Remembering "Broadway"

 

(National Register nomination)

In the middle decades of the 20th Century, Southwest Broadway glowed at night from the blazing signs of Portland’s major theaters – the Paramount, Broadway, Mayfair and Heilig.  Residents sometimes by tens of thousands gathered to see movie stars, parades and new productions.

 Portland’s latest nomination to the National Register of Historic Places recalls that era, not by enshrining a theater but by honoring the enlarged, palatial residence of J.J. and Hazel Parker, who took turns running Oregon’s largest independent theater company.

 “For 50 years, J. J. and then Hazel shaped the entertainment landscape in Portland. The theater buildings and the entertainment offered therein played an important role in the city—architecturally, economically, and socially,” according to the national register nomination.

 J.J. Parker started in the movie business in 1916, parlaying a $5,000 Louisiana Lottery payout -- a substantial amount of money at the time -- into real estate investments.  He came to manage several theaters in Portland and Astoria as part of several business deals before his death in 1941.

The couple visited Los Angeles frequently, where they socialized with the era's biggest stars and film executives.  Their connections help build and sustain their theater chain. 

Hazel Parker had not been involved in her husband’s management before his death.  When she decided to continue the business on her own, theater experts told her a woman wouldn’t survive in the rough-and-tumble movie  business.

“Through several key decisions, she built upon the solid business foundation that her husband had established and, under her leadership, the glitz and glamour of the movie industry was amplified with film premieres and promotions that brought the biggest stars to her palatial downtown theater—the Broadway,” the nomination states.

 Their Colonial Revival house that the Parkers purchased in 1924 was large but not unusually impressive.    The Parkers owned it from 1924 to 1951, and, with the help of architect Harry Herzog, made some dramatic changes to its structure and interior designs.  “Harry Herzog transformed the Parkers’ home from what was likely a typical Colonial Revival home constructed in 1917 to a house with a surprisingly unique and lavish interior,” the nomination states.  His revisions included “unique design elements that were expressive of the Parkers’ lavish taste including French-inspired boiserie paneling and moldings, wrought iron stair details, marble fireplaces, mirrors, and Art Deco bathrooms.” 

(National Register nomination)

In 1933, J.J. Parker took control of the seven-year-old Broadway Theater.  He transformed its interior, added bold exterior signs and converted it to a full-time movie theater as stage entertainment was dying out. The Broadway became the Parkers' crown jewel, bearing a tagline on the marquee that said, “There’s always a better show at Parker’s Broadway.”

1940

Hazel Parker’s life changed as a corporate executive.  “I had to reach a decision in my life, and it was that if I were going to be a businesswoman, I’d give all my time to my business. It meant an end to my social life, which I had always enjoyed, particularly the entertaining part, but that’s the way it had to be.”

 She steered the theaters through a successful decade in the 1950s, but by the 1960s television had radically changed the movie business.  Hazel Parker gradually sold her various interests in the 1960s and 1970s.  Yet she had proved herself as one of Oregon’s top female entrepreneurs. “For these reasons, the Parker House also has significance in local women’s history,” the nomination states.

 Hazel Parker died in 1976 when she was 87.

Except for the Hollywood Theatre and the small Guild theater, all theaters managed by the Parkers in Portland have been demolished. 

 The National Register nomination will be presented to the Oregon State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation in mid-June.  Assuming approval, it will be forwarded to the federal Department of Interior for final consideration.

 -------Fred Leeson

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