Victoria Theater
E. Market Street and S. Main Street,
Mahanoy City,
PA
17948
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The Victoria Theater was constructed by Chamberlain Amusement Company and opened for the first time on March 9, 1925. It was situated on the corner of S. Main Street and E. Market Street in Mahanoy City. The building was three-floors and constructed of dark red brick with some terracotta on the front facing Main Street. It originally had 1,020 seats on the main floor and 550 in the balcony, but the main floor was later revised to have 775 seats for greater comfort.
The theater had a large stage that was 70 feet wide and 40 feet deep allowing for vaudeville and big band shows on a regular basis although movies were the regular feature. Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians were a popular feature that regularly drew capacity crowds. In the center of the auditorium ceiling hung a large crystal chandelier that gave the theater a sense of big-city luxury. The theater also hosted many graduations for the local area high school.
The theater saw business decline in the 1970’s and it closed its doors for good in 1981. There was an effort in the town to save the building and create a community center, although the building sat unused for a number of years. During this period the severe winter weather each year caused parts of the roof to leak, which began to create structural damage inside the building. It was demolished in early-1997.
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
From photos, it appears this theater was quite ornate. A real loss. You can view some small photos of the interior here.
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Attached is a link showing an exterior image of the Vic from its early days.
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Attached are two photo’s I took of the Victoria in the fall of 1985. The exterior appeared to be in very good condition at the time.
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Here is a larger version of one of the photos posted on 7/28/05:
http://tinyurl.com/nke8az