The coastal city of Brookings, Oregon was established in 1913 in Southern Oregon being an only 9-minute drive from the California border1. Before the city’s establishment, The Redwood Theater, originally The Pine Cone Theatre, opened its doors in 1909. Located at 621 Chetco Avenue, the red brick façade made it an identifiable staple in the city. Being the only one in the city, it served many neighboring towns and people along the coast would travel to come see a movie or live performance5. In October 1950, the Pine Cone Theater was host to a performance from the SPEBSQSA, the Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Brooking Chapter and over 100 others from all over the Northwest. They had a Saturday evening performance and a Sunday matinee for $2.407. In 1951, the theater made it in the papers again when it had Challenger chairs installed in August of that year3. Following that upgrade, in October 1951, owner Norris Kemp planned to “enlarge, remodel, and redecorate the 360-seat” theater and hired theatre designer Gale Santocono to do so. They planned to enlarge the house, and get a “new front, foyer, and a complete redecorating4.”
In September 1962, the Pine Cone was leased out by Norris Kemp to Robert M. Pommarane and Fred K. Hallman, known as Pom-Hall enterprises6. Sometime in the 1980’s was when the theater was renamed to the Redwood Theatre5. In 1999, Cynthia Chi and her husband, Tim Patterson, took over the Redwood Theater2. They replaced the pink exterior to be stone and paneling. Following her passing in 2019, the business was passed down to her daughter, Cindi Beaman. In December 2021, she sold the theater to Scott Larson5. Scott has committed to maintaining the history of the theater and continue its legacy as a city staple. He has done this “through the use of colors, signage, seating, as well as through sensitive display of historic artifacts found in and around the theater (these include photos, old movie posters, old seating, cameras, film cases to name some of the items).” He includes his mission statement in the lobby that reads “It is the commitment of the Redwood Theater to encourage free expression of ideas…” The theater remains an essential pillar of the Brookings community as a place for live production, club drama groups, and public educational and awareness events and they plan to keep developing with the times while preserving its story8.
