The Kiggins Theatre is a single-screen

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

. Named for former Vancouver mayor and businessman John P. Kiggins, it opened in 1936. It is located at 1011 Main Street in downtown Vancouver.

Architecture

The Kiggins Theatre was designed in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style by architect Day Walter Hilborn. The walls were constructed using formed concrete, with decorative motifs on the exterior and interior. The "Kiggins"

neon sign In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...

is original, as are some of the interior light fixtures. The original marquee was replaced in the late 1950s. An elaborate

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

originally painted inside the building no longer exists.

History

Construction of the Kiggins Theatre began on September 20, 1935. The theater opened on April 24, 1936, with a showing of the film ''

She Married Her Boss ''She Married Her Boss'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Claudette Colbert. Plot Julia Scott (Claudette Colbert) is a very efficient secretary at a department store. She is in love with her boss, Richard ...

'', starring

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

and

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchka ...

. The Kiggins operated continuously as a movie theater from 1936 to 1955. In 1958, the interior and exterior of the theater were renovated; the current marquee was installed at that time. The Kiggins reopened as part of the Adamson Theaters chain, which ran the theater for the next two decades. In 1980, the theater was acquired by a local church, and stopped showing commercial movies in favor of

Christian films The Christian film industry is an aspect of Christian media for films containing a Christian-themed message or moral. They are often interdenominational films, but can also be films targeting a specific denomination of Christianity. Criteria P ...

. The theater sustained moderate smoke and water damage after an electrical fire in 1981 and remained closed for nearly two years. After repairs and some renovation, the Kiggins reopened in 1983 and began showing second run

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

s through 1996. The theater was renovated again in early 1997, when some architectural features were restored, and more modern projection and sound equipment were installed. The theater reopened under new management in May 1997, and operated until May 2010, when it closed once again because of financial difficulties. The Kiggins was renovated and reopened under new management in September 2011. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2012.

References

{{Reflist, refs= Kiggins Theatre
at Cinema Treasures Albright, Mary Ann (July 9, 2011)
"Curtain to Rise on Revived Kiggins"
''

The Columbian ''The Columbian'' is a daily newspaper serving the Vancouver, Washington, and Clark County, Washington area. The paper was published for its first decade (1890–1900) as a four-page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republic ...

'' Kiggins House, Vancouver, Washington
at Waymarking.com Gregg, Andrew J. (2009). "'We'll Meet You at the Kiggins!' — Vancouver's Kiggins Theatre", ''Clark County History'', the journal of the Fort Vancouver Historical Society Joner, Cami (May 28, 2010)
"Fade to Black: Kiggins Theater to Close as Operators Bow Out"
''

'' Dodge, Ian J. (October 21, 2011)
"History Restored at the Kiggins"
''Vancouver Business Journal'' Cinemas and movie theaters in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Vancouver, Washington Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Culture of Vancouver, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Clark County, Washington