New Ritz Theatre
107 East Main Avenue,
Ritzville,
WA
99169
107 East Main Avenue,
Ritzville,
WA
99169
2 people
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Opened in 1937, the Ritz Theatre sits at the edge of Ritzville’s small downtown. It’s large enough to be multiplexed, but may still have just one screen. The name ‘RITZ’ is on a tower at the left end of the building. Judging from old postcards, it was once red enamel with light (yellow?) letters, but is now painted in nauseating putty pink like the rest of the building, with the neon tubes removed.
Contributed by
Seth Gaines
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Another photo of the Ritz can be seen here.
From Boxoffice Magazine, September 18, 1937: “Roy Irvine has opened his new theatre in Ritzville, Wash. The house seats 450 and was designed by Bjarne Moe.”
Bjarne Moe was the architect of the Roxy Theatre, Bremerton; the Crest Theatre in Seattle; the Lake City Theatre, Seattle; the Bungalo Theatre, St. Maries, Idaho; and the Liberty Theatre, Ellensburg. There are probably quite a few others, but I haven’t unearthed them yet. In addition, he was the architect for many theatre remodeling jobs.
A 1944 issue of Boxoffice featured a photo of many employees of the Seattle office of the B.F. Shearer Co., a theater supply and design house. Bjarne Moe was among them.
Ritz Theater photo
This was the Ritz in 1980.
1982 Photo
1988 Photo
2011 photos can be seen here and here.
Here is a link to the Boxoffice Magazine article that Mr. Vogel refers to. Also available from boxoffice.com as a PDF.
The local weekly paper featured a snippet about the theater in its “Remembering from the Files” feature last year under the “75 years ago” section. A PDF is available.
Another “Remembering from the Files” blurb about transfer of ownership. This must be the “other theater in town” people have asked about. A PDF is available.
The Kendrick Collection of photographs (search for “theater” or “main street”), available for viewing on the Washington State Digital Archives page, is an excellent source for older photos of the theater around the time it was first built.
The collection also has a few photos of the “original” Ritz theater, which looks to have been located near the train depot.