Stanley Theatre
Vancouver B.C.
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The Stanley Theatre has been a familiar sight on Granville Street since the early 1930s. Its tall marquee and classic Art Deco styling still make it one of Vancouver's most impressive neighborhood theaters, even though movies haven't been shown here for many years. 03-06

The Stanley first opened as a vaudeville theater before becoming one of Vancouver's favorite movie houses. Generations of moviegoers passed beneath the marquee, and for many years it was one of the city's premier places to catch the latest Hollywood films. When the theater closed in 1991, it looked like another grand movie palace might disappear.

Fortunately, local supporters stepped in to save the building, and after a careful restoration the Stanley found a new life as a live performance venue. Today it's home to the Arts Club Theatre Company, proving that an old theater doesn't have to show movies to keep entertaining audiences. Best of all, the familiar marquee still welcomes visitors just as it has for decades.

UPDATE: The Stanley Theatre continues operating as a live performance venue, and its beautifully restored marquee remains one of Vancouver's classic theater landmarks. 07-26

Rialto Theatre
Tacoma, WA
Photos courtesy Gorb70

The Rialto Theatre has been entertaining Tacoma audiences since 1918. Its elegant facade still hints at the days when downtown movie palaces competed to outdo one another, and it's easy to imagine the excitement of opening night more than a century ago. 02-07

By the 1990s, the Rialto had fallen on hard times and was operating as a discount movie theater. The grand surroundings were still there, but the building had definitely seen better days. Fortunately, the City of Tacoma and the Broadway Theater District stepped in before it was too late, carefully restoring the theater and giving it a second chance.

Today the Rialto once again welcomes audiences for concerts, plays, and other live performances. While the movies are gone, the old theater continues doing what it was built for, bringing people together beneath one beautiful roof.

UPDATE: The Rialto Theatre remains beautifully restored and continues to host live performances in downtown Tacoma. 07-26

Paris Theatre
Portland, OR
Photo courtesy Jim Zahniser

Few Portland marquees have seen as much history as this one. The weathered sign on the Paris Theatre has watched more than a century of changing tastes, from burlesque and silent films to grindhouse movies, live music, and just about everything in between. 09-10

The building first opened in 1890 as a burlesque theater before becoming a neighborhood movie house in the 1920s. It later gained a reputation as one of Portland's best-known adult theaters, even showing Deep Throat for years. By the late 1990s it had shifted to live performances and music before returning to adult films for another chapter.

Today the old theater has found new life once again. After an extensive restoration, it reopened as Can Can's Paris Theatre, hosting cabaret, burlesque, dinner shows, and live entertainment beneath the same familiar vertical sign that has become an Old Town landmark.

UPDATE: The Paris Theatre has been beautifully restored as Can Can's Paris Theatre, and its historic vertical marquee continues to light up downtown Portland. 07-26

Uptown Theatre
Seattle, WA
Photo courtesy Jeffrey Cook / 2006

Movie theaters don't get much more inviting than this. With its curved neon blade sign glowing above Queen Anne Avenue, the Uptown Theatre has been catching the attention of Seattle moviegoers since 1926. 11-07

The Uptown began life as one of John Hamrick's grand neighborhood movie houses and spent decades showing first-run films under a succession of theater chains. By the time this photo was taken, it was part of the Loews Cineplex chain, continuing a tradition that stretched back nearly 80 years.

The theater nearly went dark for good when it closed in 2010, but the Seattle International Film Festival stepped in and gave the old landmark a new future. Today the Uptown serves as one of SIFF's flagship theaters, showing independent, foreign, classic, and contemporary films while keeping one of Seattle's best-known neighborhood marquees glowing for another generation.

UPDATE: The Uptown Theatre continues operating as SIFF Cinema Uptown, with its familiar neon sign still welcoming moviegoers to Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. 07-26

Varsity Theatre (Closed)
Seattle, WA
Photo courtesy Jim Zahniser

For years, a bright red neon sign welcomed movie fans to Seattle's University District. The Varsity Theatre became a favorite stop along "The Ave," offering everything from foreign films and independent features to Hollywood classics. 09-10

The theater opened in 1940 as a single-screen neighborhood cinema before expanding to three screens in 1985. It spent much of its life introducing Seattle audiences to films they couldn't see just anywhere, making it one of the city's best-known art-house theaters. Though ownership changed over the years, the Varsity remained a familiar landmark for generations of students, locals, and film lovers.

Sadly, the final credits rolled in January 2026 when the theater closed after 86 years. While the movies have stopped, the iconic neon marquee still survives, serving as a reminder of the countless evenings people gathered here to escape into another world.

UPDATE: The Varsity Theatre permanently closed in January 2026. Its classic neon sign remains on the building while the property's future is determined. 07-26

Pantages Theatre (Demolished)
Vancouver, B.C.
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

For more than a century, this weathered old theater stood as one of the last reminders of Vancouver's vaudeville days. The Pantages Theatre opened in 1908 and welcomed audiences to everything from live stage acts to silent films before eventually settling into life as a neighborhood movie house.

The theater was part of Alexander Pantages' famous vaudeville circuit and, over the years, featured performers such as Charlie Chaplin, Harry Houdini, Stan Laurel, and Fatty Arbuckle. As entertainment changed, so did the theater, operating under several different names before closing for good in 1994.

For years, preservation groups fought to save the aging landmark, but time and neglect had taken their toll. Demolition finally began in 2011, bringing an end to what had been the oldest surviving Pantages Theatre in North America. Its loss was a difficult one for Vancouver and another reminder that historic theaters don't always get a second chance.

UPDATE: The Pantages Theatre was demolished in 2011, and the site has since been redeveloped. 07-26

See the Lost Treasures feature on the Pantages Theatre