Towne Theatre
515 N. Market Street,
Wilmington,
DE
19801
515 N. Market Street,
Wilmington,
DE
19801
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Previous Names: Nickelodeon, Savoy Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Originally opened as the Nickelodeon in 1908 with 752 seats. By 1926 it had been renamed Savoy Theatre. By 1941, it was operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. It was closed April 2, 1950.
It was rebuilt as the 1,000-seat Towne Theatre, opening on December 4, 1950. It was closed on February 15, 1967, only to re-open in 1973, and finally closing in 1975.
It has since been demolished and the site is now a small park.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Here is a photo of the theater as the Towne, after closing.
This reopened as Towne on December 1st, 1950. Its grand opening ad in photo section.
The Towne closed in 1967. It was reopened in 1973 and closed permanently in 1975 and was demolished shortly thereafter.
The site of the Towne Theater is not a parking lot; it is a small park surrounded by the Historical Society buildings, of which there are many.
Why don’t you people at Cinema Treasures give these TWO SEPARATE theaters their due respect? The SAVOY, at 515 Market St., opened in 1908, and closed April 02, 1950. The TOWNE, at the same address, opened Dec. 04, 1950, and closed Feb. 15, 1967. Reopened 1973, closed 1975.
When I visited the Towne to see an excellent western The Hanging Tree in 1959, it had little street presence and was minimally staffed: I paid 70 cents to the woman in the box office, then pushed my way in through a turnstile and found my seat on my own (later I did see an attendant). The theatre was long, narrow, box-shaped with no balcony and an overhanging projection room. Every time someone came in during daylight, light traveled down the auditorium and hit the screen - somewhat distracting. There were exits to either side of the screen. The show ran 2 hours: movie, cartoon, preview. The seats were very comfortable with a center block of seats seven wide, then four or five more seats in the rows to each side. Children were admitted for 25 cents and were well in evidence.