• Organization

    35640img1.jpg

    Peery's Egyptian Theater

    After fire ravaged the Arlington Hotel on Ogden's main boulevard, Harman W. and Louis H. Peery, sons of deceased pioneer businessman David H. Peery, set about to replace the rubble with a movie palace that would be "The Showplace of the West." Local architects were commissioned to take on the design task. They visited the newest and trendiest West Coast theatres. Swayed by the King Tut-mania of the time the duo soon had Peery's Egyptian down on blueprints.

    Peery's new 1,200-seat show house was built entirely of poured, reinforced concrete. Large lettering on the back of the Egyptian proclaimed it to be, "Ogden's Only Fireproof Theatre… A Safe Place for the Kiddies." After Twentieth Century-Fox was incorporated in 1935, Peery's two show houses- the Egyptian and the Ogden-were leased by Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres. On October 28, the first CinemaScope motion picture was introduced. The new format came with a revolutionary four-channel stereophonic sound system and wide-screen. Circumstances changed dramatically in the early 1980s. Operated by a small, local chain by then, and reduced to a second-run dollar movie venue, the Egyptian was ordered closed by county authorities late in 1984 for health code violations.

    Through a complex partnership that included Weber County, Ogden City, Weber State University, Egyptian Theatre Foundation, and Ogden and Weber Chamber of Commerce, not only was the Egyptian saved and restored, but the adjoining David Eccles Conference Center was constructed, and a rebuilt department store became new Weber County government offices. A superbly restored Peery's Egyptian reopened January 17, 1997 as a performing arts/movie theatre. After an absence of decades, a magnificent Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ once again fills the Egyptian with music, making its debut in July of 2004.

    • Contact Info

      Peery's Egyptian Theater

      2415 Washington Boulevard
      Ogden, 84401

      Phone: (801)395-3242

      Website

    • Locations

      Northern Utah