Elsinore Theatre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Elsinore Theater
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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The outside of the Elsinore Theatre.
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| Location | 170 High Street, SE Salem, Oregon |
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| Built | 1926 |
| Architect | Lawrence & Holford |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Tudor Gothic |
| Part of | Salem Downtown State Street – Commercial Street Historic District (ID01001067) |
| MPS | Architecture of Ellis F. Lawrence MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 91001575 |
| Added to NRHP | June 17, 1994 |
The Elsinore Theatre is a historic theater in Salem, Oregon. It has seats for 1,290 people and first opened its doors on May 28, 1926. The theater is famous for its unique design, which looks like a castle.
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A Castle for Movies and Plays
The theater's first owner, George Guthrie, wanted a special building. He hired the architecture company Lawrence & Holford to design it. The goal was to make it look like the castle from William Shakespeare's famous play, Hamlet. This style is known as Tudor Gothic.
The main architect was Ellis F. Lawrence. He was also the first dean of the architecture school at the University of Oregon. The theater was decorated with beautiful stained glass windows made by the Povey Brothers Studio. It also had a Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ, a special kind of organ built for theaters.
When it first opened, the Elsinore showed silent films and hosted live stage shows. Just three years later, in 1929, movies with sound came to the theater, which was a big and exciting change for audiences.
Saving a Salem Treasure
By 1954, the Elsinore was not as popular as it once was. It became a "second-run" movie theater, meaning it showed films after they had already played in bigger theaters. By 1980, there was a plan to tear the building down.
A Community Effort
Many local people were sad about the idea of losing the historic theater. They formed a group called the Save the Elsinore Committee. This group worked hard to convince city leaders to save the building.
To get more people interested in saving the theater, the committee made a deal with the owner. They were allowed to use the theater for 18 days a year to host free events for the community. This helped show everyone how important the Elsinore was to the city.
Finding a New Owner
In 1990, the theater was put up for sale. The Save the Elsinore Committee saw this as their chance. They started a fundraising campaign to collect money from the community to buy the theater.
They successfully raised the money and bought the Elsinore. The theater was saved! To help pay for its costs, they continued to raise money. Famous actors like James Earl Jones and Gregory Peck even visited to help support the cause.
Restored to Glory
Finally, in February 2002, a plan was made to fully restore the theater. An architectural firm was hired to bring the Elsinore back to its original beauty. The project cost about $3.2 million. Today, the Elsinore Theatre is a busy performing arts center, hosting concerts, movies, and community events.
