The Coliseum in 1916

The Coliseum closed it doors in 1990 and was later converted to a Banana Republic.

I was visiting some friends in Seattle in 2008 and we were walking around downtown commenting on how much it had changed since I left in the early 90′s. We walked by the Banana Republic and I wanted to go in and see how they changed it.  It was sad to see this wonderful theatre converted to a bland clothes store – but it is better than the entire structure meeting a wreaking ball. In the defense of the Banana Republic, they have done a wonderful job cleaning, restoring and maintaining the outside of the building. When they gutted the inside they salvaged some of the plaster reliefs and display them through the store. They also have some of the original theatre seats scattered around.

Detail of the exterior in 2008

Detail of the exterior in 2008

Detail of the exterior in 2008

I spoke with the manager and she told me parts of the theatre were still there,.. hiding above the ceiling. Forgotten and hidden from sight.

With a small amount of begging, she took me and my friends up.

The Last Movie Showing – 1990:

I was in the Coliseum the night of the very last movie – Tremors with Kevin Bacon. I had a friend who worked for the theatre so I had full access to the building after the movie ended (I only wish I still had the film I took that night).

I was given a complete tour of the space including a visit to the revolving sign out front – which I stood on. Somewhere there is a picture floating around with me standing on it.

I climbed behind the screen to the roof and we wandered around in the basement. The basement still had the remains of the Civil Defense era which included boxes containing 7 pound tins of  “Civil Defense All Purpose Survival Crackers” (aka Saltines), containers to fill with water and about 10 SK  Sanitation Kits (aka, a barrel to poop in). The civil defense storage area was behind the lower level bathrooms.The theatre allowed me to take a couple tins of the Survival Crackers and I kept them for many years – I even opened one of the tins. I was too afraid to eat one though.

This is not one of the tins I had, but it was just like it.

Barrels of Civil Defense fun.

Also in the basement in the far north end (under the screen on the right side) were the remains of a makeshift office. It was explained to me  this was the accounting office area in the 1920-30′s. Because of robberies, all the money was taken to this hard to get place in the theatre for counting. A single bare bulb light hung from the ceiling in this space.

I was told that night the third balcony (then closed due to safety concerns) was “coloured seating”. There is a very thin stairwell to the left of the entrance doors which takes you to the third balcony. This was the “black stairwell”.

I don’t recall when they closed the third balcony (the 1980′s I think) but I watched the end of Tremors from the front row third balcony seats and helped dump balloons when the movie ended on the 100 or so people who were on the ground level. The seats were small and uncomfortable and the stairs were steep and rather thin (not wide enough for a complete foot). It was quite unsettling to be up there.

The Theatre Today:

During the conversion to a Banana Republic, all the seats were removed from third balcony – but it appears to be mostly complete. I do not know the state of the second balcony, projection room and second balcony bathrooms. I get the impression they may have been removed.

The third balcony, minus the seats and carpet, is just how is was that last night as a theatre (with some added dirt and age). They have walled in a few places with drywall and run electrical and utility wires around. There is some damage to the plaster arch over the screen area – which I was told happened during the 2001 earthquake. The ramps in the middle of the third balcony and sides which went to the second balcony have been walled off. 80% of the brass railings are still in place.

The "black" stairwell

Brian and Elizabeth in the stairwell.

The 3rd Balcony

The lower seating area of the 3rd balcony.

Looking across the 3rd balcony. The ramp which went to the 2nd balcony (middle of the picture) has been walled off.

Some of the plaster.

Looking across the ductwork and new ceiling for the Banana Republic. A tip of the archway over the old screen area is still visible.

Another shot of the screen archway

Another shot of the screen archway with the original brass railing in the foreground.

Detail work above the screen archway.

Damage from the 2001 earthquake.

I personally hadn’t given Giant Santa much thought over the years and I don’t know why he popped into my head that day.

Janet said she did a little research but was unable to come up with any information regarding the Giant Santa. She started questioning if she imagined the Giant Santa because no one else could verify it. Of course, I made it my mission to uncover something for her.

What we remember:
For a handful of years, perhaps the mid to late 1970′s, a large Santa Claus was assembled around 5th and Pine at the south end of the Monorail Station in downtown Seattle. Being so young at the time my memory (and Janet’s memory) of Giant Santa is vague at best. What we do remember is he was very large, perhaps several stories. He had a loudspeaker in him somewhere which was voiced by someone – perhaps located in the Giant Santa or a nearby building. As children would walk by Giant Santa would speak to them and the children could speak back. I remember being downtown as a child and yelling at Giant Santa but he ignored me. It must have been break time for the voice of Santa.

I’ve been spending a big of time researching Giant Santa and hoping to uncover some information about him. I only vaguely remember what he looked like so a picture of him next to the Monorail would be perfect. I have not been successful in getting any real tangible evidence of Giant Santa… until today.

I received an email back from Carolyn Marr at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. In part it says this:

“Thank you for contacting the Museum of History and Industry about the Santa downtown. Our photo curator remembers the Santa, too, but we have not found much about it.”

Her email contained some information and a few leads.

It appears Giant Santa was the brainchild of John Gilmore – then President of Seattle Downtown Development Association. He is quoted as saying;

“We decided we wanted to build a four-story high Santa Claus as big as the Nordstrom building there at Westlake. The Santa had to be assembled by crane. It usually took about a week.”

It appears Giant Santa was built by a currently unknown company in Enumclaw Washington and shipped to Seattle on semi trucks. He was on display in Seattle for about 10 years. At one point they were unable to store Giant Santa so he was sold to Anchorage, Alaska. At this point I do not know if he was sold to the city of Anchorage or a company located in Anchorage. The details are sketchy at best.

His current status and location is unknown but, yes Janet, there is a Giant Santa Claus.

Janet did discover a Giant Santa located in North Pole, Alaska (North Pole Alaska is about 15 miles south east of Fairbanks – 370 miles north of Anchorage). It is sitting outside of a place called “The Santa Claus House, North Pole”. I have an email to this company requesting more information.

A Giant Santa Claus in Alaska

UPDATE #1: The Santa in North Pole Alaska has been confirmed to be the Giant Santa in question. I received an email from the owners today. In part it reads;

Our Santa was built in the 1960′s by Wes Stanley of Stanley Plastics as a prototype for three giant Santa statues constructed that year (the whereabouts of the other statues is unknown).  Our Santa was displayed in Seattle by a department store for a few years, then was purchased by a group of businessmen in Anchorage, Alaska as a civic pride initiative.  Con Miller, our founder, purchased the statue in 1978 for $4500.  Santa was then driven by truck in four pieces (so he could fit underneath the overpasses on the Parks Highway) to North Pole.  Upon his arrival, Santa was found to be in very poor condition.  However, after extensive repair, Santa found his permanent home at Santa Claus House in 1983.

A little more research and I discover Wes Stanley has created a couple more Seattle icons. Currently in front of the Pacific Science Center sit two large dinosaurs – a stegosaurus and a triceratops. There is a third large dinosaur, a pteranodon, hanging inside the center. These three creatures, along with other dinosaurs  were designed by Wes Stanley in 1968. They were commissioned by a man named Richard Fisher for his dinosaur theme park in Sequim Washington. The park opened in 1975 and closed a year later. The dinosaurs moved back to Enumclaw and lived in Wes Stanley’s field for several years. They were later moved and stored at the Fisher’s property in Bellevue Washington until the majority of them (11 in all) were restored and donated to the Science Center in 1991. Wes Stanley did the restorations himself.

This makes me wonder about the old giant pink martini drinking elephant at the Seattle Center. Where is that thing?

UPDATE #2: The following pictures were in my email inbox today. These were provided by Carissa Brown the business manager of The Santa Claus House.

Giant Santa in his new home outside the Federal Building in Anchorage Alaska - Late 70's perhaps.

A flyer from the Downtown Seattle Development Association - 1975

Giant Santa as he is today in North Pole Alaska

I also received a handful of scanned Seattle Times newspaper articles from the 1970′s care of the Seattle Public Library. I’ll wade through those and put up what I can.

UPDATE #3: Here is some more information I found out about Giant Santa.

The original design concept for Giant Santa was a 4 story tall animatronic Santa. The Downtown Business Development Division wanted him to move his arms and head, smoke his pipe and speak.  When completed Giant Santa only spoke. This might explain why this Giant Santa is referred to as a prototype. I wonder if the other two built by Wes Stanley moved?

Lee Ross, a display business owner at the time, was the man who suggested going to Wes Stanley. Apparently he heard of Mr. Stanley by way of the dinosaur project I mentioned previously.

Alice Stanley, (Wes’ wife) was responsible for the original concept of Giant Santa. Apparently she worked on many of the other projects with her husband.

To build the Giant Santa, Mr Stanley needed to construct a special shed for it at his Enumclaw plastics shop.

Construction started in 1968 and by November 1969 Giant Santa was complete. He was 42 feet tall, weighed 900 pounds and had a 33 foot waistline.  He was displayed for the first time Christmas 1969.

In 1971 Giant Santa received a new paint job in warehouse space on Pier 37. Under the supervision of Walter Atkinson, boys from several Boys Clubs throughout Seattle volunteered to paint him.

Giant Santa was stored in Seattle for another year. During this time the Downtown Anchorage Association bought him. On Tuesday November 8th 1977 Giant Santa boarded the ship Portland at Sea-Land Services en route to his next home in Alaska.

Giant Santa made his debut in front of the Federal Building in Anchorage that Christmas.

I have a few pictures from this time. I’ll see if I can secure permission to put them up.

I have been unable to find any other documentation of Giant Santa’s two siblings.

—-I will update this page as I discover more.