8
BEHIND THE SCENES
APRIL 27�MAY 4, 2022
FROM THE
COVER
Reviving theaters across Eastern Oregon
By Jennifer Colton
Go! Magazine
I
n the early 20th century, small
theaters dotted Eastern Ore-
gon to bring vaudeville, musical,
and theatric acts to towns both
big and small. With the rise of
television and cinema, many of
those theaters closed down or
transformed. Now, four separate
theaters are in the process of
being brought back.
THE BAKER ORPHEUM,
BAKER CITY
Of the four projects, the larg-
est capacity theater is in one of
the smaller cities. Aletha Bone-
brake, chair of the building com-
mittee for Eastern Oregon Re-
gional Theatre, said the plan is to
restore the 325-seat Orpheum
Theater for live performances.
“The goal is to have a high-
quality performing arts theater
with good acoustics in down-
town Baker City,” she said.
“We’re moving into the fi nal
stage, and we’re so excited.”
The Orpheum building dates
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Rivoli Restoration Coalition President Andrew Picken looks at the brickwork
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, where a former beam spanned the interior of the
Rivoli Theater in Pendleton. Developer Parley Pearce is using parts of the
50-foot beam in the Oak Hotel, the former brothel in downtown Pendleton he
plans to open as a boutique hotel.
back to 1889 and has had dif-
ferent looks over its 133 years
as a vaudeville theater, a show-
place for silent movies, and a
hardware store. Eastern Oregon
Regional Theatre took over the
building in 2016, and the resto-
ration has another three to four
years remaining.
Bonebrake said the restora-
tion is focusing its design to
both represent the theater’s
heyday and to match with the
design of the buildings in down-
town Baker City.
“It’s going to be beautiful, and
it’s going to transform down-
town,” Bonebrake said.
The colors and decor inside
are being designed to match
a pair of murals discovered in
the attic in 2017, shortly after
the restoration began. The two
murals once stood on either
side of the stage and illustrate
the Greek musician Orpheus.
The original murals contained
asbestos, but reproductions will
be installed on either side of the
stage in the restoration.
The plan calls for a full-size
stage, professional acoustics,
and specialized lighting. When
complete, Bonebrake said they
hope to provide space for local
artists while also attracting trav-
eling theater.
“We’ve had to tear apart the
entire commercial space, elimi-
nate all the hazardous materials
and take it down to its shell,” she
said. “We are now at that magi-
cal point of actual construction,
rebuilding an empty shell into a
theater space.”
For information, visit eastern-
oregonregionaltheatre.com.
Support Crossroads — Your Community Art Center
2020 Auburn Avenue
Baker City, Oregon
541.523.5369
Crossroads is open
Monday - Saturday
10:00am - 5:00pm
Gallery • Classes • Special Events
Visit www.crossroads-arts.org to become a member.
THE LIBERTY, LA GRANDE
For decades, few people
knew the building next to La
Grande’s City Hall had once
been a theater.
A music store, the EOU book-
store, and a pizza chain have
all called the Liberty home, but
for the last 10 years, the facility
has moved closer to restoring
its past.
Liberty Theatre Foundation
Chairman Ashley O’Toole said
the Liberty was built in 1910.
Then the Arcade Theater, it was
a vaudeville-only theater for de-
cades until a major renovation in
the 1930s added a cinema sys-
tem, increased the seating and
renamed it. When the Liberty
closed in 1959, it was converted
into commercial space with the
theater — even its chandelier —
hidden behind new walls and a
drop ceiling.
“There was a huge false
ceiling from front to back that
completely cut off the rest of
the theater from this commer-
cial building. You’d walk into
Domino’s and just have no idea