Liberty Theater

Taken from the Camas, Post-Record, Friday,June 10, 1927.
Granda Theatre Swings Open
Artistic Finish Touches Are Given to Splendid Local Show House.
First Number Comedy
Beautiful Show House Vision Six Months Ago By Local Group is Delivered as Valuable Feature for the City.
To the nicety of the most minute details, the new Granada theatre building is this week virtually completed,and the structure finished throughout in the finest of architectual design applied to its class, has been handed over to its enterprising and progressive promoters, who are all Camas men and who months ago visioned something in the show house line for Camas that would be just a little bit better.
That vision has become a tangible realty and a substantial asset of which this city should and is going to be proud for decades to come. When the Post, several weeks ago, referred to the Granada interior as a dreamland of beauty, it is a small degree only visualized the new wonderfully beautiful features. The first impression of most people will be that reflected in the wrought and perfectly blended tintings. The general color scheme is a deep azure blue and rich gold, and this is carried out to the front in delightful effect for the arch-shaped ornamental work over the vestibule entrance.
Backround tinting of the front, which raises to a height of 35 feet, is a soft rich tan, with a harmonious blending of trimming tints, walls of the vestibule and base of the ticket booth are of tile construction, a pretty pattern of delicate Holland blue tint, floors are a neat mosaic pattern. The decorative work, front and interior was done by a crew of artists in that line under the lead of Chas. Anman of Portland.
Entering the spacious lobby, one treads upon, a rich and heavily padded carpet, which gives a first impression of walking on air, so soft and noiseless it is. The carpeting is extended to the foyer, down the main auditorium aisles and to the balcony floor and rest rooms above. A deadening cover is spread over the whole concrete floor surface.
The regulation chairs, body fitting and built for restful qualities, are anchored in segments of a circle, so that no matter what location one gets, his eyes focus directly on the stage. Seating capacity is approximately 800.
Outside building deminsions are 50x150 feet. The stage alone is 25 feet deep and 22 feet wide, with a drop curtain opening of 22 feet. At the instance of C.E. Farrell, owner of the lot,plans were drawn up late last fall by Architect P.M. Hall Lewis of Portland under whose supervision by the general contract, held by C.A.Knapp, was carried out. The excavation work started in December and draggedthru many weeks of mud and water obstacles, in fact adverse building weather prevailed until recently.
About January 1st, the Community Investment corporation was formed, composed of O.F.Johnson, RoyO. Young, A.L. Powers and F.W. Harrington, who were sponsoring the theatre project. All the interior fixtures and furnishings are provided by them. The cost of these placed at $30,000 for the two heaviest items being a $12,000 pipe organ and $6,000 for chairs. The entire cost is close to $75,000. The new structure has placed Camas in the forground of many more pretentious cities and is going to prove an enduring monument to the credit of Mr. Farell in undertaking a project of this type and magnitude.
While the name Granada is of Spanish origin, and a favorite show house name in the theatrical world, the general type of this one is Moorish, both interior and exterior. Its mammoth electric sign swinging across Fourth street is the equal in beauty and srtistic design of any in metropolitan centers.
Next Tuesday night is the date for formally opening the Granada, an especially attractive program is being announced. It features George Sidney and Charlie Murray in "Lost at the Front", the greatest war comedy ever told-a roar and riot of laughter throughout-and everyone will be going.

Michael, the link above, under the description of the theater, leads to the website of the Liberty Theater. Which website were you expecting?

probably a link to a OPERA HOUSE Website

The $12,000.00 pipe organ mentioned above was a northwest-built William Woods organ of 2 manuals and 8 ranks of pipes. Billy Woods pipe organs were found only in northwest area installations.

Here is a photo, circa 1935:
http://snipurl.com/vwyj

Here is another photo of the Liberty Theater.

The Liberty Theater has two screens. This is a 8/15/1999 article about the second screen.


"Camas, Wash., Movie Theater Debuts Second Screen Today.

Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Author: The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

The Liberty Theater in Camas raises the curtain on its second screen today.

A new 33-seat theater is immediately adjacent to the original Liberty building, in space that had been vacant. A specially-designed mirror system will project the films from a room above the new theater room, rather than from behind it.

The Liberty, which opened in 1927, has been restored since it burned down three years ago. Its main, larger theater remains open, so the Liberty will now have the capacity to show two films at a time.

This weekend, the Liberty is showing "Bowfinger" and "Sixth Sense."

Liberty owner Greg Wood is visiting Portugal, and manager Jeff Gunter did not want to comment on the reasons for the expansion until Wood returns.

The number of movie screens in Clark County doubled last year, when Regal Cinemas added three new multiplexes, including one in east Vancouver near Camas".

This seems to be a very nice "local" movie house. Is the pipe organ still there, playable and what make is/was it?

This website has some photos of the Granada/Liberty Theater and some information about the theater organ. That website claims that: "Unfortunately, the restoration did not include the re-installation of a theatre pipe organ".

As Chuck posted in the first comment above, the architect was P. M. Hall Lewis of Portland, Oregon. The interior was designed by Charles Anman, also of Portland.

What a lovely little theater!

Here are some recent photos of the Liberty Theater. Click each photo to expand it.

This is a nice recent photo.

Another photo of the Liberty can be seen here.

Is there any information on when the Spanish styled iron work above the marquee was removed? Neither website list the year of the much older renovations.
Oddly the Liberty's own website opens with an animated version/shape similar to what was above the maruee originally.

Also does anyone know what year the street out front was converted into a more mall looking configuration?

Here is an item in Boxoffice magazine, April 1950:

CAMAS-New carpeting in the lobby and aisles of the Liberty Theater is the first step in a modernization program inaugurated by manager George Hubbard.

I wonder how my full name got posted on the 11.1.03 comment.