The Tacoma Theatre Building (Pantages Theatre) - Tacoma, Washington
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 47° 15.305 W 122° 26.434
10T E 542328 N 5233662
The building spoken of in the guide book is actually the Pantages Theatre, built in 1918. Originally a Vaudeville Theater, and later the RKO Orpheum and the Roxy, the Pantages is now one of three theaters in the Broadway Theatre district.
Waymark Code: WM1GNH
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2007
Views: 72
The following excerpt from
Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State is from the Tacoma "Points of Interest" section.
The TACOMA THEATRE BUILDING, corner of 9th and Broadway, was designed by Stanford White in the manner of a Norman Chateau. Of red brick with white trim and slate roof, it was completed in 1890. It is used now as an office bilding and motion picture theatre, but in its early days many famous artists and lecturers were presented here: Sarah Bernhardt, Henry Irving, Joseph Jefferson, Richard Mansfield, E H. Sothern, and Maude Adams; Bill Nye, George Francis Train, and Mark Twain. page 272-273
There seems to have been a mix up by the author of 2 historic Tacoma buildings, as the above description mixes information about both the Tacoma Hotel, built in 1894 by Stanford White on 9th and A Street, and the Pantages Theatre, built in 1918 on 9th and Broadway.
The Tacoma Hotel was once rated the best hotel on the west coast. The above performers mentioned were all guests of the great hotel, that burnt to the ground in October of 1935.
The Pantages is likely the building that the author is mentioning. It is a combination office building and theatre that was originally designed and constructed in 1918 by Seattle architect B. Marcus Priteca. It was originally built as a vaudeville theater. Motion pictures replaced vaudeville shows and the name was changed to the RKO Orpheum in 1930 and changed again in 1932 when the new Roxy opened. The Pantages was rededicated after partial restoration in 1983.
It was closed for the 2005/2006 season as it underwent intense restoration efforts and opened October 13, 2006 in time for the 2006/2007 Season.