John P. Harris Memorial Theatre

The Memorial Theatre was split into a twin and renamed Mckee Cinemas in the late 60's or very early 70's. It was destroyed by a fire that wiped out a large chunk of the downtown business district in the mid 70's.

Another very sad demolition theatre story! The fact that it is a demolished Eberson-atmospheric theatre is a very hard pill to swallow!

From the "Tube City Almanac" by Jason Togyer http://mckeesport.dementia.org/history/1976fire.html
And the Memorial Theater, once a showplace in the style of the major urban movie palaces of the 1920s, had become an albatross instead of an asset. The gloomy, boarded-up hulk loomed over pedestrians going to and from the Sixth Avenue parking garage.

Except for some emergency repairs, the soot-blackened walls of its massive auditorium looked much the same as they had the morning after the fire—except that they were deteriorating with each passing year.

Yet when the Memorial Theater was finally demolished, nine years after the fire, a few people stood on Fifth Avenue and wept again—just as they had on the night of May 21, 1976.


They cried because the cranes ripping down the Memorial's walls had revealed a surprising, somewhat distressing secret.

It seemed that the remodeling effort to create the two "McKee Cinemas" inside the Memorial's auditorium had left its ornate 1920s details largely intact.


False walls and ceilings had been erected inside the originals. But above the cheap wallboard and fiber ceiling tiles, gilded grape vines still climbed Moorish columns. The mighty proscenium arch, though injured in a few places, was otherwise as strong and graceful as ever.

And if you squinted through the swirling clouds of dust and debris, you could make out the pale blue ceiling, once decorated with hundreds of twinkling light bulbs to simulate stars.

It was as if the past glories of McKeesport—wiped away first by a massive fire, then by a decade of corporate indifference—had come back to taunt the city's people, one last time.

I lived in McKeesport during 1945 & 1950 with my sister, mom, dad & grandparents. We lived at 729 May Street. It no longer is there & neither is the house we lived in. Myself, my sister & our friends use to walked down the long flight of stairs that connected our street with 5th ave. We then either took the street car or walked to the theatre. There were 4 theatres at the time. I believe one was called the Capital Theatre. The Memorial was the one at the other end of 5th ave so it was quite a walk but we enjoyed the walk. We paid 10 cents to see a double feature, cartoons, & news reel. I believe coke was 5 cents & pop corn 10 cents. We watch a lot of singing cowboy movies, musicals, & scary movies.(Frankinstein, The Thing). We had a lot of fun & if I had known then what I know now I would have been sure to take a lot of pictures. As they say hind sight is better than foresight. I am truly sorry to hear about The Memorial Theatre. McKeesport has changed a lot since I lived there. Even the steel mill is gone. I wish I could remember the other names of the theatres. Just about everyone I know that would remember the names is dead.

I was born in McKeesport on Ninth Street in 1947.

The names of the four theaters were the Memorial, Capitol, Victor, and Liberty.

My friends and I spent many enjoyable winter weekend afternoons at one theater or another. My fondest memories are of the occassional "Seventeen Cartoon" shows Saturday mornings at the Memorial.

As I've stated before...it is very hard to believe that this Eberson/Atmospheric style was demolished and that the local symphony orchestra used to perform at this theatre. Would be interesting to know what really happened? Is there even a local symphony orchestra today and if so, where do they perform...certainly not the John P. Harris Memorial Theatre!

This is an undated interior photo of a Memorial Theater in McKeesport.

And here is a postcard showing the Memorial Theater.

Hi, Lost Memory I thank you for the pictures. I sure wish I could find some old pictures of the theatres in McKeesport. I also want to thank Jerry B. for the names of the theatrew in McKeesport. I do not know or remember where 9th street was but maybe you remember where May Street was located. I did go to 5th Ave. school for 2 yrs. before going to St. Mary's German school. Do not remember the address but can remember how to get there. We were close to a YMCA & the bus stop. I was 6 yrs. old when you were born. Edith L. M. Wingate

Here is a 1958 movie ad:
http://tinyurl.com/5tof25

Listed as a Stanley-Warner theater in the 1955 yellow pages. Address given was 212 Fifth Avenue. Phone number was NOrth 4-4760.

The 1955 Film Daily gives the same 210 Fifth Avenue address that is listed above.

Renewing link.

1963 photo of the Memorial Theatre. You have to look good to see the theatre, it is on the right of the street car.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c38%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=30&catpagesize=10&ProductID=33066

1940 Picture

After visiting the THSA archives recently I discovered that this theatre opened on 26 April 1929.