The Times Theatre opened on June 29th in Seaside, OR by BJ Callahan. It opened with Waterloo Bridge starring Vivien Leigh, who had just been in Gone With the Wind the year before. The Seaside Signal newspaper featured a full page advertisement to announce its opening, along with several ‘good luck’ messages from members of the community. Callahan also owned another Seaside theatre called the Strand, which used a unique pay as you leave method. Rather than purchasing tickets upon entry, moviegoers would pay what they thought the film deserved as they left. However the Times didn’t use this method. The Times only had one screen and would show one film for a few days before moving onto the next one. While the Strand often had double features, or ‘double bills’, the Times rarely did. The two theatres always showed different films. Since they shared an owner, we can assume there was no competition between the two.
The Callahan family was well known and influential in Seaside. Enough so to have a series of articles written about the family in the Seaside Signal. One side article featured a congratulations message to a man named Jack Callahan, for the opening of his theatre, the Times. This is the only claim that the owner of the Times was Jack and not BJ. Another article from 1989 titled “Years Ago”, a series the Seaside Signal does where it reminisces past events, talks about Jack Callahan and his wife going to Seaside to visit BJ. While not confirmed here, it is possible that Jack is BJ’s father, and the article congratulating Jack on the theatre made a mistake on who the owner was.
The Times went through multiple owners during its first 49 year run. In 1959 it was bought by Gregory and Pat Kershal, owners of the Sunset Drive-In in the neighboring beach of Gearhart. It was then sold to Don McMurdie, owner of McMurdie Theater Company in 1979. The theatre remained under his ownership for the next decade until he decided to not renew the theatre’s lease. It closed in 1989 with the film Parenthood, much to the dismay of the city's teens, who claimed there wasn’t anything left to do in Seaside. It remained closed for 29 years until it was renovated and reopened in 2018 under the name Times Theatre and Public House with manager Kerri Lambert and owner Mark Utti. Utti also owns several other popular spots in Seaside, including the arcade and multiple restaurants.
The theatre partnered with Sisu Brewing Co to become a part theatre and part brew pub. When it reopened it showed classics like Princess Bride, ET, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Beetlejuice. Currently it operates more as a brew pub than an actual theatre. The screen is most often used for live sports, and many other events take place at the Times including bingo, a Pink Floyd tribute, and special showings like a Star Wars marathon for May the 4th. The renovated interior features a stage with a roll down screen for showings. During the day when the screen isn’t being used, it is rolled up to show off the large kegs that are stored on the stage. The main seating area is largely tables for dining, along with a classic brew pub bar with televisions in the back. Along the sides of the theatre are normal theatre seats with trays between them for easier riding while enjoying films and events. The balcony level also has theatre seating that overlooks the restaurant with a clear view of the stage, and a projection booth above it. The Times is located on the corner of Broadway and N Columbia, one of the busiest intersections in Seaside, and only a block from the Seaside roundabout, which marks the end of the Lewis and Clark trail.
