Oregon Theatre

The Oregon Theatre, or Oregon Theater,[1] was an adult movie theater in the Richmond neighborhood of southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. The theater was completed in 1925 and originally housed a Wurlitzer pipe organ and vaudeville stage. It would later screen Hollywood, art-house, and Spanish-language films. The building was acquired by the Maizels family in 1967 and became an adult cinema in the 1970s. It continued to operate as the city's longest running pornographic cinema and remained owned by a member of the Maizels family until 13 February 2020, when it went into foreclosure. It closed in early March 2020.[2]

Oregon Theatre
The theater's exterior in 2014
Oregon Theatre
Location in Portland, Oregon
Address3530 Southeast Division Street
LocationPortland, Oregon, United States
Coordinates45.5046278°N 122.6277533°W / 45.5046278; -122.6277533
OwnerMaizels family, including Gayne Maizels (1967–present)
TypeTheatre
Construction
OpenedSeptember 4, 1925 (1925-09-04)
ArchitectHubert A. Williams

The cinema has been described as "less creepy than most of its kind" and "out of place" along the newly developed Southeast Division Street. It has also been called "the last holdout of an era", referring to both the prominence of adult film screenings in the city during the 1970s and its status as the last property owned by the Maizels family. In 2004, the building was identified as an "Investment and Identity Site" and commended for having attributes valued by the community, such as quality architecture, local ownership, and orientation to the street.

Description and history

The two-story, roughly 8,700 square foot (810 m2) Oregon Theatre was designed by Hubert A. Williams.[3][4][5] It exhibits Italianate and "Streetcar Era Commercial" architecture, with plans drafted by Universal Plan Service.[1] The brick exterior includes a glass-filled retail base, beltcourses, double-hung windows on the second story, ornamental brickwork on its parapet, and a flat roof.[1] Upon its completion, the interior featured a $16,000 Wurlitzer pipe organ, ornate lighting fixtures attached to a high-domed ceiling, 750 high-backed chairs,[5] a vaudeville stage, and a screen which measured 16 by 20 feet (4.9 m × 6.1 m).[6] The theater cost $35,000 to construct and began operating on September 4, 1925, possibly for a showing of Steele of the Royal Mounted.[5][6]

Detail of the theater's architecture and signage, 2014

J. W. McFadden Inc. was the building's original owner. Subsequent owners have included C. C. and Leedy Maude, J. S. Middleton, Oregon Theatre Co., Mary Watt, and Ernest Bass.[1] The theater's front doors and ticket office were altered by J. W. McFadden Inc. in 1930, along with the construction of a new ticket booth.[1] In 1949, when the Waverly Heights Congregational United Church of Christ was reconstructing a new church building on its property at Southeast 33rd and Woodward, church services were held at the Oregon Theatre.[7] According to the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society, the organ was repossessed by the William Wood Organ Co. and re-installed at radio station KXL's studios in Portland. The theater's front entrance, including its doors and 1930s ticket booth, were remodeled by Ferguson Cassady Co. in 1954.[1][8]

In 1967, an immigrant family acquired ownership of the theater. The Maizels family also owned other cinemas, including Aladdin Theater, the defunct and demolished Walnut Park, and the Encore, now known as Clinton Street Theater. In addition to Hollywood films, the cinemas screened art-house and Spanish-language movies.[6] Multi-light Broadway Sign Co. installed corrugated aluminum on the bottom of the marquee in 1975.[1]

Adult cinema

The first sexually-explicit film shown at the Oregon was I Am Curious (Yellow) in 1967. That movie gave the theater more business in three days than two-weeks worth of ticket sales from mainstream, non-risque films,[2] prompting the Oregon to show adult movies exclusively.

The success of Deep Throat, which opened in 1972 and played for more than a year,[2] was a turning point, leading to an increase in the number of adult film screenings at more than a dozen cinemas in Portland.[5][6] However, the rise of video cassettes and cable television led to a decline in cinema attendance, and by the 2000s, the Maizels family had sold all of their properties except for the Oregon Theatre. Gayne Maizels still owns the theater, which continues to operate as the city's longest running pornographic cinema.[5][6][9]

As an adult cinema, the single-screen theater replaced traditional auditorium seats with sofas. It began advertising live sex shows in the early part of the 21st Century.[2] In 2005, The Portland Mercury said the theater showed heterosexual pornographic films daily except for Wednesdays and Saturdays, when it featured bisexual content.[10] In 2013, Portland Monthly described the venue's green entryway, leading to a ramp lined with adult DVDs and an "indifferent doorman who demands $8. Inside, a few dozen men, mostly seniors, occupy a hodgepodge of old couches in near-total darkness."[6]

In February 2020, the owner went into foreclosure February 13, and the venue closed on March 3.[11]

Reception
The theater's entrance in 2014

According to local film archivist and author Gary Lacher, the Oregon Theatre's record as the longest continuously operating adult cinema in Portland is "not often acknowledged publicly" and represents "the last holdout of an era", referring to the prominence of adult film screenings in Portland.[5][6] In an interview, Lacher expressed his wish that the theater would return to a more traditional cinema, but was thankful that the venue has been spared from closure and demolition to date.[6]

In 2004, GNT Planning included the theater as an "Investment and Identity Site" in their report, which was commissioned by the Division Vision Coalition (DVC), a coalition of community members from the nearby business and neighborhood associations. DVC is invested in the "economy of locally-owned businesses, an attractive streetscape that invites neighbors to linger, and sustainable features that are ecologically sensitive".[4] The building was identified as having attributes valued by the community, including quality architecture, local ownership, and orientation to the street.[4]

In its 2005 review of the theater, The Portland Mercury said the "glut of cozy sofas make an outing comfortable", but criticized the venue for having only one screen and for showing predominantly heterosexual films. The publication said that the venue was "[m]ore like an actual cinema than a circle jerk (though chicken-choking is not unheard of).... The [theater] is much less creepy than most of its kind—there's even bicycle parking indoors."[10] In its 2012 Portlandia-related list of "Portland's Most Ill-Advised Valentine's Date Spots", IFC quipped, "Of course, considering the dwindling number of adult theaters across the country, you could make an argument that it's a piece of Portland history, and that visiting wouldn't be much different than going to a museum... on second thought, play it safe and stay away."[12] In 2013, Portland Monthly said the venue "seems out of place", a "dingy brick building" surrounded by the newly developed Southeast Division Street.[6]

After multiple restaurants on Southeast Division were featured in Willamette Week's annual restaurant guide in 2013, the newspaper made humorous "predictions" about what might become of some of the street's existing spaces. It predicted that the Oregon Theatre could become "McMenamins Mophouse & Brewery", referring to the McMenamins regional chain of breweries, historic hotels, music venues and pubs. Willamette Week wrote, "When one of the nation's last adult theaters finally succumbs to market pressure, McMenamins rehabs the space while keeping its historic character alive with 'voyeur' dining booths, a sticky dance floor and VIP dining in the bored projectionist's perch."[13] In 2014, Willamette Week called the theater "seedy".[14]

See also

References
  1. "Historic Resource Inventory: 8-227-03530" (PDF). City of Portland, Oregon. May 1980. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015. Note: Document accessible via the Oregon Historic Sites Database Archived 2015-01-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. Shepard, Katie. (2020, March 6). Portland’s ‘porn palaces’ transformed the city into an X-rated haven. Now, its last erotic theater has closed. The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/06/portland-porn-palace/ Archived 2020-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Site Information". Oregon Historic Sites Database. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  4. "The Power of Place: Building Community Character on SE Division Street" (PDF). GNT Planning. June 7, 2004. pp. 1, 24, 57. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  5. Lacher, Gary (June 10, 2009). Theatres of Portland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 103. ISBN 9781439638316. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  6. Patail, Marty (November 1, 2013). "The Last (Dirty) Picture Show". Portland Monthly. Portland, Oregon: Sagacity Media. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  7. "History". Waverly Heights Congregational United Church of Christ. Archived from the original on December 11, 2004. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  8. "Oregon Theatre – 2/9 Wood". Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  9. DiStefano, Anne Marie (July 26, 2012). "Division crowded with good eats". Portland Tribune. Portland, Oregon: Pamplin Media Group. OCLC 46708462. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  10. Gardner, Will (July 14, 2005). "Cinema du Sexxx: A Review of Portland's Porno Parlors". The Portland Mercury. Portland, Oregon: Index Publishing. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  11. Monahan, Rachel (March 3, 2020). "Portland's Last Porn Theater Has Closed". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  12. "Portland's Most Ill-Advised Valentine's Date Spots". IFC. February 14, 2012. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  13. Cizmar, Martin (October 16, 2013). "Restaurant Guide 2013: Different 'Vision: Looking at the future of Southeast Division Street". Willamette Week. Portland, Oregon: City of Roses Newspapers. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  14. "Scoop: What Jello Biafra Said in '81". Willamette Week. Portland, Oregon: City of Roses Newspapers. June 18, 2014. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
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