Chehalis Theater

There were numerous early movie houses in Chehalis at the beginning of the 20th century. Early theaters such as the Bell, the Dream, Orpheum, St. Helens, and the Vaudette were located in the historic downtown area.

The Empress opened on May 10, 1913.[2] The proprietors charged ten-cents and it was an entertainment venue for photoplays and live music.[3]

The showing of the 1916 flim, Purity, led to a threat of a warrant after the movie was deemed immoral; the Empress did not present the film further.[4] A Kimball two-manual pipe organ, built by the Johnson Pipe Company of Los Angeles, was installed in 1917.[5][6]

In 1918, the Empress Theater name was changed in favor of the New Liberty Theater during a renovation. The viewing area was enlarged after the upper story of the building was torn out to provide a balcony for an opera-style arrangement.[7][8] The occupancy was increased to 500, which included spring cushioned seating, considered modern at the time. Installed during the renovation was an intricate, coordinated lighting system and the remodeled movie house was noted for its colored glass panels and stucco reliefs. The Liberty officially opened on July 11, 1918 with ownership eventually transferring to a local theater business, the Twin City Theatres Corporation. The Liberty remained in operation until the summer of 1926, when it was destroyed in a fire.[9]

Former St. Helen's Theater

The building used as the St. Helens Theater was originally utilized as a Ford dealership that also provided a gas station. The brick-and-tile Italian Renaissance style theater, after a $100,000 renovation, opened on May 12, 1924 and had an occupancy of 850 and was home to a Kimball organ.[10][11][12] The first film shown was Sporting Youth.[11] While the movie house presented films, it was used as well for live theatrical performances. The theater closed in 1954[13] and the balcony sealed off and converted to office space.[10]

The site was remodeled beginning in 2008 and converted into a rental venue that restored large parts of the original theater footprint and fixtures.[10] A ghost sign for the Chehalis Bee-Nugget newspaper was found during the remodel and was preserved.[14]

The Vaudette was a short-lived movie house, existing for five months from late 1908 to early 1909. Charging a ten-cent admission, the theater was part of a regional branch of theaters and provided opera-style seating.[15][16][17]

A wood structure that housed a horse livery occupied the site as far back as 1907.[18] The building was constructed in 1923 and was originally named the Beau Arts Building.[19][20] First home to a Ford car dealership, the location became known as St. John's Garage[19] and the Chehalis Garage.[13] A pipe organ was initially installed but was relocated and rebuilt after an unknown time to a church in Fremont, Seattle.[21] After the structure was renovated to become a movie house, it opened on December 7, 1938, as the Pix Theater, seating 653;[19][20] the first film shown was Bob Hope's Thanks for the Memory.[22] The theater's original decor included silk lined, fleur-de-lis accented walls, velour seats, and women had access to a cosmetic room.[18]

Typically shown at the theater during its early beginnings were a sequence of newsreels, cartoons, and westerns.[23]

The building sustained damage during the 1949 Olympia earthquake but continued to operate.[13] It was named Chehalis Theater in 1954 after a brief renovation begun the year before.[18][19][lower-alpha 1] A marquee from the St. Helen's Theater in Chehalis would be added to the building facade in the 1950s.[24] Films would be projected until 1988 when, due to economic hardships and maintenance backlogs, the theater shut down and became a video rental store named Video Time. After the theater was sold in 1994, it hosted a flea market.[19]

The independent movie, The Immigrant Garden, premiered at the theater in 2001.[25] There were brief periods of screening films into 2008, including some new releases, when the location ceased operations until 2016 due to competition with a larger, upgraded cinema at the Lewis County Mall.[19][23][26][27]

In 2003, the Chehalis Historic Preservation Commission awarded the Chehalis Theater with a listing and plaque recognizing the historical importance, and restoration efforts, of the movie house.[18]

Chehalis Theater, Chehalis, Washington LCCN2017708133

The first renovation began in 2016 after a new owner leased the building to a local proprietor. The theater contained original and antique film machinery, including a toilet in the projection room, and the balcony was intact.[13] The restorations focused on reviving and saving much of the Art Deco style,[20] while adding an upstairs bar, dining area, and kitchen. The theater began film showings, and added musical acts and screenings of Seattle Seahawks games for residents.[23] The cartoon murals on the ceiling, added at an unknown time but not original to the theater, were preserved owing to the community support for the work. The occupancy was listed as 285.[13]

In late 2018, a new lease agreement with a local Chehalis family led to additional renovations. The owners continued to screen movies and provide live musical entertainment while concentrating on pizza as the main cuisine option.[28]

In 2020, a local restaurateur bought the theater and started the third restoration in five years in 2021. Renaming the location as McFiler's Chehalis Theater, early plans included a reopening later that year or early 2022, with the expectation to continue to screen movies while providing restaurant dining and live entertainment. Adhering to ADA requirements and new building codes, extensive remodeling was done to large portions of the theater, including a modified marquee. The ceiling illustrations were to be painted over but photographed and displayed along with antique equipment from the building.[1]

The theater had a soft opening in late 2022,[1] and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in March 2023.[29] The theater, since its reopening, has hosted events tied to the 75th anniversary of the Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting[30] and a symposium on Bigfoot that included speaker Cliff Barackman.[31] The theater hosted the first Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest in 2023, coinciding with the city's Flying Saucer Party.[32]

As of 2023, the Chehalis Theater listed an occupancy of 450[33] and was opened to fine dining, comedy shows, musical performances, charity events, live televised sports, and film presentations.