Liberty Theatre
114 N. Fourth Avenue,
Pasco,
WA
99301
114 N. Fourth Avenue,
Pasco,
WA
99301
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Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Photos of the Liberty Theatre can be seen here.
The year given for this photo is 1943.
1984 Photo
1985 Photo
Playing on a Double feature was “THE UNDEFEATED” and Tony Curtis in “JAUNTY JALOPIES”.Jan 5 1970.
The June, 1912, issue of The Pacific Coast Architect ran the following item: “Theater—Pasco. Architect E. W. Houghton, Seattle, prepared plans for a modern theater building, for George D. Cort.” The name Cort must have been a typo for Cord.
Completion of the project was delayed. The following excerpt from a 1917 issue of the legal journal The Pacific Reporter concerns a lawsuit, Lee vs Pasco Theater Co, filed in early 1915: “Some time during the early part of the year 1914, the Pasco Theater Company was organized for the purpose of taking over, completing, and operating an incomplete theater in Pasco, Wash., known as the Cord Theater Company property.”
I’ve learned that for a brief time, Pasco High School’s drama class had used this for performances in the 30’s and 40’s. As times changed, it would become a porn theater, which also had the adult book store known as Elmo’s next door.
For years I’ve heard rumors on not why it was finally shut down, but why there were no buyers. Some would say the damage inside was significant, while others would claim that downtown Pasco was not as desirable as it used to be. After decades of being shut down, I read last year that the theater space has been bought and will turn into a Mexican clothing store and boutique, along with a brief display at the entrance of what the building used to hold. Here’s a photo I had taken last year as it was being stripped down, cleared out, and cleaned, a mere shadow of what it used to be. http://i47.tinypic.com/2po60ee.jpg
I do know there were plans in the 1990’s to turn it into a concert venue for local and touring punk and indie rock bands, but the damage inside proved too costly for repair.
link
Another look at the theater, this time a front view, circa 1940’s. Pasco was once part of Yakima County, thus its placement on a Yakima-based page, but the roof in this photo is the same as it is today, in its present state. http://www.yakimamemory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/memory&CISOPTR=2579&CISOBOX=1&REC=5