Strand Theatre

I was involved with the Strand for a period of almost two years in the late 1970’s. What most people know of the Strand is the massive marquee that extended for 120 feet around two sides of the building (try changing that on a January night,hey Jeff) and the 40 foot waterfall chasing neon upright sign with 3 foot tall STRAND letters stacked vertically all adorned in stainless steel trim. This marquee and the expansive lobby with etched plate glass doors were added to the front of the theater in 1952 as a modernization. When built the Strand had only 20 feet of street frontage at the inside corner of the square. The entrance lobby when built was only 15 x 15 feet and the mezzanine served as public space. The auditorium was less than 45 feet wide and 250 feet long, so deep that in the 60’s the screen was moved forward 100 feet. The Strand was theestablished first-run movie venue for 30 miles and did well until Fox Theaters opened a four screen shoe box deal in the new mall across the river and the rest was academic. The Strand was sold to a subrun operation out of Phila. who closed it a year later. I will supply pictures and more historical data later.