Pantages (Beacon, Odeon Hastings, Majestic) Theatre - 2/14 Robert Morton
Vancouver, B.C.
20 W. Hastings St.
Organ installation timeframe: 1925 - 1956
 
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Pantages Theatre, c.1917
 
The Pantages Theatre opened on June 18, 1917. The theatre seated 1,800 and cost approximately $300,000 to build.
 
This was the second Pantages Theatre in Vancouver. The first Pantages Theatre was located at 136 E. Hastings St.
 

News item in The Moving Picture World, July 1916
 
Opening Day ad in the Vancouver Sun June 18, 1917
 
W. Hastings St., c.1918
 

News item in Canadian Moving Picture Digest, March 1922
 
The following images are courtesy Vancouver Public Library, public domain.
 

Entrance, 1922	Mezzanine, 1922
Balcony side decoration, 1922	Ceiling, 1922

Left organ grille, 1922
 
According to the Junchen opus lists, a 2/14 Robert-Morton organ was installed at the Pantages in 1925. Another Robert-Morton of unspecified size is listed for 1926. It's possible these are duplicate entries, or that second entry indicates a blower upgrade or pipework addition to the 1925 organ. It is not known why the 1922 news item (shown above) describes an upcoming organ installation for the Pantages, and yet available records do not show an organ being installed until three years later in 1925.
 
According to Balcom & Vaughan records, the Pantages organ was moved in 1956 to Vancouver's St. Philips Anglican Church and then to the home of Charles & Blanche MacKenzie in 1960. According to Jeff Fox of Bellingham, after the MacKenzie's, the organ went to another residence in Ladner B.C., then to Bill Charles of Bellingham, Washington.
 
Bill began to install the instrument in his residence (the old Methodist church at 1601 Mill Ave. in Bellingham) but then sold the property in June of 2000. The new owner donated the organ to Columbia River Theatre Organ Society to form part of their installation in Portland's Hollywood Theatre.
 
Pantages Theatre, c.1926
 
The theatre changed names to Beacon in 1930, Odeon Hastings in 1946, and finally Majestic in 1958. The theatre closed in late-1965. With the building under decay, the owners, Odeon, decided to sell the building to a parking lot operator who ultimately razed the building amid much public outcry.
 

Beacon Theatre, c.1930	Beacon Theatre, c.1932
Odeon Hastings Theatre, c.1946	Odeon Hastings Theatre, c.1946
Odeon Hastings auditorium, c.1946	Odeon Hastings balcony, c.1946
Note Robert-Morton organ console in orchestra pit
Majestic Theatre, c.1964	Majestic Theatre, c.1965

Demolition, 1967