Interior of the Bob White Theatre

Well, Foster Home is not precisely a new venue—it’s the former Bob White Theatre, at 6423 SE Foster. The theater’s been around since at least the ’20s, and the building’s been purchased by Nick Storie. Inside is a 525-seat theater, and they’re hoping to hold music, dance, film, and theater events inside. Also included is an adjacent duplex and warehouse—which could possibly be turned into a black box theater as well.

At any rate, no definite plans are determined as of yet, but what’s really exciting is that Storie’s team wants to make it very much a community- and neighborhood-oriented space. That’s why they’re holding an open house/brainstorming session on Saturday, December 10, to allow folks to check out the place and contribute ideas for its use.

Facebook event here; Sat Dec 10, 6423 SE Foster, noon-2 pm

Ned Lannamann is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. He writes about film, music, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, and other things.

9 replies on “New Venue Alert! Foster Home Wants Your Input”

  1. I looked at that place when it went up for sale, but the place was trashed. The listing agent said that the interior and structure rated a 1 star out of 10. It was attached to an old warehouse next door, and (randomly) included a pretty skeezy looking 4-plex of apartments on Powell, and the seller wasn’t willing to split the property up.

    Hope they can do something cool with it!

  2. I really want to buy an old theater someday. Seriously. Maybe the Oregon. It’ll need a good cleaning, though.

    Welcome back, Reymont!

  5. I don’t live in the hood, but I used to drive down Foster to Zenger Farm once a week, and I always thought this property could be something really cool… Great to hear somebody’s gonna do something with it!

  6. Foster Home is about the dumbest name one could come up with. Regardless, I hope they get a liquor license.
    Although historically the place was originally named the Bob White Theater, it was known as the Rock Palace in the early to mid 80s. The first time Slayer played Portland was at the Rock Palace with Mace and Metal Church back in 1984.

  7. I have fond memories of the Bob White theater. It was great . Double features were $.35
    and down the street was the Ames theater. The neighborhood needs a nice place for entertainment again. I hope it turns out family oriented.

  8. Also a neighbor and happy to hear the theater will once again be operational. My wish is for second run films with local beer and pizza (Wy’east Pizza or Pizza Box would be awesome). Is this Nick Storie’s first rehab project? I agree that the name “Foster Home” is a bit awkward. Foster Theater has a nice ring to it.

  9. I also went and checked out this place with a realtor when it was for sale. Restoring it looked to be a fairly expensive project (there’s tons of junk sitting inside and it needs a lot of cosmetic work). But there’s also a ton of potential, and I think the neighborhood support (in the form of patronage) would (will!) be outstanding.

    I live in the area and I’d love to see it turn out like the Bagdad, but I think in the right hands it could even surpass that place and be the best one-screen joint in town.

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