Rex Theatre - Aeolian player w/ pipes
Tacoma, Washington
3809 S. Yakima Ave
 
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Rex Theatre, c.1935
 
According to Soren Anderson, writer for the Tacoma News Tribune, the Rex had a checkered history. Built in 1919, the 650-seat theater was first converted to a church back in 1958. Then it was known as the Tacoma Calvary Temple. By 1980, it was a theater again - a controversial one. Owner Roger Forbes turned it into a porno house. Irate members of the community picketed the place, and in June 1980, the county prosecutor charged Forbes with violating state obscenity laws.
 

Rex Theatre building, now the Restoration Christian Ministries, c.2001
 
Jeff Fox of Bellingham recalls an Aeolian player in the balcony of the Buckley-King funeral home at 1002 S. Yakima Avenue in downtown Tacoma. On the fallboard was a stop tab slot with 3 divisions that would hold approximately 12 tabs. The tabs were gone. A staffer said that the piano was originally in a small theatre and that the Rex was a possibility. The staffer also said that there was originally a small cabinet of pipes. This instrument does not appear in the Junchen opus lists.
 

Rex "Playtime" Theatre, June 16 1981. Photo courtesy Jeff Fox
 

Jeff Fox with the modified Aeolian player in the Buckley-King funeral home, late 1970s. Note the added tab slots on the fall board. Courtesy Jeff Fox.
 

Aeolian piano roll #89675 "Espana Waltzes" stamped with "Rex Theatre." Courtesy Jeff Fox