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Donations Accepted for Broadway in Pitman, NJ
posted by
CinemAFuchs
on
April 22, 2005 at 8:49 am
PITMAN, NJ — Chamber of Commerce Helping to Save Vaudeville Era Gem. Broadway May Become Performance Venue, Courier-Post Reports
“The projector at the Broadway Theatre has likely flickered for the last time,” reports Tim Zatzariny in the Courier-Post online edition on April 21, 2005. “But there’s a good chance the bankrupt, 79-year-old former vaudeville house will live on as a performance venue, a court-appointed trustee said Wednesday.”
After a sheriff’s sale was averted by a consent order given by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the trustee has 90 days to find a buyer. “I’ve had a couple of people look at it,” the Courier-Post quotes the attorney in charge. “The two that have shown the most interest are looking at it as a live theater. It will no longer be a movie theater. That doesn’t seem to be a consideration.”
In the meantime, we can all make sure the 1,090-seat theater does not disappear. The Greater Pitman Chamber of Commerce established a “Save the Theatre Fund.” All donations (checks with address and phone number please) should be made out to “Save the Theatre Fund” and mailed to:
The Greater Pitman Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 45
Pitman, NJ 08071
There is also a PAY-PAL option on the Chamber’s website.
Thank you to “SavetheTheatre” for first posting (Apr 5, 2005 at 5:41pm)
this information on Cinema Treasures.
Comments (2)
While the idea of a performance venue sounds good, the business district of Pitman will not survive with the loss of the movies. The Theatre has been turning a profit in direct competition with the other 1st-run movie theaters in the area, however, nobody seems to want to believe this. There is hard evidence that this is true. There are a number of businesses in the Pitman business district which have taken a hard hit with the closing of the Theatre. It has been proven time and time again that plays, etc DO NOT pull in the kind of revenue which will allow the Theatre to survive. According to some Pitman business owners, when the Theatre has a good showing of customers, so do they. The original function of the Broadway was as a moviehouse, and it has continued to function as such for almost 80 years. The Theatre needs to be saved, but so does the family that has been running it for the last 6 years. The same family that took a little 2nd-run Theatre and made it into a successful 1st-run Theatre. So, this Theatre needs to stay in the movie business despite what all these people who want to buy it say. Not one of them has any idea of how to operate and manage a venue like this. I give this idea of only performance 6 months to a year before it folds. And then what happens to the Broadway?
Any new word on who might be taking over the theatre?