Return of the Gem! Athena, Oregon's historic theater gets a new life

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KBOO
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Air date: 
Thu, 02/22/2024 - 11:00am
Outside the Gem Theatre, Athena OR
More Images: 
Inside Athena's Gem Theatre for a showing of "Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot" (1976)
Rob McIntyre outside the Gem Theatre's "City Girl" mural

On today’s episode, we travel virtually across the Cascades to the small town of Athena, population 1,211, nestled between Pendleton and the Washington state border in Eastern Oregon. Our destination is the Gem Theater, built in 1901 as an early brewpub, or saloon as they were called then, which morphed into a movie theater in 1909, closed down at the start of the Great Depression, re-opened in 1938, closed again in 1968, and lay empty and neglected for many years. Until now that is.

The rebirth of the Gem is due in large part to our guests, Rob McIntyre and Elsa Rogers. Rob is Project Manager, and the visionary, behind the newly renovated theater. He’s also the soon-to-be retired head of the music department in the Weston-McEwen School District. Elsa, now a freshman at the University of Oregon, has been a valuable resource on the Gem Theater project going back to her days as a fifth grader, and a student of Rob’s, in Athena. And, full disclosure, Elsa is my grand-niece, and I’m very proud of her.

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