Historic Hood River
Art Kolstad, Impresario
7-18-2019
Notes
Here’s a nice portrait of local impresario Art Kolstad. I think this may be infront of the garage at 4th and Oak Street. Kolstad owned the Rialto and Cascadian theaters, and was responsible for bringing movies and live entertainment to Hood River for several decades.
Charlott
His father was born in Norway and Arthur Sivert Kolstad was born in Brainard, Minnesota. in 1892. After coming to Oregon with his parents he eventually married Vera Holland in 1912. They had two daughters, Norma and Vera Jean.
They lived out no doubt near the Columbia Gorge Hotel as their address for a time was on West Columbia River Hwy.
Before his death in 1954 he had left Hood River and gone to Portland.
In this photo I see a man with a great sense of humor………….
ArthurB
The Kolstads were neighbors of Bill Pattison when he lived at what is now Stonehedge Gardens, behind Mid-Columbia Marine on West Cascade. If you follow the Kolstad tag link, you can read about how Sammy the dog would hitchhike on West Cascade to get a ride to the theater downtown.
L.E.
One of my favorite stories about the Kolstads, is Bill Pattison's story about their dog Sammy.
http://historichoodriver.com/index.php?showimage=1760
You can also find the story by Bill on page 42 of the Columbia River Highway History.
https://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/Regions/Documents/HCRH/Oral-History-HCRH.pdf
L.E.
Oooops, I guess Arthur and I were writing at the same time. He beat me to the “submit” button.
LMH
Arthur Kolstad had three daughters. In McMinnville, Oregon on April 27, 1910 Arthur married a 17 year old pianist, Maurva Miller who lived in the same boarding house. However, the marriage did not survive and they were divorced 09/18/1911. During the time of their marriage a daughter, Marceil G. was born. The marriage to Vera Holland produced two daughters, Norma and Verajean.
It was announced 2/23/1941 that Arthur Kolstad sold both the Rialto and Cascadian theaters to Ted R. Gamble, Sr. of Portland. By 1946 Mr. Kolstad was in the real estate business.