Collingswood Theatre - Collingswood, NJ
N 39° 54.920 W 075° 03.910
18S E 494430 N 4418362
Once a proud theater in the 20's, now home to a new commercial shop and an adjoining book store. This theater is the focal point of this historic side of town and featured on the town's website to promote its history
Waymark Code: WM7N4X
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 11/11/2009
Views: 7
The Collingswood Theatre was an active movie venue until about 1962. By the early 1970's it was being used as a photography studio. In the 1990's the Philadelphia Orchestra occasionally used it as a recording studio. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The theater is built in the Mission Revival architectural style by the architect David Supowitz. A Moller organ, opus 3016, was installed in this theater in 1920. There are apartments up top with one in the front over the word "Collingswood" and some other apartments which stretch in the back. There is a really cool balcony inside which still exists. I never watched movies here but I know a fellow who changed the reels in the 50s and he told me this was a swinging hot spot.
Examine the pictures closely of the colorful and intricate designs and carvings outside. This is an excellent example of a Spanish Colonial facade. It kind of looses its charm when one notices the book store and the destroyed front entrance.
The age of theaters, as it were, was experienced in my county in the 1920s. Along with this theater, The Ritz in Haddon Twp, the Westmont Theater in Westmont and the Blackwood Theater were all built in the 1920s. We definitely had a golden age of theaters back in the day. (Don't forget the Baronet in Asbury Park, too!)