Budco Hatboro

ronnie21 on February 7, 2012 at 9:07 pm

as you can see in the photo section, BLOOD BEACH played here in early 1981

raymondgordonsears on June 24, 2009 at 11:49 am

Wendy’s is still closed and boarded up. No buyers. The keswick does not have any projectors or screen. Live shows only. rg

kencmcintyre on April 14, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d5becu

VincentPrice on February 27, 2007 at 11:40 pm

If anyone is curious, the Wendy’s suddenly closed up at the end of 2006.

kencmcintyre on December 26, 2006 at 2:44 pm

Here is an article about the demolition dated 8/10/84:

Wreckers raze Hatboro Theater

Demolition workers on Thursday began to level the Hatboro Theater to make way for a new Wendy’s fast food restaurant. The theater died for lack of parking, said Claude J. Schlanger, president of Budco Theaters. The theater, at 43 N. York Road, Hatboro, provided silver screen entertainment for 40 years in the borough. The last film, “Terms of Endearment,” was shown on July 22.

The 500-seat theater could have been divided to provide twin screens, but there was not enough parking to make it worth “twinning,” said Schlanger. The theater parking lot has 100 spaces, but, ideally, it should have 400, he said. “We probably could have gotten away with 200 parking spaces there,” said Schlanger. He said some of the existing parking spaces were taken up by nontheater patrons unable to find parking elsewhere in the borough. “Hatboro is a terrible place to park,” Schlanger said.

The “multiplexes,” theaters with up to 10 screens, are replacing the single-screen theaters in shopping centers where parking is abundant, said Schlanger. “The more screens, the better the
business,” he said. “With only a single screen, It’s difficult to book pictures,” Schlanger said. The Hatboro Theater did not have a stage or the significant historical qualities that might
have attracted efforts to save it, said W. Charles Schrader, who played a central role in the effort to preserve the Keswick Theater In Glenslde from demolition. The Keswick Theater opened 55
years ago with a vaudeville stage and a movie screen. It continued as a commercial movie theater until 1980. The Glenside Landmarks Society, which now owns and operates the Keswick, obtained the theater in 1982. The stage is now used for plays, shows and concerts, attracting regionally and nationally-known artists. The building now is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It’s doing well on live performances,” said Schrader, “but we would consider offering classic movies.” He said the landmarks society is looking into acquiring the 35-millimeter projectors that were used in the Hatboro Theater.

Michael R. Rambo Jr. on May 17, 2005 at 7:40 pm

Budco took over the Hatboro in 1972/73, around the same time they bought out William Goldman Theatres Co. Hatboro, until 1972/73, was a independent theatre, not associated with any chain.