Recalling Downtown Pittsburgh's Storied Movie Theater Heritage

PITTSBURGH, PA - Moviegoers of a certain age probably felt an adrenaline rush when they heard the news.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is in discussions with three different entities about returning a movie theater to Downtown Pittsburgh. The trust would like to convert the former Bally fitness club on Sixth Street into a first-run multiplex.

That would be pure poetry, because the Bally fitness club once was the Gateway, a first-run movie theater for decades. It closed in 1980 as suburban multiplexes were sending Downtown and neighborhood theaters into an irreversible death spiral.

It’s undoubtedly difficult for millennials to imagine, but Downtown once was a treasure trove for movie fans. There was a theater, it seemed, on almost every block.

As talk of this new Downtown theater intensifies, it might be fun to give the millennials a history lesson and show them where those theaters used to be. At the very least, oldsters can wax nostalgic over a bygone era that ended roughly three decades ago.

Loews Penn, Sixth and Penn
Opened: 1927
Closed: 1964
Slated for demolition several years after it closed, the Howard Heinz Endowment purchased the theater, spent three years renovating it and reopened it in 1971 as Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts.

Stanley Theater, Seventh and Penn
Opened: 1928
Closed: 1984
A movie theater that spent its last years as a great place to see musical acts (Bob Marley, Prince and the Grateful Dead all played there, though not on the same night), the Stanley was acquired by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in 1984. It underwent a transformation similar to the one that occurred with the Loew’s Penn and reopened in 1987 as the Benedum Center.

Fulton Theater, 101 Sixth Street
Opened: 1904
Closed: 1990
Downtown’s first multiplex (the microscopically-sized Fulton-Mini was located on an upstairs level) and occasional concert hall (U2 played there on the “War” tour), also was snatched up by the Cultural Trust. It was refurbished and reopened in 1995 as the Byham Theater and serves as an artistic baby brother to the Benedum and Heinz Hall.

Fiesta Theater, 210 Sixth Street
Opened: 1967
Closed: 1986
Located across the street from Heinz Hall, this theater was underground and required an escalator to get down to the lobby. Who thought that was a good idea? After it closed, the space was used for years by the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. It’s currently vacant unless occupied by squatter trolls.

Warner Theater, 332 Fifth Avenue
Opened: 1918
Closed: 1983
Trivia: The last movie this place ever played was one filmed in Pittsburgh: “Flashdance.” You could look it up, or stumble upon it as I did. The auditorium was demolished for construction of the Warner Centre office-retail complex. The reworked marquee remains and has outlived the Warner Centre food court, which went away several years ago.

Chatham Cinema, 701 Fifth Avenue
Opened: 1966
Closed: Mid-1980s
This place was kind of like the Fiesta only without the escalator; you had to walk down a ramp to get to the auditorium. The theater is directly across the street from PPG Paints Arena, but you’d never know it as the marquee was removed and the entrance was bricked over years ago.

Bank Cinemas, Wood Street
Opened: 1976
Closed: 1986
This twinned-screened theater opened as part of the Bank Center, a restaurant-retail center that was combined and linked several old bank buildings. The Bank Center didn’t last and neither did its cinemas. Today they are auditoriums in Point Park University’s University Center.

Photos via Google.