Sunday, May 15, 2022

Andy's Angles: This Old Theater


 For many years, at WNEP and "down the street," I worked with Dave the photographer.  He probably grew weary of hearing me say it, but any time we passed through an old coal town that had seen better days, I would say the same thing.  "Dave, it must have been a helluva town at one time."

Olyhant had at least three movie theaters, that I know of, and they are all closed.  The buildings remain.  This is the one on Delaware Avenue.  The borough recently awarded a contract for its demolition.  It sad on one level, that being the loss of history and identity.  It's a good thing when you really look at it.  The building is too far gone to fix.

In the shot you see above, I was attempting to go old timey and nostalgic.  I really should do more monochrome.

Be that as it may...

After the theater closed, it became a pizza restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and then a home for a model car layout.


I shot the photo above through the dirty glass doors.  The building shows no signs of all the pizzas and fried rice consumed here, all the popcorn from the theater days.  As I looked through the glass, I thought of all the dates here, all the entertainment, all the escapism and fun that movies provided.

From what I read, there are no plans for the soon to be empty lot.