The opportunity to work on the Oregon Historic Theater Project with the Community Planning Workshop has inspired me to seek out and visit historic theaters every chance I get.
On a recent trip to Bend, Oregon, fellow teammate, Craig Wiroll, and I stopped by the Tower Theatre, an Art Deco Moderne style theater in the heart of downtown. While taking pictures of the neon marquee at sunset, we noticed a woman sitting at the front desk. We both knew that we had to go inside and ask her a few questions, it was too tempting not to!
We were in luck and found the woman extremely friendly and supportive of our Oregon Historic Theater[i] research project. She encouraged us to explore the space at our leisure and ask as many questions as our little hearts desired. We ventured into the grand theater immediately and, standing on the balcony, were in awe of the grandeur of the sprawling stage and intricate architecture.
THE TOWER THEATRE
Grabbing some pamphlets about the renovation and ultimate immaculate restoration of the place, I learned that the Tower Theatre is a historical community icon that the community has supported for decades. Originally constructed in 1940, the Tower Theatre delighted audiences with a wide variety of first-run films and live performances. As years passed, the rise in popularity of multiplex cinemas drove patrons away, forcing the theater to close its doors in 1994. The Tower’s story might have ended here, however a group of concerned citizens rallied to restore the theater to its original glory. Through community donations and support, the building was restored at a cost of $4.2 million and reopened on January 30th, 2004.
The inspiring story continues as we learn that the theater is still run on an enormous amount of financial support from the community. Not only do residents support the theater by volunteering to clean, and usher, and provide concessions, but they also purchase memberships that make up 20% of the theaters operations.
SOMEWHERE TO CALL HOME
The story of the resurrection of the Tower Theatre is an inspiring one, but it is not the only one. What I have discovered through my research is that every theater in Oregon, and in the country, has unique and important story to tell, and I feel that part of our job here at the Community Service Center is to broadcast those stories. Theaters are community assets; they are community treasures. As Tower Theatre Executive Director, Ray Solley, and Board Chairman, Matthew Bowler, observe in the Tower Theatre Foundations Community Report in 2009, “So much more than a building, the Tower Theatre has become a real community gathering place, an embodiment of everything that makes this not just somewhere to live, but somewhere to call home.”
[i] As part of the Community Service Center at the University of Oregon, students in Community Planning Workshop are partnering with Travel Oregon, Pacific Power, and Oregon Main Street to inventory historic theaters across the state, prepare a needs assessment of theaters, and develop marketing strategies to improve cultural heritage tourism.
About the Author: Dana Nichols is a first year Community and Regional Planning student who enjoys cooking, gardening, and playing with her cat, Dinkus. Although she is a New Jersey native and could live off their delicious pizza, Dana would much rather be watching a Packer game in Wisconsin or sailing on a boat in Maine.