The New Walla Walla Theatre Reopens in Grand Style
After extensive summer renovations, the city’s premier playhouse unveils a modern foyer, new dressing rooms, and state-of-the-art heating.
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.
Simultaneously with the appearance of 'The Christian' at the new Walla Walla theatre this evening, the city's new playhouse, which has undergone extensive renovation and improvement during the summer months, will be opened to the public. As the theater stands today, it is one of the finest in the Northwest. The lessees, Joseph McCabe and Calvin Helig, have expended nearly $10,000 on remodeling. The stage has been enlarged to accommodate standard scenery, and ten commodious dressing rooms have replaced the cramped facilities of the past. A modern heating plant has been installed to replace the old stoves, and new stairways and foyer arrangements have significantly improved safety and patron comfort. While the new parquet seats and drop curtain are delayed in transit from Philadelphia, the management remains proud of the deep red and gold aesthetic and the improved lighting that now defines the space.
“As far as it has been in our power we have tried to give Walla Walla an up-to-date theatre.”
Public interest in historic theater preservation remains a cornerstone of Walla Walla’s civic identity. Today’s debates over maintaining our historic downtown infrastructure echo this 1903 investment in civic culture and modernization.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.