SPOKANE, Wash. — The Historic Garland Theater could soon have a new owner.
Owner Katherine Fritchie said she is already working on a deal with a potential new owner. She said the theater has been on the market for several months.
Fritchie said if the sale goes through, it would remain a movie theater. The new owner would take over the operations.
Fritchie has owned the Garland Theater for 20 years. She said now that she’s 50-years-old she wants to spend more time doing environmental work. Also, her general manager, who has worked there for 14 years is moving to Puyallup.
The theater has become a nostalgic place for many people living in Spokane.
"Just a lot of memories, genuinely," said Katherine Anderson, who saw a movie at the theater Saturday.
Anderson grew up in Spokane but recently moved to Tacoma. For the weekend, she and one of her friends came back to Spokane to visit and said they decided to relive childhood memories.
"I've been coming to the Garland as long as I can remember," Anderson said. "Been here with friends, with school, went on dates here."
The Garland Theater first opened in November 1945. It was considered the Premier movie house in the west, according to the theater's website.
The theater briefly closed in the early 1960s when the owner said it "had everything but customers," the website said. It was also an X-rated theater from May 1986 to November 1988. Then, it reopened as a discount theater.
Fritchie purchased the theater in 1999 and has been working to restore the theater to its original splendor and modernize the sound and projection systems.
