Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Hollywood Theatre

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a historic milestone in Portland's cultural history: the 100th anniversary of the Hollywood Theatre, an iconic movie house situated in Northeast Portland.

The Hollywood Theatre has been a significant asset in Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. As a nonprofit modern-historic theater and film center, it attracts visitors to the Hollywood District, supports nearby small businesses, and serves as a hub for independent film, education, and community programming.

This unmistakable landmark on Sandy Boulevard, defined by its ornate Spanish Colonial Revival exterior, has persevered through a century of evolution in the film industry. First opened as a 1,500-seat silent movie palace in 1926, the venue would welcome ``talkies'' within a couple of years and then the ultra-widescreen Cinerama format by the early 1960s. Today, it is the only movie house in Oregon to regularly screen films in 70mm.

The theater has also broadened its reach within the past decade, now operating Movie Madness, a local video store and film history museum, as well as the Hollywood Theatre Airport Microcinema in Concourse C at PDX, which showcases short films by regional filmmakers.

I congratulate them on a century of entertainment and community engagement, and many more to come.

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