4th Avenue Theatre
630 W. 4th Avenue,
Anchorage,
AK
99501
630 W. 4th Avenue,
Anchorage,
AK
99501
6 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Lathrop Co., Moyer Theatres
Architects: A. A. Porreca, Benjamin Marcus Priteca
Styles: Streamline Moderne
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News About This Theater
- Mar 23, 2009 — Anchorage's 4th Avenue Theatre endangered again
- Dec 7, 2007 — Anchorage Alaska's historic 4th Avenue Theater once again threatened
- Dec 19, 2006 — Anchorage's 4th Avenue Theatre saved
- Apr 5, 2006 — 4th Avenue Theater at risk?
The Streamline Moderne 4th Avenue Theatre was opened on May 30, 1947 with a Gala opening and opened to the public on May 31, 1947 with Larry Parks in “The Jolson Story”. It was a first run movie house for the next four decades. When it opened, the opulent theatre seated a combined 1,100 patrons in its balcony and main floor.
In the mid-1980’s, the city of Anchorage began restoring the theatre and, later, it was taken over by the catering firm, Glacial Reflections. The company used it as a banquet and special events venue that fits between 500-700 people. It was shuttered for several years and was demolished in December 2022.
Contributed by
Jack Van Leer
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Recent comments (view all 44 comments)
I saw many movies here as a kid in the ‘80s – Goonies, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Kurosawa’s Ran. Beautiful walls with twinkling stars and inlaid images of gold miners.
The Municipality of Anchorage is doing nothing with this beautiful, old theater!
Between 7-8 years ago, there was a plan between the municipality and a private company to refurbish the theater, using the downstairs for businesses of some kind and the upper floors for residences, but after a long process to get to that point, at the last hour a councilwoman threw a monkey wrench in the plan by deciding she didn’t think the municipality should be involved in any funding after-all.
The private company basically told the municipality to take a hike, refusing to work with it anymore because it was “unreliable.” There’s been no public discussion of the theater since. It currently is doing what it’s been doing for years now, just sitting, boarded up and rotting. What a travesty!
I had the pleasure of managing this theater in the early 80’s (1981-2ish). We had so much fun here. One of the most beautiful buildings. The Art Deco style and the incredible bas relief on the walls were something to remember and I hope this place finds itself alive again. When I worked there it was operated by Wometco-Lathrop. I’m not sure how much longer it stayed in operation. My girlfriend at the time lived in Houston so I decided to head south and regretted that decision to this day. While I have lived in other places it seems now I’m kind of stuck here in Texas. I miss you Alaska!
Newspaper article from 4-25-17:
“Historic Anchorage Theater Deserves State Protection, Advocates Say”
The top photo in this link shows the 4th Avenue Theatre in the late `70’s. Plenty more cool pics too, if anyone is from there.
http://www.cysewski.com/wia/70anchorage/index.html
There is a quick shot of the front of this theater showing the vertical blade in the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season four episode 17, near the end of the episode.
Oddly enough, the characters are supposed to be visiting Rochester, New York and not Anchorage, Alaska. Ah, the magic of Hollywood…!
To be demolished shortly.
https://apnews.com/article/d770c698a0cb69db8db3d0de7ce6bc6f
Friends of the 4th Avenue Theatre website with photos.
http://friendsofthe4thavenuetheatre.org/about-us/
Demolished December 2022
The 4th Avenue theatre held an open house on May 30th, 1947, and opened the next day. Grand opening ads posted.