Victory Theatre

910 Pacific Avenue,
Tacoma, WA 98402

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Pantages

Architects: Benjamin Marcus Priteca

Previous Names: Crystal Theatre, Pantages Theatre, Oak Theatre

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Originally opened on June 20, 1904 as the Crystal Theatre. On March 23, 1908, this became the original Pantages Theatre in Tacoma. On January 31, 1917 it became the Oak Theatre. On June 9, 1918 became the Victory Theatre when the grander Pantages Theatre opened at 901 Broadway in 1918. It was demolished in 1969.

Contributed by Katie Mac

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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

tachistoryman on February 1, 2007 at 1:07 pm

Katie, I think you have the wrong Victory Theatre. The Victory you are thinking of, which was located at 910 Pacific Avenue, was strictly a stage theatre. However, at 4801 S. Yakima, there was the Victory Theatre in 1924. This Mission-style theatre (originally called “Mission Theatre” but renamed the Victory six months after it opened) had a capacity of 500. The Architect of the Victory was A.J. Batchelor and it was first operated by F.E. Lions.

tachistoryman on February 1, 2007 at 1:07 pm

Joe Vogel on March 30, 2012 at 5:11 am

The even-numbered side of the 900 block of Pacific Avenue is now occupied by half of a two-block long parking structure. The Victory Theatre has been demolished.

This house was in operation as the Pantages Theatre at least as early as 1908, when it was mentioned in the August 15 issue of The Billboard. I haven’t found the opening year for the first Tacoma Pantages, but according to Robert Grau’s The Stage in the Twentieth Century, this was the second house in the Pantages circuit, and was originally known as the Crystal Theatre:

“Next followed the taking over of a store building in Tacoma and its evolution into what is now known as the Pantages Theatre. Like the stepping-stone house in Seattle, this theatre was first known as the Crystal.”

As Alexander Pantages’s first theatre, in Seattle, opened in 1902, and Pantages built his circuit very rapidly, the first Tacoma house might have opened as early as 1903.

Joe Vogel on March 30, 2012 at 7:21 am

A bit more digging has unearthed additional information. There’s still no opening date for the Crystal Theatre, but the house was renamed Pantages Theatre in 1908, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Buildings Index at the Tacoma Public Library. The same source reveals that the theater was remodeled by B. Marcus Priteca in 1913. It was renamed the Columbia Theatre in early 1918 and became the Victory late that same year.

In late 1924, the building was converted into a hall for the Tacoma post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In later years it served a variety of purposes, including an athletic club, a night club, and a restaurant.

The building was still standing as late as the mid-1960s, and is depicted along with its next-door neighbor, the Capri Theatre, in this photo dated c.1966 by the Tacoma Public Library. There is also this photo dated only c.1920s, apparently taken after the theater had closed.