Sound Cinema: Firehouse Theater

Marquee at Firehouse Theater

The Evergreen Echo

As its name implies, the Firehouse Theater began as working firehouse as a part of Kitsap County Fire District #10. The building was dedicated in the summer of 1977 and still bears the markers of its former function with two rollup doors (permanently shut) and a plaque commemorating the service of the volunteers who used to work out of it. In 2009 Craig Smith bought the building and began the Firehouse. He saw it through the shift to digital projection and the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic before handing off the reins to current owner Terry Delegeane in 2022.

The theater is unassuming, tucked off to the right of SR 104 in the town of Kingston. Those waiting for or heading to the ferry to Edmonds likely drive right by it. Yet, Smith's original mission of creating a movie theater where locals can come and see something on the big screen is alive and thriving—especially on $9 Wednesdays when the afternoon crowd buzzes. The theater functions as a community hub and a place where people can see a blockbuster or the independent, art house, international, and repertory films the big chains disregard.

There's a transformation when you cross the threshold of the Firehouse. From the outside it really doesn't look like much. There are marquee signs above the rollup doors and banners announcing the theater's existence, but it’s not until that first whiff of popcorn hits you that you feel pulled to the screen. The lobby has a small lounge to the right, along with the main concession stand where you can buy snacks or a copy of one of the comic books Terry Delegeane edited in his life before the Firehouse.

The Firehouse boasts two screens. To the right of the concessions stand is the smaller screen, the Back Stage, and to the left is the larger screen, the Main Stage. Both theaters have stadium seating. The seats are spaced far enough to sit comfortably, but had someone sat directly in front of my very long legs I would have had to move or suffer the pain of a seat back pressing into my knees.

Unassuming façade of Firehouse Theater

The Evergreen Echo

I took in a recent screening of the new French film A Private Life, a mystery about a psychiatrist (Jodie Foster) trying to figure out if the recent death of one of her long-time clients was actually a murder. Foster, who is fluent in French, tears into the role with her usual gusto. As Lilian, Foster has to keep her skepticism in check as she encounters superstition, resentment, and a unique session of hypnotism. The film has a lush visual style and is surprisingly funny. The story unfolds in unexpected ways and will keep you guessing until the end.

The Firehouse has several big movies on its upcoming slate and some films you may not have had a chance to see during limited runs last year. Right in time for Valentine's Day weekend, the Firehouse will host filmmaker Emerald Fennel's (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) adaptation of Wuthering Heights, which looks so steamy you may want to bring a towel. Through the week leading up to February 13, they will be showing the harrowing The Voice of Hind Rajab, about a Palestinian girl trying to get help from the Red Crescent volunteers after her family's car is caught in the Gaza war zone. The film is an Oscar nominee for International Feature Film. Playing concurrently with Wuthering Heights, the Firehouse will host the funny and thrilling Brazilian multi-Oscar nominee, The Secret Agent. This film is about an academic who crosses the wrong people and has to go into hiding as the assassins sent to kill him close in around him.

Film is an artform that is meant to be seen on a large screen. People watch film in many places and in many formats other than on a theater screen these days, but there is nothing else that compares to that surface that commands your whole field of vision. Original founder Craig Smith and current owner Terry Delegeane understand the need for film exhibition. They understand the sense of community we get when we sit with others in the dark. A space like the Firehouse Theater can be a beacon to the community it resides in. An arts space like this is an equalizer. It is a way for people to walk down the block and see something that I am able to see at my local theater in a much larger city. It’s a form of connection between places and people. It is a way to bring us closer together even when we are far apart.