With about 150 people looking on, a ribbon cutting (that was actually film) was held at the now restored Admiral Theater on March 22. Emceed by Clay Eals, Executive Director of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society the event was attended by local leaders, neighbors, friends, and fans of the theater.

The event dubbed “The Ship Sails Again: Four Screens, Four Eras.” featured four programs, each representing a turning point in the theater’s history and featuring films that have played the Admiral or its predecessor, the Portola Theater (which was in the building that is the current theater’s lobby):

ERA ONE, the Portola Theater’s opening in 1919: A slate of classic silent films: Charlie Chaplin’s war parody “Shoulder Arms” (1918), plus three shorts, Harold Lloyd’s “The Marathon” (1919) and Buster Keaton’s “One Week” (1920) and “Cops” (1922). “Shoulder Arms” played the Portola Theater in August 1927.

ERA TWO, the Admiral Theater’s opening on Jan. 22, 1942: The Humphrey Bogart detective story “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), which played the Admiral Theater six weeks after it opened in 1942.

ERA THREE, the Admiral’s twinning in spring 1973: The nostalgic comedy “American Graffiti” (1973), which played the Admiral Theater in August 1974.

ERA FOUR, the renovation of the Admiral to four screens in fall 2016: The new Disney fantasy “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), which is slated to open at the Admiral on the previous Friday, March 17.

In attendance were King County Council Chair Joe McDermott, of District 8, who championed the 4Culture “Building for Culture” grant of $95,000 that assisted in the renovation of the Historic Admiral Theater in 2016 and Seattle City Council member Lisa Herbold, of District 1 (West Seattle and South Park), who noted the city’s role in the 1989 landmarking of the Historic Admiral Theater, resulting from a grassroots campaign led by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.

Visit the Admiral Theater online for current showtimes.