Northgate Theatre
10 Northgate Plaza,
Seattle,
WA
98125
10 Northgate Plaza,
Seattle,
WA
98125
3 people
favorited this theater
The Northgate Theatre opened in September 1951 with 1,500 seats, and boasted Seattle’s largest staff of ushers and the country’s largest crying room. Built in a Northwest Indian motif, the theater was the anchor of the Northgate Shopping Center.
The theater was sold to Cineplex Odeon in 1987 and began its decline during the 1990’s under Loews Cineplex. By the end, broken seats, falling panelling, and ripped up carpet greeted what few patrons came out to support the old place.
Seattle’s Northgate Theatre, which is often regarded by some historians as the first shopping center movie house, went dark in 2002 and was demolished in December of 2005.
Contributed by
John Dodd, Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
Here is an interesting blog with some history about, comments and current photos of the Northgate Theatre.
www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/2005/09/northgate_theat.html
Goodbye, old friend …
View link
This theater has been officially demolished. It turned to rubble last week.
This link has some photos of the Northgate Theater during demolition. Click each photo to expand it.
The Northgate Shopping Center originally had an Indian theme (the carved totem survives at the north entrance) and so did the Northgate Theater when it was new. The restrooms were labeled “Braves” and “Squaws.” Yes, definitely the 50s. The names were changed to “Ladies” and “Gentlemen” in more enlightened times.
This is a 2/21/2002 article about the closing of the Northgate Theater.
“Loews Cineplex Drops Curtains on Single-Screen Theater in Seattle.
Source: The Seattle Times
Byline: Moira Macdonald
Feb. 21—Loews Cineplex Entertainment, which owns eight multiplex theaters in the Seattle area, confirmed yesterday that the Northgate Theater, one of the few remaining single-screen movie houses in Seattle, would close its doors, effective today.
Built in 1951, the cavernous Northgate boasted a huge screen and seating for 1,500 people and a crying room for parents with babies. But it has long been deteriorating. In recent years, the theater has been known more for sticky floors, broken seats and weirdly decorative mildew patterns on its walls and ceilings than for the quality of its presentation.
The cinema’s closing is the latest in a series of local theater closures by Loews, which has been struggling under Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
“The Northgate is a single-screen theater, and it’s really not economical for us to operate it any longer,” Loews Corporate Vice President Mindy Tucker said. “We’ve closed over 100 theaters around the country as part of the bankruptcy process.”
The chain, which runs more than 240 theaters in North America, is “still reviewing some of the theaters in our portfolio” for possible additional closures.
In the Seattle area, Loews runs Meridian 16 in downtown Seattle, Uptown in Lower Queen Anne, Oak Tree on Aurora Avenue North, Lewis and Clark in SeaTac, and Grand Cinemas in Lynnwood, Factoria, Woodinville and Redmond Town Center".
The Danz Family Photograph Collection at the University of Washington lists a photo (the photo itself is not available online) from the preview for the grand opening of the Northgate Theatre. Among the people in the photo, according to its description at the UW web site, are the architect of the theater, John Graham, Jr., and the decorator, A.B. “Heinzberger” (clearly meant to read Heinsbergen.)
Boxoffice of September 22, 1951, also names John Graham as the architect of the Northgate Theatre. The original operator was Sterling Theatres.
An ad for RCA carpet (who knew that RCA made carpeting for theaters?) in Boxoffice of October 4, 1952, features a photo of the Northgate’s lobby. The Native American motifs used in the otherwise moderne theater are seen.
Note that it was John Graham Jr. who designed the Northgate Theatre. His father, John Graham Sr., was also a noted Seattle architect.
September 28th, 1951 grand opening ad has been posted here.