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The Elsinore Theatre replaced a livery stable on the site, and was intended to mimic the castle from Shakespeare's Hamlet, written c. 1600. The Elsinore's owner, George B. Guthrie, hoped to provide lasting cultural amenity with his theatre, the cost of which began at $100,000. The final cost was much more, over $250,000. Guthrie commissioned the Portland architecture firm of Lawrence and Holford to design the theatre and contracted with Cuyler Van Patten to build it. According to Elaine K. Sanchez who has written a history of the theatre: "In 1929 the Elsinore was leased to Fox Theaters, and was converted to accommodate the newest technological advance in entertainment-–talking movies. One year later, owner George B. Guthrie leased the theatre to Warner Brothers Theaters, who ran it as a movie house until 1951." Guthrie sold the property in 1954 to the Foreman Brothers. The theatre's ownership changed twice more after the Foremans. Into the 1980s, the Elsinore was in serious need of restoration, but it would be almost 20 years before money and expertise could be found to do the work.

The Elsinore Theatre could seat 1,400 in 1926. Patrons would enter the movie palace's lobby, a space patterned on an English Gothic great hall, measuring 30 feet high and 70 feet in length. Staircases leading patrons to the balcony were located on either end. Twenty-four-foot-high murals, intended to be atmospheric, suggested an evening in a garden courtyard.

Owner Tom Moyer along with a local preservation group, the Save the Elsinore Committee, did $130,000 worth of refurbishment in 1986. Moyer sold his interest in the Elsinore and other theatres to Act III, who held it until 07/17/1993, when it was turned over to a non-profit organization, STAGE--Salem Theatre Auditorium Group Enterprise. STAGE brought in Portland architect Aron Faegre to formulate a $7.8 million master plan for the two theatres in the city, the Elsinore and Capitol Theatres. This was not enacted. In the 2002, the architectural firm of Curry Brandaw offered to be the General Contractor for a $3.2 million restoration that lasted three summers, 2002-2004.

PCAD id: 17187