The 7th Street Theatre is a theatre in downtown Hoquiam, Washington. It is one of the few remaining examples of an atmospheric theatre that remain in the United States.[2] The not-for-profit 7th Street Theatre Association runs the theatre and coordinates a series of live shows, second-run feature films. The group aims to restore the Theatre, including new seats, rigging, and a digital projector.
The theatre was built in 1928 by Olaf T. Taylor, and was designed by Edwin St. John Griffith as a Spanish atmospheric theatre. There are murals on the ceiling in the lobby, along with a fountain. The fountain is not currently in use. Additionally, the auditorium features twinkling lights in the ceiling, and a recently installed sound system. It is currently undergoing a rigging replacement project, and a seat restoration pledge drive.
On March 20th, 2008, volunteer staff unloaded a truck delivering the Theatre's original organ. By 1944 theatre organs had fallen out of fashion, and the organ was sold to Parkland's Trinity Lutheran Church by Balcom & Vaughan. Records indicate that three additional ranks were added at this time bringing the instrument up to a 2/7 (minus the toy counter and percussions). In 1960, the instrument was purchased by George Martin of Tacoma. Mr. Martin studied organ with Martha Green and Arnold Leverenz in the Seattle/Tacoma area between 1951 and 1953. He eventually moved the organ to his home in Clute, TX. It was purchased by a donation primarily from Tom Quigg and Pat Oleachea, and moved by truck back to the 7th Street Theatre. Estimates put the organ installation as complete as early as 2012, at a cost of approximately $12,000.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Bathurst Street Theatre
The building was originally home to Bathurst Street Wesleyan Methodist Church. This congregation was an extension of Elm Street WMC, and started in 1860. In 1862, services were being conducted in a cottage on nearby Markham Street, and the area was still known as Seaton Village, still outside of the Toronto city limits.After a gift of land on Bathurst Street from the son of John Strachan, the first building on this site was constructed in 1866. Following a congregational split in 1869 when Primitive Methodists in the area formed their own congregation), this congregation continued to grow, and was joined by the former Primitive Methodist congregation in 1884, following the union of Methodists across Canada.
The present building (Bathurst Street Methodist Church) was erected by the congregation in 1888 to meet the demands of the growing population, and the United Methodist presence in Toronto. The building was designed by the architectural firm Gordon & Helliwell.
In 1925 the congregation joined the new United Church of Canada and became Bathurst Street United Church; a minority of Presbyterians from St. Paul's PC (then located north of Bloor) joined, as St Paul's (who merged with Dovercourt Road PC in 1968, Chalmers in 1980, Dufferin Street PC in 1994, and closed in June 2005), remained within the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
In the 1950s, as the earlier families emigrated to the suburbs, the congregation shrank. A number of strategies were tried to increase attendance, one of these was the Sunday Evening Forums wherein the Sunday evening sermon was replaced by a panel discussion on social issues among prominent guests. Running from 1944 to 1951 noted panelists included Tim Buck, who lived nearby.
The small congregation had difficulty maintaining the old structure and increasingly they began to rent out the building for concerts and plays. Increasingly the building became better known for its role as a theatre than for being a church.
In 1985 the congregation finally opted to leave the building and it now meets at nearby Trinity-St. Paul's United Church. The building became a permanent and well known theatre. In 2002 the United Church of Canada sold the building to the Bathurst Street Theatre.
Currently, the Bathurst Street Theatre is home to the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.
Early History source; T.E. Champion, The Methodist Churches of Toronto, 1899 William Briggs, Toronto.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
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