Celebrating 100 years of the Beardmore Building and Rex Theater in Priest River

By Reader Staff

The Beardmore Building in Priest River is celebrating 100 years on Friday, July 28, featuring informative and entertaining events to benefit the Rex Theater.

The evening schedule begins with an open house 5-6 p.m., where attendees can learn about the Rex Theater restoration project, followed by an informal presentation 6:30-7 p.m. by Priest Lake Museum historian Kris Runberg Smith on “The Myth and Making of Nell Shipman.”

Shipman was a renowned silent film star and director whose 1923 movie The Grub-Stake featured numerous locations around Priest Lake. The presentation will discuss Shipman’s ties to the region, with a screening 7-8 p.m. showing clips of The Grub-Stake.

A donation toward restoring the Rex Theater will give participants access to a Beardmore wine tasting and commemorative glass, as well as rides on the 1914 Beardmore auto stage, from 5-8 p.m., with live music to follow from 8-10 p.m. featuring regional band the Meat Sweats.

The Beardmore Building opened 100 years ago on Main Street in Priest River, featuring the theater, a mercantile store, butcher shop and hardware store. Upstairs included a grand ballroom, apartments, a Diamond Match Company office along with businessman Charles Beardmore’s timber and mining offices.

Beardmore celebrated the opening of his business block with a party attended by 400 well-wishers. Three days later, Shipman premiered The Grub-Stake to a capacity crowd at the then-newly opened Rex Theater.

“Come join this party a hundred years in the making,” organizers stated.

The event is supported by The Foun- dation for the Rex Theater, the Beardmore Company and the Priest Lake Museum. To learn more about the Beardmore Building, visit beardmoreblock.com.

More information on the Rex Theater is available at rextheater.org.