Capitol Theater
206 East 5th Avenue,
Olympia,
WA
98501
206 East 5th Avenue,
Olympia,
WA
98501
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 52 comments found
February 25 to March 6, 1937 the theater was closed for repairs/remodeling due to a previous small fire in mid February 1937. Then came the big fire of April 24, 1937.
Boxoffice magazine did a story about the April 24, 1937 fire. It is on this page:
http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/the_vault/issue_page?issue_id=1937-5-8&page_no=50#page_start
The theater got remodeled again in 1948. Theater reopened on Friday May 7, 1948. Installed were Gulistan carpets and draperies along with Heywood-Wakefield seats.
Timelines:
Theater opens Tuesday October 7, 1924.
Theater remodeled March 1937.
Major fire damages theater. Balcony, mezzanine, and projection booth destroyed. Roof and ceiling damaged. Fire alarm turned in at 9:28 A.M. of Saturday April 24, 1937. Cause of fire determined to be spontaneous combustion of a single reel of nitrate 35mm film that had just been delivered the night before and was temporarily in the janitor’s closet in the mezzanine awaiting to be taken to the projection booth. Theater will be closed for several months to repair the damage.
Theater reopens after repairing the fire damage on Wednesday August 25, 1937. A brand new Western Electric “Mirrophonic” sound system was installed along with hearing assistance headphones available in selected seats.
The Capitol Theater has been sold to the Olympia Film Society.
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Couple photos of the Capitol from 2000.
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Nice shot of the new vertical,looks very much like the old one in the shots.
This is another shot of the Capitol with the old marquee.
Here is the Capitol Theater in 1980.
This was the Capitol in 1935.
Hi, I’m very pleased to have found this thread. I’m really enthused about the theatre. I’ve been an OFS volunteer for about 4 years, and a projectionist at the Capital Theatre for about the last two years. I have a picture of myself and some friends here in front of the new marquee at its unveiling at opening night of the recent 25th annual Olympia Film Festival. Lets see if this works..
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Interesting. Thanks.
This will give you an idea of what it looks like now.
That’s too bad. Missed it by a couple of days.
You must have just missed it. From their website: Olympia Film Society is now raising funds to fabricate and install a beautiful replica of the historic Capitol Theater’s original 1924 marquee to be unveiled on opening night of this year’s 25th Annual Olympia Film Festival, November 7th, 2008.
I know that. I was just there, so I was curious about the exact date.
Do the math. It had to be between November 4 and 13.
When did they put that up?
The theater now has a brand new marquee! I would have never believed it would happen with our city sign ordinances being so restrictive.
Here is a November 2008 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/65wkx4
Here is the Capitol Theater without its marquee.
The year given for this photo is 1994.
I am a preservationist and theater buff from the Big Apple, and I am happy that I came across this thread. I consider the removal of the 40s era marquee bittersweet as well. I take pride that the Greek-inspired stained glass has once again been revealed for all to appreciate, but why does the marquee have to be demolished? It can be donated “as is” to the American Sign Museum: http://www.signmuseum.com/
Can someone please convince the owner to donate it (in exchange for a tax write-off) and spare it from demolition?
This is a more direct link for the latest article: http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/341686.html
Please keep me posted. Thanks!
It sounds like the vertical sign is something the Oly Film Society wants to work on. And if they can get some historic preservation folks behind ‘em, that would help their cause. No matter what, though, the name of the theater is etched into the building’s facade, and now we get to see those gorgeous old stained glass windows. I’d love this to be the start of people rallying around this theater and giving it some love.
City of Olympia sign ordinances are very restrictive. I’d be very surprised if a vertical sign was allowed.