Ritz Theatre
222 Wyoming Avenue,
Scranton,
PA
18503
222 Wyoming Avenue,
Scranton,
PA
18503
No one has favorited this theater yet
Built by vaudeville theater magnate Sylvester Poli, the Poli Theater opened in 1907 and was built for a then monumental sum of $250,000. A large vaudeville house, the Poli Theatre seated more than 2,000 patrons.
The Poli Theatre was later acquired by the Union Theater Company in 1924.
By the late-1920’s, the theater began showing movies only and was renamed Ritz Theatre. In 1930, it was remodeled and renamed again as the Comerford Theatre.
The theater lasted for decades and in its last years was a dollar house struggling against a local UA multiplex.
In the early-2000’s the Ritz Theatre, with its nearly 100 years of service closed — perhaps forever.
In 2008, the Ritz Theatre reopened as a dinner theater and restaurant, with a piano bar and club with live performances. However this was a short lived venture, which has now closed.
Contributed by
Cinema Treasures
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
In the 1960s, when I was a kid, the Comerford Theatre was still quite a place. I remember it had a clock that glowed in the dark during the movie, and it had some magnificient fixtures inside. I saw some famous movies there, and they also had a matinee during the week, during which kids could go to the movies while their mothers shopped down the street at the city’s department stores. Scranton had the remnants of a vibrant downtown back then, and when you left the theatre at night, you actually felt like you were going INTO something … i.e., a lively city. But it didn’t take long to deteriorate. By the mid-1970s, they were showing porno films (as were the “Center” and the “Strand,” two other downtown theaters), and had high school girls taking tickets for them. The girls would let you in if they knew you, even though all of us (the girls included) were underage. Still, it was a great place, and, sadly, nobody did much of anything to save it while they could.
It’s great to hear that this piece of history is being preserved! Even after reading all the old news clips and theatre programs it’s still strange to read “the ‘legendary’ Poli Theater!”
For sale at 1.795 million:
http://tinyurl.com/6hhnwj
This link could be used for the Related Websites: Blues Street
Here is another photo of the Blues Street building.
Hey!! (feeling excited)
Will it also show some of the other great, golden oldie-but-goody classic films, such as the major film hits of the 1960’s?
I lived in South Side Scranton form 1964 to 1969 and walked downtown many times to see movies at the Comerford.[ and the other two downtown theaters the Strand and the Center] Years later in the late 70s or early 80s I went back to Scranton to visit and went downtown to go to the movies there and the theater was open but they were just using the old balcony as the movie theater.If I remember correctly the first floor had been converted into some kind of shops etc. It was good to see the old balcony area again and it brought back alot of memories. I had my daughter with me and tought it was really neat that she was going to the movies some place where I had gone as a kid.[even though it was just the balcony]I don’t remember what movie we saw but it was a normal movie that kids could watch, not somthing X rated.I had forgotten untill I read other enteries on this site that the name had been changed to the Ritz.I don’t have family in Scranton amymore and haven’t been there for years,so I don’t know if it’s still open or not.
1983 photo of the Ritz theatre.
View link
1986 photo of the Ritz theatre.
View link
Nice photos Chuck1231.