Main Twin Theatre
124-128 E. Main Street,
Ephrata,
PA
17522
124-128 E. Main Street,
Ephrata,
PA
17522
3 people
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This opened on December 26th, 1938. Grand opening ad uploaded.
Main Theatre in Ephrata opening Mon, Dec 26, 1938 – 5 · Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com
As I posted on your picture post, those wall lights were saved when the theatre was torn down and were repaired and upgraded and installed in the twin theatres that were included within the new building that replaced the original theatre. As I mentioned in an earlier post even the box office was saved and used for the new theatres. Except it is now located inside rather than at the sidewalk.
Please see my new photo of the Main interior with vintage light fixtures.
The “Theatres Under Construction” column of The Film Daily for December 16, 1938, includes this brief note for the Main Theatre: “Ephrata — Main, 750 seats; Architect: D. Supowitz; Operator: Harry Stiefer; To be completed 12-15-38.”
PS: The photos posted by LostMemory are great. Thanks.
I loved this theater. It was almost exactly like some of the neighborhood theaters I used to attend when I was a kid in Harrisburg. I lived through the razing of the vintage theaters on the second block of N. Queen St. in Lancaster but it still broke my heart when the Main went.
I do remember that towards the end the roof was leaking and certain sections of seats were roped off lest the ceiling fell on someone!
I remember seeing Disney’s “Song of the South” at the Main, during what was probably its last re-issue prior to its being withdrawn from circulation.
Those front doors still exist on the new office building and theatre combo. Even the box office is now inside at the theatre entrance.
Thanks Lost Memory. My original purpose in listing this theatre was the original theatre and it’s history. Adding what had become of some of the furnishings in the original was an afterthought. In my mind Cinema Treasures are the movie palaces of yester years. The multiplexes of today will never be Cinema Treasures in my eyes. They are showboxes with a white wall on one end. Although the Main Twin Theatres are a modern treasure by incorporating the decor of the original theatre.
Lost Memory – The original theatre was demolished. The theatre that was opened in 1938 is gone. I was the one to submit this theatre to Cinema Treasures. I was the one that wrote the above history. And as stated in that the theatre was purchased by the Denver and Ephrata Telephone company. The building was too deteriorated to be saved. The twin theatre operating there now is a new complex incorporated into the new office building that was built on the site of the original theatre. As I wrote above, they salvaged parts of the original theatre. The marquee is in use at the street entrance and the entrance to the parking garage. The box office is used at the inside entrance to the theatre. The original wall lights are used in both theatres.
The aka is duplicative of the title. Here is some additional information:
http://tinyurl.com/5lpnx4
Management of the Main Theatre has recently been taken over by the gentleman who leased and operated the now closed Columbia Drive In outside of Columbia, PA. It was the last drive operating in Lancaster Co., Pa. Developers purchased the site and there have been many rumors as to its future use both commercial and residential. At one time, Budco operated the Drive In. I believe the drive in is listed on this website.
Since the Main Twin Theatre reopened, shouldn’t this be another theater added to the list?
Check out this photo – great preservation job:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/haydnseek/35487222/
I was wondering why for this listing, which I had added as one of my first “comments” upon joining in April is “contributed by Cinema Treasures?” There was no listing for this theatre until I “contributed” the above. thanks!