Main Twin Theatre
124-128 E. Main Street,
Ephrata,
PA
17522
124-128 E. Main Street,
Ephrata,
PA
17522
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Roxy Theater Circuit
Architects: David Supowitz
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Main Theatre
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The Main Theatre, originally located at 124 E. Main Street was opened on December 26, 1938 with Shirley Temple in “Just Around the Corner”. It was part of the 9 theatre chain owned and operated by the Stiefel Brothers Roxy Theater Circuit. Used mostly for second run engagements after the films were shown in first run Lancaster, PA city theatres. In 1981 the admission was changed to $1.50 reruns. The theatre was closed on May 17, 1990.
The theatre building was purchased by the local Denver and Ephrata Telephone Company, whose corporate headquarters was located next door. After engineering and architectural studies were completed, it was determined the deterioration of the building was too extensive and was demolished. The last remaining years of operation, there were more sections of the auditorium roped off, due to falling plaster.
Plans were completed for a new “Brossman Business Complex” on the site. These plans included two new theatres. On Nov. 12, 1993, the Main Twin Theatre reopened. One theatre is named the Roxy and has a stage for live presentations. The other is named the Grand and is used exclusively for films. Both theatres showed first run films.
Some of the original theatre interior was restored and reused in the new complex. The neon wall lights in the original have been restored and are used in the new theatres. The original Art Deco chrome box office which was located on the outside of the theatre has been restored and used as the box office inside for the new twin complex. It was a first class theatre built in the 1990’s to look like the Art Deco style of the 1930’s! It was closed on November 16, 2023 due to lack of ticket sales.
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
The aka is duplicative of the title. Here is some additional information:
http://tinyurl.com/5lpnx4
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.
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.
Those front doors still exist on the new office building and theatre combo. Even the box office is now inside at the theatre entrance.
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.
PS: The photos posted by LostMemory are great. Thanks.
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.”
Please see my new photo of the Main interior with vintage light fixtures.
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.
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