Venetian Theatre

The Venetian Theatre is a movie theater, performing arts venue, and restaurant in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Formerly the Town Theater, the building re-opened in 2008 after more than a decade of inactivity and revitalization plans. Built in 1888 as a bank, later mayor Orange Phelps converted the property into a theater in 1911 and in 1925 converted it into a two-story Italianate building with a larger auditorium. Prior to renovation the theater was owned by the city of Hillsboro who purchased it from Act III Theatres.HistoryIn 1888, banker John W. Shute built a two-story building on East Main Street as the new home for the First National Bank of Hillsboro. The structure featured a façade in the Italianate style of architecture, external cast iron ornamentation, and a roof line with a bracketed cornice. In 1911, the bank moved across Main Street and later mayor Orange Phelps purchased the building. Although Phelps did not have the money to buy the building, the bank loaned him the funds and he opened The Grand Theater, a 200-seat theater. The 19ft wide by 120ft long theater was expanded in 1915 to 500 seats and named the Liberty Theater.In 1925, a fire destroyed the theater and Phelps rebuilt the structure and named the new theater The Venetian. The first motion picture with sound shown in Hillsboro was The Broadway Melody in 1929 at the theater. Beginning in 1935 Phelps held an annual free show for children at Christmas which continued into the 1990s. In 1956, a fire gutted the building, with Phelps rebuilding and opening the following year as the 800-plus seat Town Theater. After the fire Phelps had held double features at his Town Theater. The theater hosted the premier of the film Ring of Fire in 1961 after the film was shot in Vernonia, Oregon. Phelps owned the theater along with several other theaters in Washington County into the 1970s. Tom Moyer Theaters purchased Phelps’ theaters in 1978 and in turn sold all of that theater chain’s screens to Act III Theatres in 1989. In 1996, Act III closed the theater and sold the building to the city for $1,500.