Tag: Jim Teeny

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered:Academy Theater Part 2

Montavilla’s Academy Theater had been in business since 1948, when, in 1966, it faced a new challenge: the Eastgate Cinema opened at SE 82nd and Harrison, just a few blocks away.

The Eastgate, created by the future movie mogul, Tom Moyer (1919-2014), was bigger and more luxurious than the Academy. It also used the latest cinema technology. The Eastgate opened with a two-auditorium theater, then added another, single-screen building. Altogether, the complex could seat 2,200. The Academy seated a little over 600. The Eastgate closed in 2001. Today, the buildings are home to the Slavic Church Emmanuel.

A promotional poster announcing the grand opening of a theatre on Wednesday, October 26, with showtimes at 6:45 and 7:00. It highlights the availability of two complete auditoriums within one theatre.
Ad for the grand opening of the first Eastgate Theatre. Source: Oregon Journal, October 25, 1966

Despite the Eastgate competition, the Academy managed to stay in business for several years. It had one advantage: cheaper tickets. While the Eastgate screened first-run movies, the Academy showed cheaper second-run — and sometimes even third-run — films.

Jim Teeny found other ways to stay in business. He reduced screenings from daily to weekends. On Sundays, attendance was light, so he invented Portland’s first “dollar night” movies: for $1, you could see a double feature and cartoon, and drink unlimited amounts of free Boyd’s coffee. Another gambit was to book a lot of Clint Eastwood movies, which earned the Academy a reputation as the “Clint Eastwood house” of Portland.

A rugged man with a beard wearing a cape, standing in a western-themed environment
Clint Eastwood in The Man with No Name (1964). Source: Wikipedia

Jim stopped managing the Academy in 1972 and devoted himself exclusively to his fly-fishing business. The Teenys sold the Academy to Warren Stanley “Sam” Crawford, who continued to operate it as a movie theater until 1974. For a brief time, Crawford also used it as a concert venue.

Sometime after 1974, Crawford remodeled the building to produce a “penny-saver” newspaper called Nickel Ads. The auditorium was gutted and flattened to make space for the big six-unit printing press. According to Andrew Hessel, former manager of Nickel Ads, this advertising newspaper was successful, but it relocated in 2001.

Exterior of a storefront labeled 'NICKEL ADS' with stone facade and cars parked in front.
Nickel Ads occupied the Academy Theater building from about 1975 to about 2001. Photo courtesy of Heyward Stewart.

The Academy Theater was once again empty and available. In 2002, Ty DuPuis, owner of the Flying Pie Pizzeria, bought the vacated Nickel Ads building, with the idea of reviving the Academy as a theater-pub, a model that had saved many a neighborhood theater.

In 2004, DuPuis partnered with Heyward and Julie Stewart. Together they put a team of architects, contractors, builders, and designers.

Stephanie Brown, a Portland interior designer, helped restore the theater as closely as possible to its original Streamline Moderne style while also creating a theater that meets current standards of comfort, convenience, and safety. All this on a limited budget.

But restore it to what? It was unclear what parts of the original theater looked like. Portions of the entrance and lobby remained, but the auditorium was a mystery since it had been gutted and flattened to meet the Nickel Ads’ needs. Moreover, there were only a few old photographs to guide the restoration.

Interior of a large, empty warehouse space with exposed walls and a staircase in the background. There is a blue workbench in the foreground and construction materials scattered on the floor.
The auditorium before renovation. Photo courtesy of Academy Theater

The theater’s auditorium seated over 600 people, but this was considered too large for second-run moviegoers. The solution: divide it into three small theaters.

Interior of a movie theater featuring red curtains, black seating, and a large blank screen.
One of the three theaters in the remodeled Academy. Photo courtesy of Academy Theater

Fortunately, the original curved walls and round ceiling-well of the lobby remained and simply needed restoration.

Interior view of a lobby featuring a curved ceiling, teal walls, and a reception desk. There are two sets of double doors leading outside, along with decorative lighting and a carpeted floor.
The restored lobby. Photo by Julio Brown

Besides restoring the theater to its 1940s look, it was also upgraded to seismic standards.

Photos of the original Academy building guided the restoration of the exterior. The rock facing added by Nickel Ads was removed. The original marquee design was restored, down to the theater’s name in curvy letters.

A side-by-side comparison of two theater facades: the left shows an older design with a yellow section and stone accents, while the right features a modern blue design with the word 'Academy' displayed prominently.
Left: Academy Theater building as Nickel Ads. Right: The restored Academy Theater. Photos courtesy of Academy Theater

But what was the exterior color? There were no old color photos or accounts to guide the designer. The deep blue of the Streamline Moderne Greyhound bus terminals was an appropriate choice for both period and style.

Exterior view of a vintage Greyhound bus terminal, featuring a blue and white art deco design with a prominent Greyhound sign.
Blytheville, Arkansas Greyhound Bus Station, built in 1937. Source: Wikipedia

Not every detail of the original Academy design could be restored. The original curving pattern of the lights on the underside of the marquee could not be replicated with available materials. The ticket booth of the original Academy was not restored; it was too small to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. The original front doors had round windows, but these would exceed the renovation budget.

Although not every detail of the original Academy could be replicated, the design was so successful that in 2008 it won a Preservation in Action Award from the Architectural Heritage Center/Bosco-Milligan Foundation. It was one of 15 projects chosen by a panel of judges as outstanding examples of historic preservation created during the previous 20 years.

On March 11, 2006, the restored Academy opened to a sold-out crowd. The line stretched around the block an hour before opening. Old film buffs could choose the 1947 film “Tycoon” starring John Wayne, Laraine Day, and Cedric Hardwicke, the same movie featured on the Academy’s opening night in 1948.

The resurrected Academy Theater has become a Montavilla icon and a community favorite. In 2013, when Hollywood decided it was go-digital or die, a crowdsourcing campaign raised nearly $49,000 to buy the new projectors. The Academy was able to remain in business.

Not only did the historic Academy survive, but it also helped, along with Ya Hala, Flying Pie, and Bipartisan Café, to revitalize Montavilla’s historic downtown.

A mural in progress on a white building wall featuring a large hand outline, with workers on a lift painting and a few people nearby. Several parked vehicles are visible in the foreground.
Olivia Knapp, “On the Other Hand,” mural creation on the west exterior wall of the Academy Theater Aug, 29 2015. Photo by Jacob Loeb

The Academy Theater received an upgrade in 2015, with a mural added to its west side. At that time, Seattle-based artist Olivia Knapp added a pen-and-ink style mural called “On the Other Hand” to the very wall that Jim Teeny helped to repaint every year.

A large black and white mural depicting an outstretched hand releasing a few drops of water, located on a white wall.
Olivia Knapp, “On the Other Hand,” mural on the west exterior wall of the Academy Theater Photo by Thomas Tilton

Acknowledgments:

For this article, I am grateful to the following people for the information they generously shared with me: Heyward Stewart, co-owner and manager of the Academy; Jim Teeny, son of the original owners of the Academy; Stephanie Brown, the interior designer who helped with the Academy restoration; and Andrew Hessel, a general manager of Nickel Ads.

If you want to know more:

On the remodeling, see an excellent article by Inara Verzemnieks, “Trickle up effect tips the momentum on Stark Street,” The Oregonian, April 6, 2006

For a time-lapse video of the creation of Olivia Knapp’s “Other Hand” on the west exterior wall of the Academy, go to http://www.oliviaknapp.com/other-hand/2015/9/16/olivia-knapp-mural-time-lapse-forest-for-the-trees-mural-project.

by

Patricia Sanders

Title image: Academy Theater marquee in its renovated state Photo by Jacob Loeb

Event: The Academy Theater will celebrate 20 years since reopening on March 11th, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Read Part 1

Montavilla History Questions Answered:Academy Theater Part 1

I think most would agree that the Academy Theater on SE Stark is one of Montavilla’s most outstanding historical buildings. When it opened in 1948, it could claim to be the most modern building on Montavilla’s main street. How it came to be and how it survived is a story with many twists and turns.…

by Patricia Sanders

This is part of Montavilla History Questions Answered, a series of history related articles. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future.

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered:Academy Theater Part 1

I think most would agree that the Academy Theater on SE Stark is one of Montavilla’s most outstanding historical buildings. When it opened in 1948, it could claim to be the most modern building on Montavilla’s main street. How it came to be and how it survived is a story with many twists and turns.

It began as the dreamchild of Fred Teeny (1914-1979) and his wife Lillian Mary Shaheen Teeney (1920-2009). Fred came from an entrepreneurial family—his father and brothers owned numerous businesses in Portland. This business orientation goes back to Fred’s father, Joseph Abraham Teeny (1885-1952), who had emigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon in 1906. Joseph soon opened a dry goods store on Foster Road, and his son Fred opened his own dry goods store in the 1930s at the southwest corner of Stark and SE 80th—now the location of the 2005 building where Tinker Tavern is today.

By the mid-1940s, Fred and Lillian started thinking about building a movie theater. They decided the opposite end of the block, where their dry goods store was located, would be a good location.

The timing must have seemed right. By this time, World War II had ended. Restrictions on non-war-related construction had been lifted. Movie theater attendance was rising, hitting a new box-office high in 1946. While Montavilla already had a movie theater—the Granada—but there wasn’t one on SE Stark, Montavilla’s main street.

Presumably, the Teenys wanted a modern building, not something with the old-fashioned exotic details of the Granada. But something with a little flash, something different from the early 20th-century buildings that dominated Stark Street. So, they hired Portland James William De Young (1885-1965), an architect known for keeping up with the new architectural trends. De Young had been in business in Portland for over 30 years, and he had designed several movie theaters. The Teenys must have liked De Young’s Gresham Theater–its striking winged cylinder above the marquee would reappear in the Academy design.

Sketch of a historical building with a large tower, people standing in front, and dramatic clouds overhead.
J. W. De Young’s Gresham Theater design. Source: Oregon Journal, December 15, 1935

For the Teenys, De Young designed not just a theater but a building complex. On either side of the theater, he planned spaces for stores, including one for a Fred Tenny shoe store.

Black and white image of a street view featuring various storefronts, including 'Montavilla Camera & Record Shop' and a cinema with a marquee displaying movie titles.
The Academy Theater and adjacent shops around 1948. The storefront on the left is yet unoccupied, but the others were occupied by the Montavilla Camera and Record Shop, Fred Teeny’s Montavilla Shoe Store, Fuller Wallpaper & Paint, and Gardner’s Restaurant. Photo courtesy of the Academy Theater

De Young’s plans were ready by September 1946, but construction was delayed until Fred Teeny could get a permit. His first permit was denied because the post-war U.S. government was prioritizing residential construction, but a few months later, Teeny got a permit, and his contractors, Knott, Rogers, and Dunbar, began construction.

When the theater was finished, it featured a single auditorium with a sloping floor and seats for six hundred. It also had air conditioning, a stylish lobby, and even a nursery for childcare. Behind the theater, there was a large parking lot.

The Teenys decided to name the Academy, so it would appear first in theater listings.

The grand opening took place on April 30, 1948.

A black-and-white photo of a large group of children and adults waiting in line outside a building, possibly a theater, with a marquee and ticket booth visible.
A crowd gathers for the Academy Theater’s grand opening. Note the ticket booth was then in the middle of the entrance. Photo courtesy of the Academy Theater

Initially, the Teenys did not manage the theater. They leased it to Al Myers (1909-1979), owner of Montavilla’s Granada Theatre. Al and his wife, Polly (1920-1996), managed both theaters until the late 1950s.

Like many neighborhood theaters, the Academy featured second-run movies. For opening night, it was the 1947 box-office hit, “Tycoon,” starring John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, and Loraine Day.

Movie poster for 'Tycoon' featuring John Wayne, showing a close-up of him with a serious expression.
Poster for “Tycoon” Photo source: Wikipedia
A woman stands with hands on hips and a scarf around her neck, while a man sits relaxed in a chair, both captured in a vintage black-and-white photo.
Managers Polly and Al Myers in the Academy lobby. Photo courtesy of the Academy Theater (donated by Polly Myers’ son, Vern Kjargaard)

Something special happened at the Academy in 1949. The May 28 edition of the Oregon Journal reported that movie star Janet Gaynor and her husband, fashion designer Gilbert Adrian, would be at the Academy for a screening of the 1937 movie “A Star is Born.” Gaynor starred in that movie and was nominated for an Academy Award. She did not win, but she had won the Academy’s best actress award for multiple movies in 1929.

Vintage movie poster for 'A Star is Born' featuring a man and woman in a romantic embrace against a colorful background, with actor names and production details.
Poster adverting the 1946 re-release of “A Star Is Born”. Source: Wikimedia

In 1958, Fred and Lillian Teeny took over the management of the Academy. At this time, they updated the theater by adding stereophonic sound and a wide, curved screen. They continued to manage the theater with help from their children, Sharon (1940-2014) and Jim (born 1945), until 1965.

A vintage advertisement announcing the grand re-opening of an establishment called 'Academy' located at 7818 SE Stark, highlighting new management and a new family policy, set for Wednesday evening.
Ad for the Academy’s “Grand Re-opening” in 1958. Source: Oregon Journal, January 20, 1958
A vintage black-and-white photo of a family consisting of a man holding a young boy, a woman with dark curly hair, and two children, one boy and one girl, all smiling at the camera.
The Teeny family, left to right: Sharon, Jim, Fred, and Lillian. Photo courtesy of Jim Teeny

In 1965, big-band leader Van Armitage (1917-1994) leased and managed the Academy for a brief time. But the theater did not do well, and Jim Teeny and his mother took over.

In 1966, a new problem arose. Montavilla’s first theater complex, Eastgate Cinema, opened just a few blocks away. Could the Academy survive?

To be continued in The Academy Theater Part 2.

by

Patricia Sanders

Title image: Academy Theater marquee in its renovated state Photo by Jacob Loeb, digitally edited to remove power-line

This is part of Montavilla History Questions Answered, a series of history related articles. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future.