Garland Theatre - Spokane, WA
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 47° 41.621 W 117° 25.537
11T E 468063 N 5282343
Opened in 1945 The Garland, a premier example of Art Deco architecture, caused quite a splash when it opened to rave reviews by the local newspapers and a lineup that stretched around the block.
Waymark Code: WMJQPP
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 12/19/2013
Views: 4
One local paper, the Spokane Sentinel, said: "
there is nothing like it on the Pacific coast, even in Los Angeles, it is 20 years ahead of Spokane." A major attraction, and an innovation for the time, was a snack bar, said to be "
an innovation in the field and an import directly from Hollywood". The Spokane Daily Chronicle had this to say about it: "
modern in every detail, the blue and wine auditorium drew particular comment on the continental seating and extra-large spacing between rows. Germicidal lamps on the walls keep the air purified. The lobby was lined with baskets of flowers.".
One notable attribute of Art Deco design is the profuse use of frieze and other art throughout the building. The auditorium of the building, of tan and buff brick, is set at a 45° angle to the rest of the world and shows stark vertical walls adorned only with large multi-stepped square panels surrounding floral motifs. The fascia of the roof over the entrance is a series of waves created by the application of large curved tiles, the upper row including terra cotta garlands flowing from end to end. Setting the fascia off are several rectangular green terra cotta plaques with more floral motifs.
The theatre opened with a double feature: It’s a Pleasure (starring Sonja Henie) and Double Exposure. Originally opened with a seating capacity near 1,000, that number has been reduced to 630 in the interests of comfort and ease of access. The original cost was estimated at $130,000.
The theatre was closed May 16, 1961 and merged with the Favorite Theater operation, which owned several other theatres in the city. The sale was announced August 21, 1961 in the Spokane Spokesman-Review and it reopened shortly thereafter.
Changing hands again in the early 70s, it was bought by the Sterling Recreation Organization based in Bellevue, WA. Finding it difficult to draw patrons, the theatre took a brief foray into X Rated films.
Recent Times
Thanks in part to the changing times the Garland Theater closed its doors between 1986-1988, struggling to compete against the new Cineplex’s that came to dominate the movie-going marketplace. Don Clifton bought the Garland in late 1988, converting it into a discount theater, which it still is today. As Clifton said at the time, “The Garland draws fans from two basic groups: the people who usually wait for video, and the people who want to see a specific film again but don’t want to pay a full price.”
This discount model that Clifton describes has lasted until present day, even as ownership changed hands once again in 1999 to Katherine Fritchie.
With a trendy new cocktail bar, The Bon-Bon, adjoined to the theater one can sip on some drinks before heading into a movie selection that ranges from just-out-of-the-regular-theater blockbusters like ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Men In Black’ to kids movies like ‘The Mighty Ducks,’ and ‘Shrek,’ to oldies like ‘The Terminator,’ ‘Ghostbusters,’ and of course ‘Die Hard.’
From Spokane Historical