Video Walkthroughs
Four walkthroughs of the Coliseum in 2024. What I saw, where I went, and what we’re trying to protect.
A rendered fly-through of the Coliseum as it stood in 1916, when it opened as one of Seattle’s grandest movie palaces. The dome, the proscenium, the painted ornament, the volume of the room — all reconstructed from period plans and photographs from the Foundation’s archive, and set to Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, the kind of music a Seattle theater pianist would have played for audiences settling into their seats. A reminder that what we’re protecting wasn’t just a building. It was a room people walked into, looked up, and got swept along with the music.
The raw moment of discovery. This is my first time seeing the vast, hidden space above the drop ceilings. It felt like uncovering a lost tomb, and in that moment I knew this beautiful piece of Seattle’s history needed to be shared with the public again.
A deeper pass through the forgotten spaces behind the modern facade, revealing how much of the original 1916 construction is still physically there.
A walkthrough of the ground floor gallery space, showing the condition of the area previously used as a short-lived art gallery.
A later walkthrough after the gallery had been cleared out. The vast emptiness highlights both the challenges and the opportunities for restoration.