Logan Theater
1116 N. 11th Avenue,
Altoona,
PA
16601
1116 N. 11th Avenue,
Altoona,
PA
16601
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The Logan Theater was located on 11th Avenue in Altoona, PA. and opened in early-1938. Click the link below for a 1949 photo of the Logan Theater.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Are all 3 Altoona theatres (Logan, Capitol and Olympic) listed on CT closed or demolished? I have found some theatres to be listed as closed only to find out through phone calls, etc. that they are actually demolished!
Closed can mean “Closed” and it can also mean “I have no idea”. If I don’t know if a theater has been demolished or not, I usually list it as closed. Then someone that knows for sure can post its true status.
Here is an item from Boxoffice magazine, June 1962:
Brothers Jake and Ike Silverman, both in their 80s, reopened their Logan Theater in Altoona with Ike’s son as manager. On the screen was “The Gold Rush”, a Charlie Chaplin silent film with sound and music added. The Logan had been dark for a decade until last year when it was leased for art policy operation, but this failed.
The Logan might be the theater described in an item published by Boxoffice Magazine on July 17, 1937, which said that Jacob and Isaac Silverman were building two new theaters in Pennsylvania: a 750 seat house in Hollidaysburg, and a two-story theatre 50'x120' in Altoona. Victor A. Rigaumont was the architect of both houses.
The Silverman Brothers were already operating a theater in Altoona called the Strand. I’ll poke around and see if I can find anything else about any of these theaters.
::pokes::
OK, the Logan was indeed the Rigaumont-designed house in Altoona, and had been re-scheduled for a grand opening on January 10, 1938, according to the December 25, 1937, issue of Boxoffice. Apparently there were more delays, because the February 12, 1938, issue of Boxoffice said that the Logan had opened “last week.”
The Hollidaysburg theater Rigaumont also designed was the Blair.
I’m going to put this here so it won’t get lost. Isaac “Ike” Silverman was Altoona’s first theater operator. He opened the Pastime Theatre as a nickelodeon in 1906, and eventually expanded it to 500 seats. Silverman opened the new Strand Theatre on the same block in 1916, and the Pastime was closed a year later and its building converted to retail use.
Boxoffice Magazine published an item in its August 21, 1937, issue saying that the Pastime Theatre building was being demolished. No address or street name was given for either theater in the Boxoffice article, but I’ve seen possibly reliable claims that the Strand (and thus the Pastime as well) was on 11th Avenue. If anybody can dig up addresses feel free to submit either or both theaters to Cinema Treasures.
I’m working on it Joe. :)
The Strand Theater was located at 1512-1514 11th Avenue and FDY gives a 1,450 seating capacity in 1950.
Other Altoona theatres currently not listed on CT as of March 2009, which were operating in 1950 were:
Juniata Theatre with 488 seats (no address given)
Lyric Theatre, 614 4th Street with 456 seats
Rivoli Theatre, Logan & Baker Boulevard with 652 seats
Sky-2 Theatre, 1127 8th Avenue with 337 seats
I came across a couple of PDF files at Pennsylvania State University’s digital library. One is a 1949 booklet from Altoona’s centennial, and it mentions in passing that, at that time, Altoona had ten theaters and movie houses. It doesn’t give their names, though.
The other PDF includes a 1922 ad for the Strand in it, so I’m going to comment about it on the Strand’s page.
establish/renew link
Is this theatre still standing?