Nifty Theatre

Nifty Theatre is a small historic theater in Waterville, Washington. The frame building was constructed in 1918 by W. P. Brown and opened to the public in 1919. It was designed for motion pictures and vaudeville, but its flat-floored auditorium also allowed it to function as a dance hall, community meeting venue, and space for other productions and events. The building reflects the modest scale of an early twentieth-century theater serving a small agricultural community rather than the much larger movie palaces that were becoming common in bigger American cities. The theater has Mission Style elements on its stuccoed front facade, including corner pilasters and a curved parapet. Its side and rear walls are clad in tongue-and-groove wood siding, and a suspended marquee marks the entrance. Inside, the lobby leads to an auditorium with a combination of level and sloped floor areas, a raised stage, wings, dressing rooms, an orchestra-pit area, footlights, and an original operable painted stage backdrop. Historic features also include flip-up wooden seats, projection openings, and a former viewing room commonly described as a crying room, where parents could monitor children while watching performances. The building originally had capacity for just under 300 people; the surviving fixed seating is described as numbering 158 seats. W. P. Brown and his wife operated the theater from its opening until 1959. Brown lived with his wife in an apartment in the basement and used theater proceeds to support other interests, including landholdings and racehorses. The theater presented films, vaudeville, community activities, and local productions during this period. Brown closed it in 1959 as television increased competition for movie audiences. He died the following year. After Brown's death, Mrs. Brown sold the property to Claude Case for one dollar while retaining the right to live in the apartment. She remained there until her death in 1970. Case kept the building until 1997, using it for storage connected with his collections and construction business. Despite this non-theatrical use, the structure reportedly remained substantially unaltered. Jim and Jenna Dixon acquired the property in 1997 and restored it for community use. The Nifty Theatre is therefore best understood today as a locally significant historic performance and gathering space rather than a conventional commercial cinema chain or contemporary film-exhibition brand. Its importance rests on its continuity of place, surviving architectural features, and role in Waterville's community cultural life.

Nifty Theatre was built in Waterville, Washington, in 1918 by W. P. Brown and opened in 1919. Brown created the building as both a motion-picture house and a vaudeville theater. Although the era of the earliest nickelodeon theaters was largely ending by the time it opened, the Nifty Theatre served the needs of a small town with a flexible, relatively modest building rather than a large urban movie palace. Its flat sections of floor made it suitable for uses beyond cinema, including dances, community activities, theatrical productions, and prize-fighting events. Brown and his wife operated the theater for approximately four decades. They lived in an apartment beneath the auditorium, making the building both a business and a residence. A 1946 sale prospectus characterized Brown as a Washington State University graduate and wounded military veteran. It also described his acquisition of substantial land and a stable of racehorses supported in part by proceeds from the theater. During its operating years, the venue showed films and hosted vaudeville, while also functioning as a local gathering place. The theater closed in 1959. The immediate business pressure identified in historical accounts was competition from television, which reduced the appeal and viability of small-town movie theaters. Brown died in 1960. Afterward, Mrs. Brown sold the property to Claude Case for one dollar, retaining a right to live in the building's apartment. She continued to reside there until her death in 1970. Case owned the property from 1959 until 1997. During that period, the theater was used as storage for his collections and construction business rather than as an operating entertainment venue. This period of storage use did not substantially change the building, allowing many historic features to survive. The property was acquired in 1997 by Jim and Jenna Dixon, who restored it and returned it to community use. Architecturally, the freestanding building is located about a block from Waterville's Downtown Historic District. Its front facade is stuccoed and has corner pilasters, a curved parapet, and a marquee suspended over the entrance. The side and rear elevations retain wood siding. Visitors enter through the front doors, ascend to the ticket-window level, and pass through the lobby into the auditorium. Interior features include a permanent backlit panel announcing the evening program, historic wooden flip-up seating, projection openings, a former crying room, a raised stage, side wings, dressing rooms, footlights, and an original painted stage curtain or backdrop. The lower level contains the former residential apartment and additional service and storage areas. The Nifty Theatre's modern identity is rooted less in commercial movie exhibition than in preservation and community access. Its restoration preserved a rare small-town theater building and enabled the structure to continue serving local cultural and gathering purposes after its original cinema business had ended.

• 1997

  Theater is acquired and restored for community use

  [1]Nifty Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Jim and Jenna Dixon acquire the property, which had been used for storage, and restore it as a community theater.

• 1959

  Movie-theater operations cease

  [1]Nifty Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  Brown closes the theater amid competition from television.

• 1946

  Sale prospectus documents the property and operator

  [1]Nifty Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  A sale prospectus describes Brown's background, landholdings, and racehorse activities connected with the theater's operating history.

• 1919

  Nifty Theatre opens

  [1]Nifty Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  The theater begins operations, presenting motion pictures, vaudeville, and community activities.

• 1918

  The theater building is constructed

  [1]Nifty Theatreen.wikipedia.org

  W. P. Brown builds the Nifty Theatre in Waterville, Washington, as a combined movie and vaudeville venue.

A preserved small-town historic theater and multipurpose community cultural venue.

• Cinema exhibition · 1919

  Motion-picture screenings

  The Nifty Theatre originally operated as a small-town movie house. Its auditorium, projection openings, ticket area, lobby, marquee, and fixed seating reflect its historic role in film exhibition. Regular commercial movie operations ended in 1959 after television intensified competition.

• Live entertainment · 1919

  Vaudeville and live performances

  The venue was built to accommodate vaudeville as well as films. Its raised stage, wings, dressing rooms, orchestra-pit area, footlights, and surviving painted backdrop support its identity as a performance space rather than a cinema-only building.

• Community venue · 1997

  Community theater and events

  Following its 1997 restoration, the Nifty Theatre has been operated for community use. The building's flexible auditorium historically supported dances, local productions, meetings, and other civic activities, and its restored configuration continues that multipurpose tradition.

• 1997

  Conversion to restored community venueStrategy

  Background

  The theater had spent decades as a storage building, although its historic structure had not been substantially altered.

  Action taken

  Jim and Jenna Dixon acquired and restored the property for community use.

  Aftermath

  The Nifty Theatre resumed a public cultural role as a historic community theater rather than returning solely to its former commercial movie-house model.

  Source

• 1959

  Closure of commercial theater operationsStrategy

  Background

  Television competition weakened the prospects of the small-town movie theater.

  Action taken

  W. P. Brown ended the theater's regular commercial operations.

  Aftermath

  The building was later used for storage before being restored for community purposes in 1997.

  Source

1. 1Nifty Theatreen.wikipedia.org