D & R Theatre
205 South I Street,
Aberdeen,
WA
98520
205 South I Street,
Aberdeen,
WA
98520
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favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 164 comments
WOW! That’s great. Tom I would like to know what’s going on with the rest of the work. Drop me a note at talk to you soon.
Here is a photo of the beast lighting the midnight sky…
I must say that the lighting of the Marquee was a success.It is beautiful,and spectacular.We are proud to be a part of this.Aberdeen,you need to stay in tune and you will see much more!
Here’s a link to the story and full color picture:
View link
That new marquee is fantastic! So much wonderful neon!
The Marquee is SPECTACULAR. 2000 ft of neon in an art deco design that according to a local designer/architect “It doesn’t just dress up that block, it dresses up about four city blocks!"
People have been cruising by all evening taking pics and checking it out.
This is only the beginning Aberdeen.
John Yonich has started something so pay attention.
It’s gonna get even better!
As one local put it, "This is the first time in years I was not able to get close parking….something is happening!"
Wow.
Just received a call from my mother who lives in Aberdeen and she stated that the marquee has been installed. I can’t wait to make a trip to Aberdeen to take a look for myself! I’m sure it’s spectacular! If anyone has any photo’s they can post it would be great to see.
The D&R Theater is coming alive!DEC.21 2007 is going to be resurectioning.People need to cruise by and check it out.The town will be amazed. This is going to be a great hing for our area,give it the support it deserves.
Was just in the D&R on 10/30 and work is coming along. There’s a long way to go but this place is going to be AMAZING when finished.. Theatre should be open before the end of 2008.
That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time. Having grown up there and seen the steady decline of the harbor it always made me sad to go visit and look around only to see less and less of my hometown. This area has GREAT potential!
I am hoping it has that effect as well.
Being near the center of all the hubbub, I enjoy pretty accurate first hand knowledge and I am senseing a sort of energy build up ..if you will.
From the excitement at the city levels to the buzz at the business levels and to the dull roar the general public is making…….this is like waking a sleeping giant and eating an elephant all at the same time!
Aberdeen may well enjoy a future heyday the likes of old in the forseeable future if Mr. Yonich has his way about things!!
Aberdeen needs to gasp!! Hopfully this will kick the other business owners in the rear and prompt some serious downtown revitalization!!! Other than the Morck Hotel and the theatre’s.
It is my understanding that the theatre will be heavy on live music performance. Pay per view events have been discussed as well as a Curt Cobain memorial fund raising festival as well as a jazz festival.
Something for everyone and a diverse selection of high calibre entertainment is what is being bantied about.
This theatre will have a lot of potential when finished, from graduation ceremonies to corporate speakers and functions to comedy to local battle of the bands.
I am sure that no possibilities will be overlooked including movies.
I heard a story the other day from a local who used to go there as a child for Sat. morning cartoons. How neat!
The theatre marquee is 80 feet long boasting more neon then ever with scrolling message boards on all sides.
A picture of the sign will be up in the picture window Monday the 27th.
On approx Dec. 15th there will be an unveiling of the new coffeeshop (Backstage espresso) The Marquee and front of the theatre.
This should be something to remember!
When that sign goes live, Aberdeen will gasp!! I promise.
No movies at all?
Lost Memory, thanks for the great photo’s, here’s what I have been told is being done to the theatre. The marquee and awning is being reproduced. The marquee that is going back up is going to resemble the “Art Deco” 2nd one that graced the theatre dating from about 1935. The one that came down is from the late 40’s. The box office is going to be restored and the tiled entrance is going to be re-done to also resemble the way the theater looked in the 1930’s. I believe the current Box will be retained although it is from the late 40’s. The roof has been repaired and the paint on the building has been redone. Now that the building is sealed up for the winter interior work is going to begin. I was informed by the project mgr that the plan is to have the place re-opened sometime next year. This theater is going to be used as a live venue and should be first class when finished.
In reviewing my previous postings it has been almost 2 years since my last visit inside the theatre. That explains the difference in interior conditon.
I was very briefly in the D&R on Tuesday 8/28/07 and had a chance to look around with all the junk from the provious owner removed. It has been about a year since the last time I was in their and there is more deterioration. It looks like the place was rescured in the nick of time. The previous owner took all the lighting fixtures and pretty much stripped the place so John Yonich will have to replace everything. But the bones are solid so it should be a real show place when he is finished. Aberdeen is very lucky to have someone who is willing to spend the kind of resources that it is going to take to put this building back togather again. Not to mention the Morck Hotel and the other projects that are planned. My hat is off to you Sir.
www.cyyoungind.com will refurbish the seats on location and install cupholders if desired.
I thought John would contact me for information and help too. Ever since his first few contacts, I have not heard from him in a while. My friend Daryl Lund at the Chehalis Theater has 10 screens worth of projection & sound equipment (some snack bar stuff too) in his storage facilities. In fact my friend Dave Fazende also has some projection equipment and seats available.
Also, as far as the seating issue, the downstairs seats in the D&R were from the 1949 redecorate and they are good seats so it would depend on what they now look like. The balcony seats were the original ones (1923)and the same thing applies. I know you can send them all off and have them refurbished and they wil be returned looking like brand new so the decision is going to be based on the cost of refurbishment vs purchasing used seats and their condition. Personnally I would probably go with newer seats, just NO high backed ones. Patron comfort is the key.
Rocky, my e-mail address is I would like to speak to John very much, or anyone connected with these projects. I would also be willing to help in any way I can, I have a lot of information and am willing to provide time, labor, info, or whatever is needed.
Ron – I’m a good friend of John’s. Do you have an email address that he can contact you. I know now he is in process of replacing the neon sign with a group out of Chehalis. It will look like it did in the 40’s. It seems like you know your way around the industry. One thing I know he is trying to decide is if he should refurbish the existing seats, or replace them with others. It seems like there are alot of used seats available around the country. Any opinion on that? Please pass on to us how we contact you.
Ken, I believe that the D&R is going to be rebuilt something along the lines of a live entertainment establishment. Like what Harbor Arts was proposing. At least this is what I’ve gathered from what has been posted. A brew pub is an OK idea but where whould you put the restaurant/pub instalation without messing up the interior. I personally have never been fond of the discount/2nd run format. I don’t think the harbor needs another cheap place to go. I know that the people living down their have some disposable income they all run to Olympia at the drop of a hat to shop. I also believe that there is no need to dumb down the offerings. If you offer smart intelligent, good quality, film product you can then educate your audience to attend. This does not happen overnight but is a building process. The rewards are a loyal following that will patronize the theater and the other business already there and those looking to be built in town. One of the keys to success is to work with the other downtown merchants to promote each other. ie; dinner and a movie, or lodging and a movie, etc. There are a lot of possibilities with out making it a sub run theater.
I think a better idea is have the Aberdeen theater set as a McMenamin’s type brew pub theater. The D&R could be made a twin or triplex theater with the main floor able to show movies or have plays/stage shows. Make the movies an “all seats $3” and you’d clean up in that town. No one goes to that overpriced 10 plex in the mall.
This is great news for Aberdeen I know the town can be brought back it just takes someone with the vision to get things started. I would really like to talk with John Yonich as I also grew up in Aberdeen and worked at both the D&R and Aberdeen (Warner) theaters befor they closed. While the main stream movies are being shown at So. Shore I still believe their is a market for an Art cinema in the area. This market is untapped and with the college there and the number of residents who go out of town to spend their entertainment dollars I feel this can work. I currently work for a company who might be interested in leasing the Aberdeen and running the movie business. We currently have theaters that run first run movies and we have Art theaters that cater to that market. The Lynwood Theater (ca.1936) on Bainbridge Island is one of our art houses. Condos in the Elks and Becker bldgs are a great idea, people being able to work, shop, and be entertained all in a few blocks. No need to start the car! Your on the right track.
An Aberdeen High School graduate is sprucing up the outside of the former D&R Theater, which he recently purchased for $250,000. He has ambitious plans for other acquisitions he hopes will jump-start the revitalization of downtown Aberdeen.
John Yonich, president of Holley Moulding Inc. in Bellevue, is also awaiting a day in court to settle a dispute with an Oregon developer over the Morck Hotel restoration project.
Yonich, who has $750,000 invested in the Morck project, filed a lawsuit in June in Grays Harbor Superior Court against Chester Trabucco of Astoria to begin dissolving their partnership.
Work has been stalled on the hotel since spring after the 1972 AHS grad stopped financing the project. The partners disagreed about how grand the restoration should be, with Yonich favoring a more conservative approach. Yonich says he hopes the lawsuit will force Trabucco to let him take over the hotel project.
Meantime, Yonich moved full speed ahead with painting the exterior and fixing the ramshackle marquee at the D&R Theater so it’s no longer an eyesore on I Street. He hopes to have work on the outside of the building done by November and then will begin tackling the remodeling work inside. He’s also made arrangements for some new retail stores to go in around the theater.
Yonich is also negotiating to purchase the former Aberdeen Theater on Wishkah Street, which is currently home to the Heritage Family Church.
“It’s like playing Monopoly,†Yonich said. “You get Marvin Gardens and now you want to get Park Place.â€
The Aberdeen Theater was built in 1930 for $200,000. Its demise â€" and the D&R’s as well â€" began around 1981 when the SouthShore Mall cinemas opened. The last picture show in downtown Aberdeen â€" “Modern Girls†â€" was in November of 1986.
Yonich bought the D&R Theater property because he wanted the parking lot that came with it.
“When the Aberdeen Theater came up, I thought if I could have one, I might as well have them both,†he said.
His plan is to have concerts and shows at the D&R Theater, while the Aberdeen Theater would be a movie theater once again.
Yonich salvaged the lighting and the seats from the Aberdeen High School Auditorium, demolished in the past two weeks, to use in the theater.
“It’s pretty incredible when you can get a guy who grew up locally and returns and invests his money in fixing up historical properties,†said Lisa Scott, the City of Aberdeen’s development director.
The Bellevue businessman has also offered to purchase the former Elks building on Broadway, with plans to turn it into condominiums.
Yonich said he’s looking at putting in 18 to 20 condos in on the second and third floors of the Elks building, and he’s also interested in possibly buying the Becker Building for more condos.
“If the price is right, people will buy them,†Yonich said, adding he’s looking at condos priced around $200,000. “Aberdeen is not going to pay $350,000 for new condominiums downtown. It’s not going to happen. But if you get it at a price point that is affordable …â€
Yonich hopes the theaters, condos and the Morck Hotel can help spark a downtown revitalization.
Scott said she thinks condos downtown will be successful, as long as there’s adequate storage and parking available.
“You’ve got a lot of older people who are looking to downsize but don’t want to leave the area,†Scott said. “There are women who have lost their husbands or men who have lost their wives and they don’t want to stay in their house, but they want to stay in town and be close to downtown.
“I’ve heard from people who are really ready to downsize,†she added. “How cool would it be to have a place in downtown that’s new in a historical building? Anytime you can save a historic property, I think that’s just a bonus, rather than tearing something down and building new.â€
The Daily World of Aberdeen Washington 8/17/07
The D&R Theater in Aberdeen Washington has a new owner. John Yonich of Bellevue, Washington has purchased the theater and is beginning a complete renovation of it. John was born and raised in Aberdeen and has developed an interest in the history of downtown Aberdeen. Mr Yonich is also a partner in the renovation of the historic Morck Hotel in downtown Aberdeen. http://www.morckhotel.com/index.html