Bay Theatre
2044 NW Market Street,
Seattle,
WA
98107
2044 NW Market Street,
Seattle,
WA
98107
4 people
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The Majestic Theatre opened in 1915 seating 1000. It was located in the Ballard neighborhood. In 1922 the theatre was remodeled and a 2/4 Robert Morton organ installed. It was given the new name of the Roxy in the early 40’s. After World War II it received another new name, the Bay.
When the theatre closed in 1998, it had the distinction of being the Northwest’s oldest operating movie theatre. A local businessman bought the theatre in 1998 with the intention of re-opening the Bay, but it couldn’t pass fire inspections and was demolished.
In the summer of 2000, a new theatre was built on the site and named the Majestic Bay.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Actually, the Bay had seating of about 300 in a very narrow space.
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Oct. 12, 2000:
“The Bay — which has been a Ballard landmark since 1915 and has laid claim to being the oldest continuously operating theater in the country — has not really been preserved.
It was so structurally deteriorated that the developers found it impossible to renovate. It’s essentially a brand-new, $5 million triplex in the same location, with all the amenities of the new millennium theaters, including stadium seating, a state-of-the-art sound system and computerized ticketing (major credit cards accepted).
But the new theater is also very much an architectural tribute to the old one and a kind of museum of the kinder, gentler moviegoing experience of the past.
Owner Ken Alhadeff told the P-I last month that his intention was to ‘build the nation’s finest neighborhood theater — a theater with a soul.’ In a sense, he’s betting on a high-touch reaction against the gigantic megaplexes that have now taken over the movie-exhibition business, to the point that the big chains now are closing down their less profitable multiplexes with only three, six or eight screens."
Here is a recent photo of the Majectic Bay http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottmon/42185603/
This is a recent night view of the Majestic Bay Theater.
The New building is actually very nice. It was built to high standards and has a classy look that tries to mimic some of the style of classic movie theaters. It’s a shame they tore down the old theater, but thankfully they put a lot of thought and care into the new one.
Here are two 1982 photos:
Photo1
Photo2
Should these theatre be combined?
/theaters/26030/
Seems the comments are for both theatres on this page.
Hese is some history and photos from PSTOS
View link