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AKA: Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE), Auditorium Building, Bagdad Theater, Ballard, Seattle, WA; Ballard Theatre #2 Ballard, Seattle, WA
Structure Type: built works - commercial buildings - stores; built works - performing arts structures - theatres; built works - recreation areas and structures - gymnasiums
Designers: [unspecified]
Dates: constructed 1927
Overview
The Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall #2 for Aerie #172 leased space to motion picture exhibitors from its opening in 1927.
Building History
Opening on 05/28/1927, this small neighborhood theatre, like the nearby Empress and Majestic Theatres, was owned in the 1920s by the Seattle exhibitors, Claude Jensen and John von Herberg. The Bagdad operated under this name until 1947, when it closed.
New management reopened the venue on 06/25/1947 as the "Ballard." This was the second theatre in the Ballard neighborhood to have the name, the first having operated at 5132 Ballard Avenue between 1913 and 1918. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle City Directory, 1918, p. 2138.)
The Backstage Theatre night club operated in the theatre space in the 1990s, closing in 1998. A gymnasium then utilzed the property, followed by a location of the Dillon, MT-based Great Harvest Bread Company, beginning in 2013.
Building Notes
This theatre spelled its name "Bagdad" not "Baghdad." (See Bagdad Theatre advertisement, Seattle Daily Times, 05/18/1932, p. 16.) It was located on Market Street and Ballard Avenue.
The Bagdad Theatre seated about 1,800 people originally.
PCAD id: 10939
