The Capitol Theater was located at 542 State Street in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Part of the Bligh Building, it was built in the 1920s for

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. During its heyday, it housed a

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

, which is now in private ownership in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. The theater was demolished in 2000, but the retail portion of the building, now known as the Pacific Building, still stands.

Bligh Building and Capitol Theater

The building, constructed in 1926 for owner Frank D. Bligh, covered a quarter of a block. At the time it was built, it had twelve storefronts and thirty-five rooms designed for offices, as well as what was known at the time as the New Bligh Capitol Theater, with 1,200 seats. Bligh owned several theaters in Salem, including the original Bligh Theater built in 1912 and closed in 1927. For a time Bligh owned the Klinger Grand Theater, which he also renamed Bligh Theater. The Capitol Theater's brightly lit marquee was constructed of stained glass in the shape of the dome of the second

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capitol, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 ...

building, which was destroyed in a 1935 fire.

Decline and demolition

The theater converted from vaudeville to movies. By 1952 the glass dome marquee had been replaced. By the 1980s, it was one of only two pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

theaters left in downtown Salem, which had once hosted as many as eight. Like its neighbor, the

Elsinore Theatre The Elsinore Theatre is 1,290-seattheatre located in Salem, Oregon, United States, that first opened on May 28, 1926. Early years Owner George Guthrie enlisted the firm of Lawrence and Holford to design the theatre in a Tudor Gothic style mean ...

, the Capitol declined to a second-run movie house. It was closed in 1990. The Capitol Theater was demolished in May/June 2000 because of structural decay. The location is now a parking lot, however, the adjoining office and retail space remains. This retail building, known as the Bligh Building and currently as the Pacific Building, is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

of the Salem Downtown State Street-Commercial Street Historic District, which is listed on 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 ...

Theater organ

The theater's 3/8 (3-

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

/8-rank) "Mighty Wurlitzer"

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements o ...

was installed in 1926. In 1941, the organ was moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Civic Ice Arena Mercer Arena (previously known as the Exposition Building, Civic Ice Arena and Seattle Center Arena) was a performing arts venue located at the corner of Mercer Street and Fourth Avenue North in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. It was bui ...

. In 1964–65, the organ was moved to the

Seattle Center Seattle Center is an arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington, United States. Spanning an area of 74 acres (30 ha), it was originally built for the 1962 World's Fair. Its landmark feature is the tall Space Needl ...

Food Circus. It was sold at auction in 1976, and is currently installed in a private home in Washington, combined with parts from

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

's Majestic/United Artists Theatre organ to make a 3/18 Wurlitzer.

References

External links

*
Capitol Theater
from Cinema Treasures
Historic images of Capitol Theater
from Salem Public Library
Facade of theater in 1980
from Salemoregon.com * {{National Register of Historic Places Oregon 1926 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures demolished in 2000 Buildings and structures in Salem, Oregon Commercial Style architecture in the United States Culture of Salem, Oregon Demolished theatres in Oregon Former cinemas in the United States Historic district contributing properties in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Oregon Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon