Tacoma’s Theater Safety Crisis
Following the horrific Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, local inspectors scramble to identify hazards in Tacoma’s aging entertainment venues.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As a direct result of the Chicago theater fire, Tacoma Building Inspector E. L. Tuel is making a thorough inspection of every theater in this city. According to Mr. Tuel's own statement, if every law relating to the building of theaters were lived up to, every playhouse in the city would be closed. He explains this startling statement by saying that many of the theater laws are out of date and impractical. However, the inspection of the theaters was made at the suggestion of Mayor Campbell after he had learned of the terrible results of the Iroquois fire. Both the building inspector and the chief of the fire department have been instructed to see that the theaters are complying with the laws. Yesterday, a fire alarm box was installed on the stage of the Tacoma theater and was tested this morning. Firemen are stationed in the lobbies and on the stages of the theaters every night. The building inspector will make a report to the mayor after he has finished the work of inspection. It is very probable that a number of alterations will have to be made in the theater buildings, especially in the galleries. During his inspection of the Lyceum theater yesterday, the building inspector found that there was no asbestos curtain, but that otherwise the building was safe. Today, the building inspector will look over the Tacoma theater, and tomorrow will inspect the smaller theaters of the city.
“If every law relating to the building of theaters were lived up to every playhouse in the city would be closed.”
This panic over venue safety reflects a recurring cycle in urban history where horrific national tragedies force local governments to confront long-ignored code violations. Today, Tacoma's modern efforts to seismic-retrofit historic theaters echo this same tension between cultural heritage and public safety.
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