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Ridgemont Theater
2001 Photo from the Dave Felthous collection
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7720 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle WA
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| Record #15846 |
Opened: 1923
Closed: 1989
Demolished: 2001
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Capacity:
Architect(s):
Architectural Style(s):
National Register:
Current Organ: none |
| Also Known As: |
Information for this tour was contributed by Dave Felthous. The Ridgemont had been a typical small neighborhood theater that fell victim to television and changes in demographics in the late 40s and early 50s. Then in the mid-50s movie buff Jim Selvidge rescued the Ridgemont and began booking the cream of the mostly foreign arthouse films that were becoming increasingly available.
The theater proved a hit, especially with the university crowd which drove several miles across town to attend. (The Ridgemont did not sell popcorn but it did have coffee and fancy candies.)
The Ridgemont scored a success with a long run of And God Created Woman (although its cramped screen did not do justice to Brigitte Bardot!), and eventually added a sister theater, the Edgemont, in suburban Edmonds. The Edgemont did not survive, and the Ridgemont eventually got into trouble, its booking rhythm stalled by a nearly year-long engagement of A Man and a Woman.
The theater then became part of the Seven Gables circuit and continued with arthouse fare for a time. But the Ridgemont suffered from cramped seating and increasingly scarce parking, and it eventually closed in 1989.
For a number of years the building, with seats removed, has been used as a scenery and costume workshop for a local theater company. The theater was demolished in 2001 to make way for a retail/apartment complex.
Photos
Photos remain the property of the Member and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Member. |
2001 photos from the Dave Felthous collection. 
17 KB 350x156 |
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Last updated 2005-01-23.
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