Orpheum Theatre

yup it was on main street near the arena

The street address of the Orpheum Theatre is listed as 511 Main Street, Clarion, PA

The Film Daily Yearbook for 1941 gives a seating capacity of 442, by 1950 it had 350 seats.

Large color photo of the Orpheum Theatre.

http://www.agilitynut.com/05/6/orphth.jpg

At one time this theater was up for sale on Ebay. Details are here.

The link I posted above about this theater being on Ebay has expired. I did locate the article again and this time I will post the text instead of the link. According to the article, the Orpheum had two auditoriums.


"Theater owners try ebay sale by Rodney L. Sherman, CLARION NEWS Editor

CLARION - Unable to sell the Orpheum Theatre located along Main Street in Clarion through conventional methods, its owners have turned to the Internet auction site "ebay" to sell the former movie house.

The Orpheum, built in 1925, went on the auction block last week.

Venango Management Co. Inc. owns the building and contents, last used as a movie theater in 1998.

When the theater closed in 1998, Frank DeMarsh, a partner in DeMarsh Theater Management of Florida, said DeMarsh Theater management does not "own" the building but instead leases it from Venango Management Inc.

The auction posting lists Clint DeMarsh as the contact person for questions about the sale or to inspect the building.

"The owners of the building are getting rather old and they wanted to liquidate the property," Clint DeMarsh told the Clarion News. "It is the last property that group owns in Pennsylvania."

Clint DeMarsh said he hoped posting the property on Ebay would increase the property’s exposure to potential buyers outside the Clarion area.

"Maybe there is someone out there who is interested in a downtown business," said Clint DeMarsh. "We have had some local interest over the years but nothing became of it. It was just casual interest."

The building contains about 4,950 square feet of space. The taxes, according to the auction posting, are $1,545 per year.

Also according to the website posting, the building contents include "two auditoriums with seats, a stage area with extra seats and piano, two offices, two projection rooms with partial projection equipment, lobby with some concession equipment, neon marquee and lots of old relics."

The sale closes on Feb. 1. The bidding started at $999 and as of Jan. 8 was up to $15,099.

My notes from 1986, indicate that both theatres were open. I saw "Peggy Sue Got Married" at the Orpheum. My notes indicate the theatre was small, had been twinned, and was rather plain inside. I did not see the inside of the other theatre. I returned to Clarion in 2000, to find both theatres closed, which confirms the statements above.
Before you all rush to the "ebay bidding war" check out the nearby competition. Memory tells me (but I'm not positive) these guys abandoned downtown and built a new facility on the outskirts of town.

Hello,

Does anyone know if this theatre can support live acts? Is it still for sale?

Thank You,

JG

The Orpheum in Clarion is up for sale or lease again. Last I heard from a local realator the current owner wants $150,000 for it unfortunately the floor was leveled a couple years ago to acomodate a Discovery Zone type play place. It was then occupied by Sparky's Pizza Buffet which folded in January of 2007. It could acomodate live acts but the stage is non existent and the only sign that was a theatre originally is the marquis out front.

After the pizza place folded, it looks like the most recent occupant was a scrapbook store:
http://tinyurl.com/bwzxm5

1979 photo of the Orpheum Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c38%2c3%2c-1&ProductID=29644

Recently I was in Clarion PA and noticed that the marquee wasn't lighted so wondered what the current status is of this cinema?