Fireproofing the Tacoma Theater
Mayor Campbell mandates safety overhauls to ensure audience egress and stage safety at one of the city's premier theaters.
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Acting on the recommendation of Fire Chief Poyns and Building Inspector Tuell, Mayor Campbell has ordered extensive changes in the arrangement of some of the theaters in Tacoma. Although the theaters are now considered to be in better condition than those in many other cities, there is room for improvement, and certain changes must be made. At the Tacoma Theater, work will soon be commenced on alterations and improvements which will make the place as safe as it is possible for it to be. The lower rows of boxes are to be taken out entirely to make room for a wide aisle to the side exits. This will not only afford a means of quick egress for those sitting in that part of the house, but will prevent crowding in the main aisle. As soon as arrangements can be made, an automatic sprinkling plant will be installed over the stage, so that if a fire should start there it would be quickly drowned out. Other changes and additions are to be made that will make this theater, with its heavy asbestos curtain, a fire wall between the stage and auditorium, its wide aisles and exits, one of the safest theaters in the Northwest.
“Other changes and additions are to be made that will make this theater, with its heavy asbestos curtain, a fire wall between the stage and auditorium, its wide aisles and exits, one of the safest theaters in the Northwest.”
Early 20th-century fire safety was often reactive, spurred by national tragedies like the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago. Today, Tacoma's building codes remain central to the civic struggle over balancing the preservation of historic character with the absolute safety requirements of modern urban density.
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