Roxy Theatre
809 SW Washington Street,
Portland,
OR
97205
809 SW Washington Street,
Portland,
OR
97205
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Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 26, 1952: “The Newsreel will change its name to the Roxy and will take over the current Liberty policy of showing two top second features on an all night basis."
I just added a Rivoli check tag to my colection from a metal detectorist in Portland, found near the area of the theater.
The genesis of this theatre is found in the National Theatre that opened October 29, 1914 for the National Amusement Company. With World War I in progress, Uncle Sam was outside and the patriotic first films was “America”. The $150,000 theater was architected by Aaron H. Gould and struggled to find an audience past its opening.
On March 19 1916, the National – purchased by S. Morton Cohn and the Strand Theatre Co – changed to the Strand Theatre to do more live programming. That fails quickly and the Strand becomes a full-time movie house. The Stark/Park corner location is deemed to be part of the problem. A major change occurs when architect Martin Schacht is brought in to create an entrance from busier Washington Street through the four-year old Columbia Building . Converting a storeroom on the main floor, Schacht created a pass through entrance connecting the National/Strand Theatre and converted its former entrance to fire exits.
The next owner of the Strand, Marshall Taylor, decided to retrofit and rebrand the theater becoming the Rivoli Theatre launching January 14, 1920. The theater had a brief go as the Pix Theatre. But in October of 1941 with world tensions on the rise, the location became the Newsreel Theatre and found an audience. When newsreels faded, the theater struggled again to find an audience and changed to the Roxy Theatre. Prospects were dim in the TV era and the Roxy eventually closed.
The theater has been demolished and the building housing its entry has also been demolished.