A community-based, nonprofit organization called the Tower Theatre Foundation stepped in and negotiated an option to purchase the building for $445,000. The City of Bend purchased the aging building in 1995 but rejected spending millions of dollars to renovate it. Some residents of the city called for converting the theater into retail or commercial space others proposed razing it. Rallying cries included “Save the Tower” and “Renovate Me and They Will Come,” but years of neglect, vandalism, antiquated heating and lighting systems, and costly renovations seemed to be insurmountable obstacles. Soon after the building closed, residents and business leaders began organizing fundraising efforts to purchase and restore the theater as a performing arts center. Meanwhile, Act III built a sixplex on the city’s east side. Nevertheless, customers stayed away, and the building closed after the boiler went out in 1993. In 1988, Act III Theatres added the Tower to its chain of over a hundred cinemas and split the auditorium into two sections. With the advent of drive-ins and television, however, attendance dropped, ownership changed several times, and the building fell into neglect. Performers ranged from Russian Cossack dancers and jazz groups to military experts and the local talent show Go West. Hodkinson crowed about the projection booth, whose “lights are stronger than the sun.”įor its first forty years, the Tower hosted films, live performances, lectures, fashion shows, and community events. During the three-day celebration that followed, the owners led tours of the stage and auditorium and showed off the heated seats, trimmed in glow-in-the-dark paint a women’s lounge furnished with plants, chairs, and writing tables and unobstructed views from the balcony. Opening night on March 6 attracted a capacity crowd of regional theater owners, city officials, and well-dressed Bendites to see Four Wives, starring Claude Rains and Eddie Albert. The theater featured the first dual projection system in the Northwest, with voices and music transmitted directly from the film to amplified two-story speakers backstage. ![]() Huge timbers, sleek wooden walls, and rounded corners highlighted the interior, while most of the exterior was wrapped in smooth brick and stucco, topped off with a marquee in dazzling neon tubes of green, pink, and gold. In spite of heavy snowfalls during the 1939–1940 winter, the Tower was constructed in just over ninety days. He selected Bend, he said, because of the city's growing population, recreational activities, and inexpensive property. Hodkinson, the founder of Paramount Pictures-moved to Bend and chose a former bakery for the site of his first movie theater. Marcus Priteca, with assistance from Harry Herzog of Portland, for California film distributors Frank Blount and Kenneth Hodkinson. The Tower was designed by celebrated Seattle architect B. Following the Depression, many people saw the building as a symbol of their resilience, collective strength, and optimism. Since the theater’s opening on March 6, 1940, residents have heralded the building’s Streamline Moderne design, especially the four-story column above the marquee, where “Tower” is spelled out in large neon letters. The dates listed are the Wednesday of the opening week.The Tower Theatre is Bend’s most colorful and iconic landmark. Research is from old microfilms of The Houston Post and The Houston Chronicle. Movies that played at the Tower Theater in Houston, TX from 01/01/70 to 12/31/75. ![]() The dates listed are the Wednesday of the opening week.Ġ5/25/66 Stop the World, I Want to Get OffĠ9/25/68 I’ll Never Forget What’s-‘Is-NameĠ8/27/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe? Movies that played at the Tower Theater in Houston, TX from 01/01/64 to 12/31/69. ![]() The dates listed are the Wednesday of the opening week. Movies that played at the Tower Theater in Houston, TX from 01/01/60 to 12/31/63.
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