Warner Theatre
811 State Street,
Erie,
PA
16501
811 State Street,
Erie,
PA
16501
14 people
favorited this theater
Built by Rapp & Rapp for Warner Brothers in 1931, the 2,506-seat theater was home to movies and stage shows for years. With the eventual decline of downtown movie palaces, the Warner Theatre transformed itself into a performing arts venue and part of Erie’s Civic Center.
The Warner Theatre Preservation Trust has been raising money to restore and expand the classic Warner Theatre. The project to restore the theatre began in 1992 and continues. Theatre architect Daniel P. Coffey serves as the architect in charge. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has contributed $23 million towards the rehabilitation.
Seating capacity has now been reduced to 2,222 because orchestra level seats now have more legroom and are wider. A gorgeous hardback book ‘A Picture Palace Transformed, How Erie’s Warner Theatre Survived a Changing World’ was published in 2009, and is available from the theatre.
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Recent comments (view all 138 comments)
Warner Lady: Great article! Congratulations!
1998 photo of the Warner Theatre.
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Good picture, Chuck1231. Thanks for posting it.
Chuck: Ditto! And please keep voting for the Rogers Theater each day @ www.refresheverything.com/rogerstheater in the $250K category!
Don’t remember “PATTON” and “MASH” being on a double feature,guess you had to run the kids out when “MASH” started? Great pictures.
Go to www.wqln.com and click on “radio” then “Weekend All Things Erie” to hear a great interview by Kim Young with Barb Hauck who wrote a book about the Warner Theatre in Erie PA. The link below will take you to the book site and allow you to order.
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Thanks Patsy.
It’s worth noting that the Eerie Horror Film Festival has been held at the Warner for the past three years and has brought movies (albeit the scary ones) back to the huge Warner screen! The event is held each October and features celebrity guests and vendors. The next one takes place October 7 – 10, 2010. More information can be found on their website: http://www.eeriehorrorfilmfestival.com It’s a fun event and surprisingly family friendly. It’s definitely the only thing that drives us to Erie each year. Hopefully the city recognizes this. As noted above, the people who run the city don’t seem to have a clue when it comes to innovative ideas and the arts.
Paul Jones: It sounds like you are in Erie. I’m not far and always jump at the chance to visit the beautiful Warner which has never closed in its long history in Erie.
Wonderful photos and history,great looking theatre.