biggest thing people don't seem to understand is that local theater groups couldn't afford to use the Washington Center anymore. The Washington Center now plays home to touring shows, concerts and one-time events. It's Olympia's answer to Tacoma's Pantages (also a former glorious movie house). Local theater groups couldn't use the Washington Center for storage or rehearsals, and then the rental fees to use it for the run of a show were ridiculous and pocket-emptying. Alternatives had to be found, and the State fit the bill for Harlequin (and Saint Martin's, which occasionally uses the State for its productions).

That's my 2 cents.

Movies could be be shown again at the State. The "ban" on movies that many theater companies place in the covenants are for first run product. This applies only to properties that the theater company actually own outright and not lease. Also please remember there are two things working in Harlequin's favor if they wanted to show movies again:

1. Act 3 Theaters was only _leasing_ the theater from the then building owner Henry McCleary.

2. The entity (Act 3 Theaters) that placed the "ban" no longer exists thus the "ban" no longer exists.

Many stage production groups are finding out that only stage plays don't pay the bills. Some have found that also showing movies have really helped their bottom line. The Opera Pacifica group that's restoring the Fox Theater in Centralia is going to be running movies and stage plays/operas. I will be installing 35mm projection/sound equipment for them.

Ken - face it, The State Theater is now a live theater. It is no longer set up to play movies. Not saying that it NEVER will, but at this time it is home to the only small professional live producing theater between Tacoma and Portland...and doing a fine job too.

Constantly saying it should be a movie theater is fine - but it is not one. No one else - your friend in Centralia too - took the money and effort to save this theater. You should be thanking Harlequin Productions rather than complaining.

Move on.

Why not go help the Olympia Film Festival restore the Capitol Theater. It too is a fantastic old movie theater and it is falling apart from lack of interest by the owner to improve it.

ps - good for Opera Pacifica. I'm so glad the community opera company can has the kind of funds and talent it takes to run two separate kinds of entertainment out of one venue. More power to them!

Seems to me that Ken is mad he didn't get to install the projection equipment here!

My image of the STATE
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/261890712

Great picture Don. However, why does it say State Theater Tacoma Washington??? The State is in Olympia!

You should post a new picture now that much of the restoration of the marquee is complete. We are still working on the neon but the paint and electrical has made a huge difference.

Harlequin recently received a $20K matching grant from West Coast Bank for the Enhancement Campaign. If you or anyone you know were planning on contributing to the restoration of the State, now is the time!

It was actually sunny today in Olympia. I managed to take some pictures without getting soaked. The State is a block away from the Capitol.

Here are some December 2007 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/2kdkbr
http://tinyurl.com/2ok7y7
http://tinyurl.com/2wzqvg

This is an August 2008 photo.

Here are some November 2008 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/6bbpsz
http://tinyurl.com/6syh78

This was part of an ad in the May 1950 issue of Boxoffice magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/6ajme8

I have a blowup of that full ad somewhere in my collection.

1980 Photo