PORT TOWNSEND — Permanent improvements of the Cotton Building will be revealed during next weekend’s Port Townsend Film Festival.
The Cotton Building at 607 Water St. will be reconfigured as an intimate 100-seat theater for the Peter Simpson Free Cinema.
Upgrades that have been done to the building will make it more hospitable for other public events as well, said Janette Force, the festival’s executive director.
“Anyone who has used the Cotton Building has experienced its limitations of sound, light and flexibility,” Force said.
“We set about working with other groups who would love to see a more useful building.”
The festival will take place Sept. 25-27 with films shown at eight locations downtown.
Admission to the Cotton Building, as the site of the Peter Simpson Free Cinema, will be free, with no passes or admission required to view four films a day; the first 100 people in line for a particular show will be admitted.
Through a partnership involving the city, First Federal, Centrum arts organization and the Port Townsend Arts Commission, the Cotton Building received a new high-quality roll-down screen, lightproof window shades and sound blankets.
After next weekend’s festival, the remote-controlled screen, donated by the film festival, will remain in the building for the public to use.
The window coverings, installed by the city, also will remain.
Those wishing to use the venue for film showings will need to provide their own projector and sound system, Force said.
First Federal and Centrum underwrote the purchase of sound blankets, which will temporarily cover the walls.
Port Townsend Sails added more than 450 grommets to the insulated blankets so they can be installed, dropped and stored easily.
The one-story brick Cotton Building was built as a three-story structure in 1888 and was at one time a popular resort that contained a saloon, wine parlor and a club room.
At various times since, it has been a hardware store, bowling alley and mortuary.
In 1955, the Cotton family removed the top two stories after a windstorm damaged them.
From 1975 to 2009, the structure housed the Port Townsend Police Department, which has since moved to Mountain View Commons.
In 2011, the building was part of a $5.1 million refurbishment of the Civic District — the area between Monroe and Madison streets— and since that time has been available for public and private functions.
Residents and nonprofit events pay $20 an hour and a $200 maximum, while for-profit enterprises and nonresidents are assessed twice that amount.
In September, it was booked for 21 of the month’s 30 days.
For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Cotton.
For more information about the Port Townsend Film Festival, call 360-379-1333 or go to www.ptfilmfest.com.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
