Born from a partnership of Vagabond Children’s Theater, Shoebox Puppets and Four on the Floor Theater, the Arcata Playhouse took over the Old Creamery Building’s theater space once known as Pacific Arts Center Theater in the fall of 2006 and opened their doors in February, 2007. See the story in the North Coast Journal by Bill Kowinski here.

Within the first year the organization formed around the non-profit, Playhouse Arts and established itself as a community arts center that would come to provide events and programs for youth, families and adults while making its spaces available to a wide array of local organizations.

The history of the Creamery Building itself is a rich and fascinating one. Everything from a roller skating rink to a martial arts studio to a Zen center school were housed in the current space where the Playhouse resides. In the early 1900s a strong creamery business lived in this building.