The Columbia Theatre is a performing arts venue in Longview, Washington. The Columbia Theatre intially started as a vaudeville theatre during the 1920's. The theatre then became a movie theatre until the mid 1980's at which time the theatre closed. The plan was to demolish the theatre and make a parking lot. Plans to demolish the building were put on hold when Mt. St. Helen's erupted in May of 1980. All projects in the city and county were put on hold to focus on the devatstation that had occured due to the volcanic blast. This allowed time for a task force to be created to save the Columbia Theatre. Under the direction of Virgina Rubin, the theatre was saved, it is currently owned by the City of Longivew and is on the national historic registry.