Garden Theatre
12 W. North Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15212
12 W. North Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15212
6 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Thomas N. Scott
Styles: Beaux-Arts
Previous Names: New Garden Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Nov 13, 2007 — Pittsburgh Garden Theater headed toward landmark status
- Apr 13, 2007 — Community taking suggestions for the Garden
- Feb 21, 2007 — City of Pittsburgh to take possession of Garden Theater
The Garden Theatre opened on October 12, 1914, and was designed by Thomas N. Scott. It has a graceful, Beaux-Arts style terra cotta facade.
When it first opened, it was called the New Garden Theatre, to distinguish it from an earlier theater of the same name.
After decades as a first and second-run neighborhood house, it switched to adult films in 1972.
Since the late-1990s, the city government had been trying to seize the property and shut it down, as part of a rehabilitation of neighborhood.
The Garden Theatre was finally closed in March of 2007, the last remaining porn theater in Pittsburgh. With the Garden Theatre’s closure, there are hopes that the theater can be reborn as a concert hall or other live entertainment venue.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 46 comments)
With the advent of VCRs, this had to be one of the last porno theatres anywhere.
You are so right Susan.
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yccqzv3
From 1971 a photo postcard of the Garden Theatre in Pittsburgh.
Nice photo Don.
Six face sex charges after Garden Theatre raid
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh police raided the Garden Theatre on the North Side on Monday and arrested six men on sex charges.
Homer Kline, 73, and Aaron Freeman, 58, were charged with indecent assault after police said they grabbed the genitals of undercover officers as a way to initiate sexual encounters.
Four other men were charged with lewdness and indecent exposure: Barry J. Donahey, 52; Stephen R. Arnal, 48; Thomas Henry McCracken, 58; and Ronald Elvin Etheridge, 63.
This place looks disgusting:
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/macwagen/393245066/
Check out this vintage photo from 1927. Dorothy Gish is on the marquee and the coming attraction is Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS.
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/garden%20theater
1971 photo of auditorium here:
http://www.woodhavenhistoric.com/index.php/photos-by-location/united-states/pa/allegheny-county/garden-theater-pittsburgh-pa-1971-photo-3.html
This unfortunate update was in the CT News Forum, but somehow didn’t make it to this page.
http://cinematreasures.org/blog/2017/3/17/pittsburgh-pa-no-appeal-for-garden-theater-block-redevelopment-effort