It was first opened in 1915 as the Star Theater, and in 1928 was renamed the Ames Theater – one of several movie auditoriums built along S.E. Foster Road’s grand “theater row” – and it was long known as the Day Theater. But it’s unlikely that its early owners would have guessed that more than a century later, it would renovated into a state-or-the-art live performance venue in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood; but that is what has happened. It reopened on November 8th.
“Back in 2004 when I opened the Classical Ballet Academy studios in Sellwood, I never believed this would be possible,” remarked Sarah Rigles, the owner of the dance school, and now also of the theater, on opening night. “This is truly a dream come true – but it’s all due to a collective effort of so many people, who together made this possible.”
“We renamed this the ‘Foster Theater’ as a way to pay tribute to its roots along one of Portland’s original historic theater districts,” Rigles said…