Coliseum Theater (Seattle) facts for kids
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Coliseum Theater
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The Coliseum Theater on a winter day.
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 Location in Seattle WA Downtown
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| Location | 5th Ave. and Pike St. Seattle, Washington |
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| Built | 1916 |
| Architect | Priteca, B. Marcus |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Second Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001854 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | July 7, 1975 |
The Coliseum Theater in Seattle, Washington, is a famous building with a long history. It first opened its doors on January 8, 1916. This building was special because it was Seattle's very first theater made just for showing movies.
It was also one of the first movie theaters anywhere to look truly grand and impressive. When it opened, people called it "the world's largest and finest movie palace." In 1931, an important architecture journal even said it was "the first of the world's movie palaces." The Coliseum Theater is now a protected Seattle city landmark. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
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A Look Inside and Out
The outside of the Coliseum Theater is decorated with fancy terra cotta designs. Terra cotta is a type of baked clay. The inside was just as beautiful when it first opened.
Music for Silent Films
Back in 1916, movies were silent. To make the experience better, the theater had a live orchestra with seven musicians. It also had a giant organ made by a company called Moller. The musicians were known for being some of the highest-paid movie theater musicians in the country. A famous person named Anita King even gave a speech on opening night to celebrate the new theater.
From Movies to Stores
The Coliseum Theater showed popular movies for many years. It continued to be a top movie theater until the late 1970s. The theater kept showing films until March 11, 1990. The last movie shown there was Tremors.
After closing as a movie theater, the building was changed. In 1994, it became a large Banana Republic clothing store. This store was about 15,000 square feet in size. The Banana Republic store closed in 2020.
New Uses for the Historic Building
After the clothing store closed, the building found new purposes. In 2023, it was used as a temporary art space by a group called XO Seattle. XO Seattle later moved from the space. Since 2024, the building has been home to Actualize AiR. This is an artist collective run by women. You can learn more about them on their website.
