Action!

There is an embryonic plan to build a movie theater in downtown Pittston, and I think that's fantastic.  It will add to the nightlife and clearly will be an asset to that small city.  In case you haven't been to Pittston lately, some of the decrepit old buildings are gone.  Other old buildings have been rehabbed and there's some new construction   Downtown Pittston is no longer the horror show show it used to be.

I am too young to remember the days when every small town had at least one movie theater, but I do remember the places before the shoe box mall theaters were built-- the Strand, Center,  Comerford, Roosevelt, and West Side in Scranton, Cinema North in Clarks Summit, the Irving in Carbondale, the American in Pittston.  Peckville even had a theater when I was a kid, until fire destroyed it.  I saw The Simpsons Movie at the Dietrich in Tunkhannock several years ago, and I loved the experience.

Look, let's be realistic.  The days of one or two screen urban theaters are over, and they're not coming back.  You can't compete with the choice, convenience, ample parking and comfort of those super mega plexes...  But, a theater like the one considered for Pittston can carve out a nice niche and be a community asset.  It will be interesting to see if they can make it work.