Coliseum Theater
- Architect
- B. Marcus Priteca
- City
- Seattle, WA
The Coliseum Theater opened on January 8, 1916, designed by B. Marcus Priteca as Seattle's first theater built specifically for showing movies. It was advertised at the time as "the world's largest and finest photoplay palace," and in 1931 the Journal of the Royal Institute of Architects called it "the first of the world's movie palaces." Actress Anita King gave the dedication speech on opening night.
the building
Terra cotta facade. The exterior is dressed in elaborate terra cotta work, with an interior that was originally just as ornate — grand enough that the theater's own advertising leaned on architectural spectacle to sell tickets, not just the films playing inside.
Silent-era orchestra. For the silent film era, the Coliseum employed a 7-piece orchestra plus an organist playing a Moller organ. The musicians, all Russian, were reputed to be the highest-paid movie theater musicians in the country.
From cinema to retail. The Coliseum ran as a first-run house into the late 1970s and kept showing films until it closed on March 11, 1990, after a screening of Tremors. The building was then renovated into roughly 15,000 square feet of retail space.
the architect
B. Marcus Priteca was a prolific theater architect, and the Coliseum was among his defining Seattle commissions — contemporaries credited it as the first true movie palace anywhere, a template other theater designers would follow for decades.
significance
The Coliseum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and is also a Seattle city landmark.
nearby
- Shafer Building/6th and Pine Building
- Northern Bank and Trust/Seaboard Building
- Liggett/4th and Pike Building
- Grand Pacific Hotel
- Medical Dental Building
- Rainier Tower