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 was a famous movie theater in Seattle, Washington. It first opened its doors on January 8, 1916. This historic building is very special. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it is an important site in American history. It is also an official Seattle city landmark.
The theater was designed by B. Marcus Priteca. It was the first theater in Seattle built only for showing movies. It was also one of the first movie theaters anywhere to look grand and impressive. When it opened, people called it "the world's largest and finest photoplay palace." A magazine for architects even called it "the first of the world's movie palaces" in 1931.
A Look Inside and Out
The outside of the Coliseum Theater is very fancy. It has detailed designs made from terra cotta. Terra cotta is a type of baked clay. The inside was also very decorated and beautiful when it first opened.
Movies and Music
When the theater first opened, movies were silent. This means they had no spoken words. To make the movies exciting, the Coliseum had live music. A seven-piece orchestra played music. There was also a giant organ. The musicians were very talented. They were said to be the highest-paid movie theater musicians in the country. A famous person named Anita King spoke at the opening night. She helped dedicate the new theater.
From Theater to Store
The Coliseum Theater showed popular new movies for many years. It continued to show films until 1990. The theater closed on March 11, 1990. The last movie it showed was called Tremors.
After closing, the building was changed. It became a large clothing store called Banana Republic. This store opened in 1994. The clothing store closed in 2020. Now, there are plans for the building to become a temporary art space in 2023. It will be used by a group called XO Seattle.
