Olney Theatre

The Olney Theatre was located at W. Olney Avenue and with an entry at N. 5th Street in the Olney district to the north of Philadelphia. It opened as a 499-seat silent movie theatre in 1919. Irvin Glazer’s “Philadelphia Theatres A to Z” book states, “that in 1925, the Stanley Corporation took-over the lease and closed the theatre, planning to turn it into stores and offices. Next door the Colney Theatre, operated by the Stanley Corporation, was opened on April 11, 1925 with 1,985-seats and closed in 1958”. (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). As of 2020, both the Olney Theatre and Colney Theatre building still stand.

Thanks to Jay Farrell for researching in Philadelphia online archives, the uses of the Olney Theatre after it closure. By about 1935 it had become a fruit & produce store. By 1957, it was a furniture store, by 1985 Princess Shops clothing store, by 1989, McCrory store, by 1998 again a furniture store. By 2007 it was a child care facility and in 2020 it was another child care place, Over the Hills Childcare & Learning Experience.

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