Magnuson Park Theater History

Magnuson Park Theater opened in 1942 primarily as a movie house that was part of the recreation center at what was then a naval airbase. At the time, World War II was in full swing. The recreation center, and the movie house in particular, provided respite from war-time stresses for the community of soldiers who lived on the base. After the war ended, activities at the base curtailed and by 1970, the base was decommissioned. By the late 1970s, it became a city park that was first referred to as Sand Point Park and later named for Warren G. Magnuson, a politician who represented Washington State in Congress, first as a representative and then as a senator, for 44 years.

In its original incarnation, the theater in Building 47 was part and parcel of the naval airbase’s recreation center rather than its own entity. In addition to showing films of the day, the theater was used for musical performances and gatherings of enlisted personnel as required by the base’s top brass. The theater’s uses broadened significantly in later years to accommodate theatrical productions, film showings, graduations and more. Another local theatre company leased the theater for over a decade prior to Broadway Bound Children’s Theatre taking over in November of 2022.