PORT TOWNSEND — Sixty-five years ago this Saturday, Ernie Thompson opened the Uptown Theatre in Port Townsend and donated the entire day’s receipts to buy equipment for the Port Townsend Athletic Field.
Much has changed since 1947, but there are a lot of similarities.
The movie theater at 1120 Lawrence St. is still going strong and is in the same family, owned and operated by Thompson’s grandson, Rick Wiley.
The athletic field — now known as Memorial Field — is still in use, and the theater still uses its drawing power to support athletic programs.
On Saturday at 1 p.m., the theater will offer a special screening of 1986’s “Hoosiers,” a tale of finding athletic triumph in the face of adversity, as a benefit for the Blue Heron Middle School athletic program.
Tickets are $10, and if the 340-seat theater sells out, it could raise $3,400, which would help Team Port Townsend and the Redskins Booster Club achieve their $60,000 goal.
After a one-year absence, competitive team sports are expected to resume at Blue Heron Middle School during the 2012-2013 school year.
The Port Townsend School District is committed to pay $25,000 for each of the next two school years to support Blue Heron teams in football, cross-country, volleyball, basketball, wrestling and track, Superintendent Gene Laes has said.
Team Port Townsend and the Redskins Booster Club have pledged to make up the difference between the district’s contribution and the total cost of the athletic program, estimated at between $60,000 and $80,000, to support team sports.
As of Thursday, about $47,000 had been raised, said Bob Carter, Redskins Booster Club board member.
Wiley, 55, is the third generation of his family to run the Uptown Theatre along with Wheel-In Motor Movie, which opened in 1953 at 210 Theatre Road and is now one of only six drive-in movie theaters left in the state.
Wiley grew up around movies and was working in theaters at an early age.
“I used to clean the theater every morning before I went to school,” he said.
“I had to go in early so I could play sports after school.”
Wiley remembers Port Townsend in those days as an “all-American working-class town” with a large number of family businesses.
“If you work in a family-owned business, you are learning a job from the time that you are able,” he said.
“A family business is a great place to learn because there is a lot of love, energy and passion.”
Wiley spent about 12 years away from Port Townsend, returning in 2007 to run the business after his father died.
During his time away, he worked in the legal profession while dabbling as a drummer and a golfer.
Since he came home, he has been faced with an industry challenged by competition from home video and cable options as well as a poor economy.
He plans to upgrade both the Uptown and the drive-in movie theaters with digital projection systems.
He expects the system to be operating at the Uptown by September, saying the drive-in may not be outfitted for this year’s season, which will begin in early May.
Wiley estimated the digital conversion will cost about $60,000 for each theater.
Once the digital projectors are installed, the old 35mm film systems will be removed since the new technology can show any movie that is available on a Blu-ray disc.
While he feels it is the right business choice, Wiley said he’ll miss the 35mm system “because I’ve been splicing that film since I was a little kid.”
Wiley said he might wait a little longer to install 3-D equipment.
“Three-D technology keeps changing,” he said.
“At first, they made you buy special screens, but there were shiny spots that showed glare when you showed a two-dimensional movie.
“It will keep changing. I would expect that in a few years, they will have multiple projectors coming from different parts of the theater to create a holographic experience.”
Such technology would bring people into theaters since they won’t be able to duplicate that experience at home, he said.
The competition with home video will continue, but Wiley thinks theaters will survive.
Even if Wiley fondly recalls the golden age of swordplay epics in the 1950s and ’60s, he does not think movies were necessarily better then.
“The quality of movies is essentially the same,” he said.
“Movie makers still write screenplays, select a cast and make a movie to the best of their ability.”
The only other movie theater in Port Townsend is The Rose Theatre, a restored nickelodeon, and its newer companion house, the Rosebud Cinema.
Advance tickets for Saturday’s benefit are available at the Uptown Theatre, by phoning 360-316-9582 or by emailing beth@dandio.com.
If tickets aren’t sold out, then they will be available at the door the day of the show.
For more information about the Uptown, phone 360-385-3883 or visit www.ptuptowntheatre.com.
For more information about the drive-in, phone 360-385-0859 or visit www.ptwheelinmotormovie.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
