College Theatre
627 S. Chester Road,
Swarthmore,
PA
19081
627 S. Chester Road,
Swarthmore,
PA
19081
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Budco
Architects: Karl F. Otto
Functions: Retail
Styles: Colonial Revival, Neo-Georgian
Nearby Theaters
Opened on September 20, 1946 with Carol Raye in “Waltz Time”, the College Theatre has a single story Georgian style façade, in Colonial style brick with four columns supporting a portico. The auditorium had all seating on a single floor. Notable decoration were two large photo-murals midway down the side-walls over emergency exits. These depicted the Parrish Hall (the main building of Swarthmore College) and the Clothier Memorial Tower at Swarthmore College.
It was closed on December 5, 1987 with Tim Curry in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. The College Theatre has been turned into stores.
Contributed by
Robert Rooney, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 20 comments)
Any more memories or info on this theater would be appreciated. For example, i wonder what year they changed everything and turned it into a business office? Did the theater sit for a few years once it closed??
Mad Max shown here in 1980 also…
what happened to the 1983 photo that was on here??
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=college&ProductID=33311
college theater from May 1983.
chuck, i really wish i was old enough to see movies at this theater. I pass it by almost everyday. You can see in the back of the shopping center that the one part of it stands out really far in the back, thats where the theater was….
Nightmare on elm street played here for like a week in july of 85…
I noticed that the college theater played moslty exploitation and B horror movies between 1979-1982, mainly 80 and 81.. but by 1983, they went more main stream, by 84 on up, they were like family and bigger budget films..
another case of a theater where one week you would have blood beach and the next week snow white…
Closed in March of 87. I think the last movie that played here was hannah and her sisters.. and star trek IV played here a week before that.
The College Theatre launched on September 20, 1946 with “Waltz Time.” It appears to have closed with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on December 5, 1987. If so, that’s a good way to go out.